Egypt:School Studies:War:Part 2

ypt was considered to be the most peaceful country in the ancient world. Its natural boundaries (the First Cataract on the Nile at Aswan, the deserts east and west of the Nile Valley, and the Mediterranean coast to the north) provided plenty of protection from outsiders, and Egyptians themselves were not a society of invaders or conquerors. Therefore, the country didn’t consider the need for a professional army – until the invasion of the Hyksos during the 15th Dynasty in the Second Intermediate Period.

Up until that time, Egypt had a loosely organized, part-time army and crude, inferior weapons. The army that was raised in times of need, i.e., during civil unrest, consisted of conscripts, who were generally peasants and artisans, led by noblemen. There was, however, a small core of regular soldiers, but they were mostly engaged as palace guards, border police, or trade ship escorts. So lax was the military that during the Middle Kingdom, Egypt’s simple infantry was made up of nothing more than older foot soldiers and inexperienced young men. Further, Egyptians were very hesitant to engage in conflicts outside their own country because they were afraid of dying and being buried elsewhere, thereby not receiving the necessary and appropriate funeral rites. Because of this fear, armies of the Old Kingdom were made up of foreign mercenaries.

Of course, there were some military campaigns carried out in early times, such as those of King Scorpion and King Menes (Narmer or Aha), whose military force enabled him to establish a united Egypt. From Menes’s time (circa 3100 BC), Egyptian kings headed the army under the guidance of war gods such as Seth, Sekhmet, and Montu, who led them to victory. In fact, a warring king was considered to be acting on behalf of the gods in an effort to bring order to the chaos caused by Egypt’s enemies. Temple scenes depict pharaohs leading their armies into battle and some ancient records, such as that of Ramesses II at the Battle of Kadesh, give the pharaoh credit for winning the battle single-handedly.