Download Egyptian Military Traditions

Egyptian Military Traditions
Egyptian Military Traditions
-Gods involved in every aspect of Egyptian life, including when it
came to warfare.
- The Egyptians called upon the gods to ensure their victory.
- Egyptians were not typically the most warlike people in the ancient
world.
- WHY?
Egyptian Military Traditions
- The Nile Valley provided for their needs
- The deserts on either side served as natural barriers from enemies.
-The wealth of Egypt did attract the attention of greedy neighbours.
- Egyptians became aware that they would need a strong military force
to defend from outside attacks.
Egyptian Military Traditions
- Fighting abroad was always viewed with anxiety. Nothing could be
worse than getting killed and being buried in a foreign land.
- As the Egyptian Army grew stronger they did begin to expand Egyptian
borders through conquest.
Egyptian Military Traditions
- Egyptian Army was highly trained and disciplined.
-Wars were fought with great pomp and ceremony, with trumpeters
leading the army into battle
- At the head of each attack was the pharaoh's chariot, carrying a flag
decorated with a ram’s head and the sun, symbolic of the God Amon-Re.
Old Kingdom
• During this period, the king had a personal
bodyguard but ancient Egypt had no standing
army
• When certain regions posed any potential threat,
the governors of the various provinces raised
troops to defend the empire
• Once this temporary army completed a specific
military campaign, it was either disbanded or
assigned to some other state work project, such
as building the pyramids at Giza
New Kingdom
• The pharaohs of this period increased the size of
their standing armies and concentrated more on
building the empire
• During Thutmose III, innovations began to appear
in Egyptian military
• Leather body armour covered with metal scales
was introduced
• Charioteers, the elite branch of the military,
began to carry large shields, and both warrior and
horse wore heavy blankets of quilted leather,
lined with linen, to cover most of their backs
Types of Weapons
• Impact weapons - clubs and mace
• Edged close combat weapons – axes, knives
and swords
• Projectile weapons – bows and arrows,
slingshots, javelins, spears and throwing sticks
• Defensive equipment – shields, body armour
• Transportation equipment – boats, horses,
chariots
Impact Weapons
• Clubs were perhaps one of the earliest weapons used by
Egyptians in warfare
• Almost always made of wood, they absorbed shock fairly
well and are relatively strong
• They are light and only partially successful when used to
smash an enemy’s head
• Common club was replaced by the mace
• A mace is basically nothing more than a wooden club with a
head made of some heavy and hard material, such as stone
• Use of the mace was limited in regions where armor and
helmets were worn during combat
Edged, Close Combat Weapons
• Axes were probably used very early in
Egyptian warfare
• It was the battle axe that eventually replaced
the mace as one of the Egyptian military’s
primary close combat weapons
Long, Piercing Axe
head dating to the
Middle Kingdom
• Daggers were used as a weapon from the very
earliest periods of Egyptian history
• Originally made of flint, at no time would the
standard dagger have been a very effective
weapon against battle axes or even maces,
with their long reach
• They were adorned as ceremonial objects
• The dagger would eventually lead to a more
useful close combat weapon: the sword
• Swords were a direct consequence of the
introduction of metal
• There are no stone predecessors of this kind
of weapon
• Bronze was first used for making swords
A Typical, Late Egyptian Sword
Straight, two-edged blade with a
sharp point replaced the curved
Egyptian swords
Projective Type Weapons
• Standoff weapons, usually used in order to
soften up the enemy prior to an infantry
assault
• Throw stick used to some extend during
Predynastic period as a weapon, but not very
effective
• Continued to use it through to the end of the
New Kingdom
• Used extensively for hunting fowl
Early throwing sticks
• Spear could be either close combat or projectile
type of weapon
• During old and middle kingdom, it typically
consisted of a pointed blade made of copper or
flint that was attached to a long wooden shaft
• In New Kingdom, bronze blades became common
A Bronze Spearhead
from Ancient Egypt
Bow and Arrow
• One of ancient Egypt’s most crucial weapons
• Some of the first bows were “horn bows” made
by joining a pair of antelope horns by a central
piece of wood
• By beginning of dynastic period, bows had a
single curvature and were made of wood and
strung with sinews or strings made of plant fiber
• In pre-dynastic period bows frequently had a
double curvature
• Old Kingdom, a single-arched bow was adopted
Composite bow
• During the New Kingdom, the composite bow came
into use, having been introduced by the Asiatic Hyksos
• Made from horn, wood, and sinew
• A sinew or tendon is a tough band of fibrous
connective tissue that usually connects muschle to
bone and is capable of withstanding tension
• Water buffalo tusks, fish bladders and animal sinew all
went into the making of the ancient Egyptian
composite bow
• Much more difficult and expensive to produce
• Difficult weapon to use, demanded strength, dexterity
and years of practice http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/egypt
ian-bow.html
The slingshot
• Hurling stones with the help of a slingshot
demanded little equipment but considerable
practice in order to be effective
• Secondary to the bow and arrow in battle, the
slingshot was rarely depicted
Shields
• From predynastic period to middle kingdom, the
only real body protection used by Egyptian
soldiers was supplied by a long, roughly
rectangular shield made of cowhide stretched
over a wooden frame
• During the new kingdom bronze was sometimes
used. Metal plate shields were heavier than
leather shields with wooden frames and did not
necessarily afford better protection
Helmets and Body Armor
• Egyptians at war rarely covered their heads,
the pharaohs being the exception
• In Egypt’s Old and Middle Kingdom, Egyptian
soldiers never wore armor
• Sometimes broad leather bands covered part
of the torso of charioteers, but generally
soldiers are depicted without any body
protection
• Again, the pharaohs were the exception
• http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/wea
pons.htm