Egyptian+Weapons+and+Warfare

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__**INTRODUCTION: UNDER INVASION**__

The main military concern for the ancient Egypt was to keep enemies out. The arid plains and deserts surrounding Egypt were inhabited by nomadic tribes who occasionally tried to raid the fertile Nile river valley. The Egyptians built outposts and fortresses along the borders east and west of the Nile Delta, in the Eastern Desert, and in Nubia to the south. Small garrisons could prevent minor incursions, but if a large force was detected message was sent for the main army corps. Most Egyptian cities lacked city walls and other defenses, making them vulnerable. Egypt was considered to be the most peaceful country in the ancient world. 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. Until then, Egypt's army was a loosely organized, part-time rabble with crude weaponry. The army that was raised in times of need was merely a group of poorly armed conscripts, usually peasants and artisans, lead by nobles. Egyptians were hesitant to engage in battle outside their country This lead to their armies made up mainly of mercenaries from other lands. The Hyskos invasion lead Egypt to create a well trained, professional army and to improve the weaponry used. Egypt learned an invaluable lesson from the invasion and by the mid 18th Dynasty, Egypt was a major military power. An improved navy lead Egypt to be more of an aggressive nation than the peaceful one it used to be.

__**WEAPONRY**__ For centuries, Egyptian weaponry was very crude. The Egyptians were very conservative about their weaponry; so many still retained the old stone weapons after they had adopted newer metal ones. As a result, their weaponry did not change much for over 1300 years. As far back as the predynastic times, throw sticks were a chief hunting weapon, and used in war dances. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms, bows and slings began to see use in Egyptian warfare for long distance fighting. In close combat, axes, fighting spears, maces, clubs, and daggers were used. The bladed weapons had heads made of either stone or copper, and hilts made of wood. Eventually, axe blades were shortened and had narrower edges. Arrowheads were being fashioned out of bronze, while their shafts were made of reed. Bronze was used for weapons long into the Iron Age, due in part because Egypt had no natural iron deposits, but also because of their conservative approach to their weapons. This is why iron-rich Assyria had the ability to conquer Ancient Egypt. The three main weapons of the Egyptian military were the axe, the sword, the fighting spear, the javelin, and the bow and arrow.

__**THE AXE AS A WEAPON IN EGYPTIAN WARFARE**__ The first evidence of axe usage was found in a tomb near Deir el-Bahri, where the remains of sixty Egyptian soldiers were discovered, many with fatal axe wounds. Axe wounds are also evident in the skull of Theban ruler Seqenere Ta’o II, who helped drive the Hyksos out. The Egyptian axe is in many ways different than the fabled axes of medieval Europe and Asia. While the later axes had part of the axe over the shaft and then bolted down making it stronger, the Egyptian axes were only held on by string, likely made of animal sinew. Also, the blades on the Egyptian axes’ blades were longer, and in comparison to the medieval bearded and great axes, thinner than their infamous descendants. But the purpose was the same, where the blow was more from the sheer top heaviness of the blade, and less from the actual sharpness of it. In many cases, the same axe that was used for battle was the same that was used for everyday work.

__**THE SWORD AS A WEAPON IN EGYPTIAN WARFARE**__ Over time, the sword has become overrated. Though it is an intriguing weapon, it is not the best weapon on the battlefield. The axe is a better cleaving weapon, and the range of the fighting spear makes it more than ideal for thrusting. Most of the attention to the sword is due because it is one of the only weapons that can both slash and thrust. The sword most attributed to Egypt is the khepesh. Our fascination with this scimitar is due to the shape of the blade. Its sickle-shaped blade makes for an ideal cleaving weapon. But for many centuries before they adopted the invention of the khepesh, the ancient Egyptians used a shorter, straight sword. Though this was both a cut and thrust weapon, it has become apparent that it was more used for stabbing because of how the tips have become more rounded over time due to frequent use. They later changed their sword fighting tactics from mostly thrusting to slashing almost solely. This lead to the invention of the aforementioned khepesh.

__**THE FIGHTING SPEAR AS A WEAPON IN EGYPTIAN WARFARE**__ Today, most people think of the spear solely as a projectile, not realizing that spearmen usually fought with a shorter, thicker fighting spear. The tactics of fighting with a spear are much like quarterstaff fighting, with the exception that you can stab with it. The heads of these spears are larger than that of the war javelin, and their shafts thicker, making it impractical to throw. The spear was the second most common weapon on the battlefield, the axe being the first. Originally, spearheads were made of flint or obsidian, attached to the shaft with a tang, which was reinforced by sinew threads. Later, the heads were made of bronze, with part of the head fitting over the shaft, and the riveted to reinforce it. Most of these simpler spears were javelins, but some were used for close combat. Most fighting spears were fitted with an axe blade, used for slashing. This was the ancestor of the late medieval halberds and poleaxes.

__**THE BOW AND ARROW AS A WEAPON IN EGYPTIAN WARFARE**__ The bow and arrow has, quite possibly, the longest history of any weapon that was ever in existence. Its history beginning in early to mid prehistory. To the Egyptians, the bow is an iconic image. Every hieroglyphic recording in existence prominently mention archery. In the dynastic times, the bow was a simple curved piece of strong yet flexible wood, with a string made from sinew. Like spearheads, arrowheads were originally made of flint, but later of bronze.

__**ARMOR IN EGYPTIAN WARFARE**__ Originally, Egyptian armor for the common soldier was just a leather apron over their kilt. Only the high officials had chain mail. But later, the soldiers were known to have fought wearing shirts of textile armor, known best by its nickname- scale mail. Though it would stop a cut or stab from going through, there was nothing to stop any bones in the vicinity of the strike from being broken.


 * __FURTHER INFORMATION ON ANCIENT EGYPTIAN WEAPONS AND WARFARE:__**

[|Egypt: the evolution of warfare, part II]