Army in ancient Egypt. Warriors of Ancient Egypt are Medjays

The TROOP was organized in the form of military settlements located in the center of the country and in the most threatened directions; the main forces were in Lower Egypt, which was often attacked: there were fewer settlements in Upper Egypt, since the neighboring Nubian tribes could not be a serious opponent of the Egyptians due to their fragmentation. Moreover, the conquered Nubian tribes were obliged to give Egypt a certain number of soldiers to carry out the internal "police" service. During large campaigns, the pharaohs strengthened their army at the expense of the conquered neighboring tribes. These warriors cannot be considered mercenaries, since there is no evidence that they received any payment for participating in the campaign. One can only assume that they are entitled to some share in the spoils of war.

The documents of the times of the Old Kingdom mention the "house of weapons" - a kind of military department, which was in charge of the manufacture of weapons, the construction of ships, the supply of troops and the construction of defensive structures. There is no data on the number of Egyptian troops of the period of the Old Kingdom. With regard to the fleet, there is only one mention of a detachment of 40 ships sent for cedars.

The warriors of the Old Kingdom were armed with: a mace with a stone tip, a battle ax made of copper, a spear with a stone tip, a combat dagger made of stone or copper. In the earlier period, the boomerang was widely used. The main weapons were a bow and a battle ax. As a defensive weapon, the warriors had a wooden shield covered with fur.

The army consisted of detachments. Sources that have come down to us say that the soldiers were engaged in combat training, which was in charge of a special head of military training. Already in the period of the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians used the construction in ranks. All warriors in the ranks had uniform weapons.

Egyptian fortress in Semne. Reconstruction

The fortresses of the period of the Old Kingdom were of various shapes (circle, oval or rectangle). Fortress walls sometimes had round towers in the form of a truncated cone with a platform at the top and a parapet. So, the fortress near Abydos was built in the shape of a rectangle; the length of its sides reached 125 and 68 m, the height of the walls - 7-11 m, the thickness in the upper part - 2 m. The fortress had one main and two additional entrances. The fortresses in Semne and Kumme were already complex defensive structures with ledges, walls and a tower.

Image on the walls of the tomb of Inti in Deshasha

During the assault on fortresses, the Egyptians used assault ladders with wooden disk wheels, which facilitated their installation and movement along the fortress wall. A breach in the fortress walls was punched with large crowbars. This is how the technique and methods of storming fortresses were born. The Egyptians were not born sailors, and for a long time their navigation was limited to the Nile and the canals adjacent to it, representing the most convenient means of communication among the mountains and deserts surrounding the country. The absence of forests, with the exception of acacia, a hard and hardly suitable tree for shipbuilding, forced for a long time to build (or, as they called, “knit”) ships from long bundles of papyrus, a reed that grows in abundance in the country. Over time, the Egyptians had to use acacia in shipbuilding.

The ships of the Egyptians were rowing, but they had sails. Each ship had a permanent team with a chief at the head. The detachment of ships was headed by the chief of the fleet. The construction of ships was in charge of the so-called ship builder. "Two large fleets" were created: one in Upper Egypt, the other in Lower Egypt.

Naval ships made raids in the Mediterranean.

Organization of the Egyptian army in the era of the Middle Kingdom

The territory of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom was approximately 35 thousand square meters. km. Its population, according to ancient authors and modern estimates, was approximately 7 million people. Judging by the available data on the recruitment in one of the nomes (one warrior from a hundred men), the Egyptian army could consist of several tens of thousands of soldiers. Several thousand warriors usually marched on a campaign. The pharaoh had with him "people of the retinue" who made up his personal guard, and "companions of the ruler" - a group of noble warriors devoted to him, from which military leaders were appointed: "chief of the army", "chief of recruits", "military commander of Middle Egypt" and others ruling persons.

The armament of the Egyptian warriors of the period of the Middle Kingdom improved somewhat compared to the previous period, as metal processing became more perfect. Spears and arrows now had bronze tips. The percussion weapon remained the same: a battle ax, a spear up to 2 m long, a mace and a dagger.

As a throwing weapon, a spear for throwing, a boomerang, a sling for throwing stones, and a bow were used. A reinforced bow appeared, which increased the range of the arrow and the accuracy of its hit.

