Egypt Warfare

The Ancient Egyptians were a fortunate kingdom. They were in an ideal position as a nation; they were united as a people and were defended naturally by geography from attack. "The deserts protected the flanks of Egypt while their Northern border was protected by the Mediterranean Sea." (Spalinger). The Nile River flowed from South to North, and five cataracts (rapid waters) protected the Southern border. Also, the Egyptians had the advantage of being culturally and most importantly ethnically unified. This advantage helped govern, because there was less likely the problem of minority groups attempting to break away and revolt. This unity was under their Pharaoh, a king who was considered to be a living god on earth, their leader of the government, religion and military.

The Ancient Egyptian military, like most armies, was a product of the society that created it. Egyptian society was very conservative, and was not militarily innovative itself. However, the Ancient Egyptian military was excellent at adapting enemy weapons and technologies. This adaptation and evolution through time led the Ancient Egyptians to become one of the great military forces of the ancient world. For hundreds of years the Egyptians prospered, their cities not even requiring defensive walls and their people secure.

The first mention of the Egyptian military was during the Predynastic Period (prior to 3100 BC). This perhaps not just Egypt's first military encounters but the first human military encounters. The first possible prehistoric battle in the archaeological record is on the Nile near the border of Egypt and Sudan. "The site known as Cemetery 117 has been determined to be between approximately 13,140 to 14,340 years old. It contains 59 skeletons along with many partial skeletons, many with arrowheads or spear points embedded in them, indicating that they may have been the battle casualties. The wounds show no signs of associated with healing."(Ferrill). Some believe that an increasingly arid climate caused a greater competition and there seems to be a quick decline in populations during this time. Others have questioned this conclusion, arguing that the bodies could have accumulated over decades or even centuries or perhaps the site is evidence of the murder of trespassers rather than an actual battle. This being something archeologists are still inconclusive about. Archeologists have been able to identify numerous Cultures along the Nile spanning from the 14th millennium BCE to the Dynastic period. These cultures developed from hunter-gathers and wild grain gathers to settle agricultural villages and eventually the mini states that were forged into Ancient Egypt. These societies are credited with many firsts for mankind and developed into one of our earliest urban populations. However the productive, but limited areas available for farming caused conflict first among bands of human struggling to make their first attempts at food production then later between villages. Groups of desert nomads would have been attracted to the comparative paradise the Nile valley offered with its vast flocks of birds, wild grains and animal life and needed to be repulsed. These conflicts would have been carried out using primitive weapons, clubs, stone maces, slings, throwing sticks, stone tipped spears and stone tipped arrows. Early bows were constructed using two antelope horns fixed to a handle. "By 5500 BC tribes had adapted to the annual flooding of the Nile for agriculture and mastered animal husbandry, creating food surpluses and villages. As their societies became more advanced so did the complexity of warfare, small raiding tactics evolved into armies and they began to make shields of animal hide stretched over wood frames. "(Williams). Egyptian society had an early jump on the world stage, developing medicine, astronomy, mathematics, cosmetics, and domesticating animals to name a few. They also broadened their world, making contact with Palestine and the Byblos coast.

By 4000 BC they began to import obsidian from Ethiopia to make razor sharp blades. Over the next thousand years they developed from scattered villages and hamlets to powerful civilizations with kings in complete control of the people and resources of the Nile valley. The wooden simple bow (or self bow) had been developed by this time and replaced the older horn bows. They expanded their trade routes, developed writing and increased their territory along the Nile until three cities dominated the valley and vied for complete control. The world's first depictions of siege warfare can be found in reliefs depicting sieges and wheeled siege ladders. By 3150 BC the king of Upper Egypt had had defeated the other to kings and taken control over all of Egypt. This may have been accomplished by a Pharaoh named Narmar, the so called scorpion king, who is the first known to be depicted with the symbols of a united upper