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NEW KINGDOM EGYPT
MILITARY AND WARFARE
EGYPT PRE HYKSOS
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Egypt 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.
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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.
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 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.
THE HYKSOS INVASION
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The Hyksos invasion
forced Egypt to create
a trained, professional
army and improve its
weaponry. The
Egyptians learned
valuable lessons from
the Hyksos attack
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The chain of command, in order of rank, was:
King, commander in chief
General, or overseer of the army, who reported
directly to the king
Lieutenant commander, serving as senior officer
Overseer of the Nubian frontier and Mediterranean
coast fortresses
Overseer of garrison troops
Troop commander, in charge of several regiments,
a brigade or a fortress
Captain of the troop
Commander of 250 soldiers
Standard-bearer, controlling 200 men
"Greatest of Fifty", the lowest commander
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For major military actions, the pharaoh was
the commander-in-chief and physically led
his army into battle, while minor officials or
princes led less significant campaigns. The
vizier acted as the minister of war, taking
advice from an army council. Prior to a
battle, the king always consulted his senior
officials.
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The army itself was
made up of the
infantry and chariotry
divisions, which were
commanded by either
the king himself or
one of the princes.
MIDDLE-LATE 18TH
DYNASTY
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From the time of
Amenhotep III on, most
enlisted men were former
prisoners of war. In the
18th Dynasty recruits
would be brought in from
Nubia; in later periods
recruits came from many
foreign areas.
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However, during the
New Kingdom
soldiers were recruited
locally by conscription
and by the time of
Ramesses II, one man
in ten was forced to
serve in the military.
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Some men did not
have to be recruited –
they chose the army as
their profession
Reasons include:
booty, land, hereditary
rewards – sons could
inherit land etc
Herodotus
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"The warriors were the only Egyptians, except the
priests, who has special privileges: for each of
them an untaxed plot of twelve acres was set
apart. …. A thousand Calasirians and as many
Hermotybians were the king’s annual bodyguard.
These men, besides their lands, each received a
daily provision of five minae’s weight of roast
grain, two minae of beef, and four cups of wine.
These were the gifts received by each bodyguard."
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The chariot and chariotry
were introduced to Egypt
by the Hyksos. The
Egyptian chariotry
consisted of five
squadrons, with twentyfive chariots in each and
two men in each chariot: a
driver and a soldier armed
with bows and arrows, a
shield, a sword, and a
javelin.
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The pharaoh’s specialized troops were
called "Braves of the King". These were the
elite fighting forces that led attacks, while
the garrison troops, called the ‘w’yt,
sometimes served as the pharaoh’s
household troops both in Egypt and in
foreign lands. A group called the
"Retainers" distributed rations to troops
during the 18th Dynasty, acted as letter
carriers during the Ramesside Period, and
may have functioned as the royal
bodyguards.
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Mercenaries were still
important in the
professional army of the
New Kingdom. The
number of foreigners
including Medjay,
Sheriden, and Libyans in
the Egyptian army was so
high that captains were
specially designated to be
in charge of them.
Travelling along with the army were scribes, who
appeared to have low regard for the professional
soldier.
 The Instructions of scribe Wenemdiamun
"woes of the soldier", counting among these woes
the fact that each soldier had many superiors who
could wake him at any hour of the night for any
purpose. He wrote "One is after him as a donkey",
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METHODS
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Fortifications
Hand-hand combat in
open areas
Collection of booty
The Egyptians adhered
to a strict military
code in battle.
THE DEFEATED
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Enemy survivors were taken as POWs or
enslaved.
Towns and forts were ransacked and booty was
given to the Egyptian soldiers
Enemy princes who surrendered to the pharaoh
had the option of accepting the Egyptian pharaoh
as their overlord; these princes were then allowed
to continue governing their own cities.
WEAPONS
NAVY
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prime purpose was long
distance transport of
troops and supplies, or
mobile military operation
bases.
Occasionally the navy did
engage in warfare, but
even then, sailors acted as
soldiers at sea rather than
as a separate force
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Many naval ships were actually built in
Byblos; the Gebel Barkal stela shows that
ship makers in Byblos built ships annually,
then sent those ships to Egypt along with
other tributes. This provided the Egyptian
navy with a steady influx of high quality
vessels.
Egypt developed coastal bases in other
territories, as well as creating a naval centre
near Memphis called Perw-nefer
 Outside Egypt, Thutmose III took over
harbour after harbour in Phoenicia’s coastal
cities, acquiring supplies for his troops from
each in order to proceed to the next.
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Naval recruits, called w’w, mainly served
on warships and most were the sons of
military families who became professional
sailors themselves
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According to naval officials’ biographies and the
Nauri Decree, naval rankings probably were as
follows:
King
Crown prince, commander in chief
Admirals
Overseer, chief of ship’s captains (commanded
several ships)
Ship captain (navigation)
Captain’s mates (navigational support)
Commander of troops (older men with land-based
duties)
Standard-bearer
Commander of rowers
Sailors
THE POLICE FORCE
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Egypt’s police force, on the other hand, was not an
extension of the army. It was established to
enforce the gods’ orders and protect the weak from
the strong in the general society. The police
maintained order by bringing guilty parties to
justice. Even so, the police were not looked upon
as a hostile body, but rather as the guardians and
protectors of generally law-abiding communities.
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Nubian nomads, called the
Medjay, became part of
the Egyptian police force
in the 18th Dynasty.
The Medjay also served as
tomb guardians during the
construction of the royal
necropolis at Deir elMedina.
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In this capacity, Medjay
police had many
responsibilities including
ensuring the tomb’s safety,
inspecting the tomb,
guaranteeing good
behavior on the part of the
workers, protecting
workers from any dangers
(including threats by
invaders), and
occasionally assisting the
workers and moving
blocks of stone.