Arrows had tips of various shapes and plumage; their length ranged from 55 to 100 cm. Ordinary arrows with a leaf-shaped tip, originally flint, and then copper and bronze, which were common in the ancient East, were less effective weapons than arrows with a faceted tip - bone or bronze, introduced by the Scythians in the second quarter of the 1st millennium. The fur-lined shield, half the height of a man, continued to be the only protective equipment.

During the Middle Kingdom, the organization of the army was improved. Units now had a certain number of 6, 40, 60, 100, 400, 600 soldiers. The detachments numbered 2, 3, 10 thousand soldiers. Units of uniformly armed warriors appeared - spearmen and archers, who had a formation order for movement; moved in a column in four rows along the front and ten lines deep.

For their merits, warriors were promoted, received land, cattle, slaves, or were awarded "gold of praise" (like an order) and decorated military weapons.

From the west and east, access to Egypt was reliably protected by the Libyan and Arabian deserts.

To protect the southern border, three lines of fortresses were built in the area of ​​​​the first and second thresholds of the Nile. The fortresses became more perfect: they now had battlements that covered the defending warriors; protruding towers for shelling the approaches to the wall; a moat that made it difficult to approach the wall. The fortress gates were protected by towers. For sorties, small exits were arranged. Much attention was paid to supplying the fortress garrison with water, wells or hidden exits to the river were arranged.

Of the surviving remains of the ancient Egyptian fortresses of that period, the most characteristic is the fortress in Mirgiss, built in the shape of a rectangle.

This fortress has an inner wall 10 m high with protruding towers located at a distance of 30 m from one another on the face opposite from the river, and a moat 8 m wide. An outer wall was built 25 m from the inner wall, which covers the fortress from three sides; on the fourth side, a rock breaks steeply to the river. The outer wall is surrounded by a moat 36 m wide. In addition, walls pushed forward were built on rocky ledges, adjoining the corners of the fortress and making it possible to flank the approaches from the river. Other walls protected the main entrance to the fortress. The fortress in Mirgiss was already a complex defensive structure, which was based on the requirement to flank the approaches. This was a step forward in the development of fortification - one of the branches of military art.

The most vulnerable place in the defense of the country was the north - the lower reaches at the confluence of the Nile into the Mediterranean Sea were open to the conquerors. When the power of the pharaohs in the country was strong, it was here that the Egyptians kept the bulk of their fleet and land army. But during the uprisings against the royal power, the defense of the northern borders was sharply weakened, and the Asian nomads could freely penetrate into Egypt.

The pharaohs and their commanders tried to fight quickly in order to return the troops home in a few months. Often the Egyptian army returned home after a three- or four-month campaign, capturing only one or two small fortresses. Major battles were rare - the generals took care of the soldiers, whom they called "the herd of God."

Organization of the Egyptian army in the era of the New Kingdom

The EGYPTIAN army during the period of the New Kingdom was a military caste, which was divided by age or duration of service into two groups, distinguished by the clothes they wore. The first group, according to Herodotus, numbered up to 160 thousand people, the second - up to 250 thousand. It must be assumed that these figures give the number of the entire military caste, including the elderly and children, and possibly women. So, at best, only tens of thousands of warriors could go on a campaign.

Most of the warriors of the New Kingdom were armed with swords, a bow played a significant role in the battle. Defensive weapons improved: in addition to the shield, the warrior also had a helmet and a leather shell with attached bronze plates. War chariots were an important part of the army. The chariot was a wooden platform (1x0.5 m) on two wheels, to which a drawbar was tightly attached. The front and sides of the chariot were sheathed in leather, which protected the legs of the combat crew, which consisted of a charioteer and one fighter, from arrows. Two horses were harnessed to the chariot.

The main force of the Egyptian army was the infantry, which, after the introduction of monotonous weapons, consisted of archers, slingers, spearmen, warriors with swords. The presence of equally armed infantry raised the question of the order of its formation.

If at an earlier time the Egyptians fought in deep, close formations in the form of columns, then later, as a result of the improvement of weapons and the acquisition of combat experience, the depth of the formation decreases, and the front lengthens, this was caused by the need to use a larger number of soldiers and weapons with simultaneous action. The combat formation of the heavy infantry of the Egyptians consisted of one closed line of 10 or more ranks in depth. War chariots were the mobile force of the Egyptian battle order. Closely closed construction of 10 or more lines in depth (phalanx) was introduced for the first time not in Ancient Greece, but in the countries of the Ancient East.

The tactics of the Egyptians were reduced mainly to a frontal attack.

The battle before the advent of war chariots was started by foot soldiers - archers and javelin throwers, then the opponents approached and decided its outcome in hand-to-hand combat. With the advent of chariots, the battle became more complicated - chariots, for example, under Ramesses II, were built in one open line and were located in front, on the flanks and behind the infantry. The attack of the chariots was intended to disrupt the ranks of the enemy with the first blow. The success of the battle depended on a combination of war chariots and infantry.

War chariots, moreover, were a powerful means of pursuing the enemy. During the campaign, the Egyptian army was divided into several detachments, which moved in columns. Reconnaissance must be sent ahead. At stops, the Egyptians set up a fortified camp of shields. When storming cities, they used a formation called a "turtle" (a canopy of shields that covered the soldiers from above), a battering ram, a wine (a low canopy of vines covered with turf - to protect soldiers during siege work) and an assault ladder.

A special body was in charge of supplying the troops. Products were issued from warehouses according to certain standards. There were special workshops for the manufacture and repair of weapons.

During the New Kingdom period, the Egyptians had a strong navy. The ships were equipped with sails and a large number of oars.

According to some reports, the bow of the ship was adapted for ramming an enemy ship.

Wars between Egypt and the Hittite state (the state of Hatti), which occupied the territory of Asia Minor, for dominance in Palestine, Syria and Phoenicia.

According to Egyptian sources, the Hittites were the first to attack the borders of Egypt. The Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II went on a campaign against the Hittite king Muwatalli in the fifth year of the war. The battle took place in 1312 BC. e. near the city of Kadet (Kinza) in Syria, where the 20,000th Egyptian army, dominated by Numidian mercenaries, clashed with the 30,000th Hittite army (according to other sources, Muwatalli had 35,000 soldiers, including 6,000 horsemen and 3,500 combat chariots).

The Hittite army was dominated by Asia Minor and Palestinian allies. The Egyptian army, like the Hittite, consisted of infantry and chariots and was divided into three detachments. There was no communication between the detachments on the march. Ramesses believed that the enemy was far to the north, and with the advance detachment moved to the Kadet, hoping to occupy the fortress before the Hittites approached.

But the detachment was ambushed by the Asia Minor allies of the Hittites, including the Dardanians, who are believed to be the legendary Trojans of the Homeric epic. The pharaoh believed the report sent to him by a scout who claimed that the Hittite troops had retreated north of Kadet, and hastened to occupy the city. The commanders of the Egyptian detachments in Palestine also reported to him about the retreat of the Hittites.

Suddenly, a wall of enemy chariots rose in front of the pharaoh's detachment, breaking through the Egyptian system and almost reaching the rate of Ramesses. These chariots were forded across the Orontes River. They were larger than the Egyptians and carried a crew of three: a driver and two shooters.

Pharaoh on a chariot, along with his bodyguards, rushed into battle and soon found himself surrounded. However, the crowding of the bulky Hittite chariots prevented the Hittites from exploiting their success. Here Ramesses was saved by a detachment of selected "fellows" approaching the battlefield, moving from the sea coast. Their chariots brought confusion to the enemy ranks. The Hittite chariots were under double attack. Many of them were thrown into the Orontes River. However, Muwatalli sent another thousand chariots into battle, and military happiness again began to lean towards the Hittites. It was only with great difficulty that the pharaoh's detachment, after the reinforcements approached, was able to escape from the encirclement. At the same time, the Egyptians upset the enemy ranks and captured prisoners. But the Hittite army was not defeated and retreated in order to Kadet.

Muwatalli hardly used his infantry in the battle and retained enough strength to continue the battle the next day. The next day the battle did not have a decisive outcome. When the Egyptians began to overcome, an 8,000-strong detachment came out of the gates of Kadesh under the command of Muwatalli. He stopped the onslaught of the Egyptians and gave the Hittite army the opportunity to safely hide behind the fortress walls. Both sides suffered heavy losses in two days of fighting. The Egyptians failed to capture Kadesh. At the suggestion of Muwatalli, a truce was concluded. Ramesses secured Palestine from Hittite claims. The Hittites, in turn, retained their control over Syria.

Three years later, the war resumed, and the Egyptian troops again reached the Syrian border. Pharaoh had to suppress the uprising of his Palestinian subjects from the tribe of the Canaanites and take a number of fortresses in Palestine and southern Syria.

The storming of the city usually proceeded as follows. With the help of axes, the Egyptians tried to crush the fortress gates, and long ladders helped them climb the walls. The attackers were covered by shields and movable walls with canopies. A hail of arrows, darts and stones fell upon the defenders. The population of the conquered cities turned into slavery.

The Egyptians also managed to capture the fortress of Debir in Northern Syria subject to the Hittites and Dapur in the Hittites' Asia Minor possessions. In 1296, already under the new Hittite king Hattusili III, a peace treaty was concluded between Egypt and the Hittite state, sealed by the marriage of Ramesses to Hattusili's daughter. Both sides recognized the partition of Syria and left Palestine to Egypt. Pharaoh, although he proved his military superiority over the Hittites, from now on saw in friendly relations with a recent enemy a guarantee of maintaining his control over the Syro-Palestinian lands. Egypt took only tribute from local princes, preferring not to keep significant contingents of troops there permanently. An increase in the amount of tribute led to revolts only when the local rulers could rely on Hittite support. Now, after the reconciliation of Hatti with Egypt, the population of Palestine has become much less prone to rebellion.

First wars of ancient Egypt

One of the first known pharaohs-commanders was Mendres, during his reign, the Upper and Lower parts of Egypt were conquered, united into one state with its capital in Memphis. In the era of the Old Kingdom, many military campaigns were organized in Palestine and Nubia, the borders of Egypt expanded to the territory of Sudan. It was an unstable period in the life of Ancient Egypt, there were constant civil wars between the central government and the provinces, the dynasties of kings often changed.
During the Middle Kingdom, the rulers maintained a permanent powerful army, the military strategy was based on defense against invaders. In the years 1800-1600 BC. The territory of Ancient Egypt was invaded by the nomadic tribes of the Hyksos, as a result of which they took possession of the entire territory of the state. In 1600 B.C. the invaders were expelled from Upper Egypt, and 20 years later, the last Hyksos left Egyptian lands.

Army of ancient Egypt

The most famous wars in ancient Egypt

During the era of the New Kingdom, under the rule Amenhotep I and Thutmose I The Egyptians captured many new territories: Palestine, Syria, Libya and Nubia. Under Pharaoh Thutmose III, a legendary battle took place near the Megiddo Valley, during which the Egyptian troops defeated the enemy, led by the rebellious king Kadesh, and extended the power of Egypt to all of Palestine.
In 1380-1365 BC rules Akhenaten, at that time, turmoil and strife on religious grounds raged inside the country. The army was weakened and the Egyptians lost a number of their territories, including Syria. In 1299-1232 BC Ramesses II tried to regain control of the lost borders. In 1294, the famous Battle of Kadesh took place, in which Ramesses III wanted to capture the Hittite fortress of Kadesh, but the plan failed, because his opponent was much better armed. The confrontation between the Egyptians and the Hittites lasted for about 18 more years, after which the parties agreed on an "eternal peace".
After the reign Ramses III, in which it was possible to repel the attacks of the Libyans and the peoples of the Mediterranean, the power of Egypt was weakening more and more, as a result of which the state was repeatedly subjected to the conquest of its lands by the Ethiopians and Assyrians.

Already in the era of the Middle Kingdom, the army was quite highly organized. The Egyptian troops were structured, recruitment into the army took place on a voluntary basis. There was a high military position - jati, who commanded the army and fleet and monitored the recruitment of soldiers. At the same time, special detachments of career officers appeared, they carried out special military orders of the pharaohs. At the same time, a guard guarding the king was formed.
According to ancient Egyptian law, a wealthy person, in order to become an aristocrat, had to take 8 soldiers into his service. They had to be constantly trained and engaged in military training, without loading them with ordinary work. Noble rich people formed squads-companies, which were subordinate to colonels. In the era of the New Kingdom, there were many foreign mercenaries in the army, and later they formed the basis of the Egyptian army.

The main force of the Egyptian army was infantry troops and detachments of chariots, and from the period of the Middle Kingdom, a battle fleet began to appear. Most often, warriors were armed with an ax made of copper, a mace, a bow, a spear or a copper dagger. For protection, they used a shield made of wood, which was covered with fur. In the Middle Kingdom, in connection with the development of metal processing, the spear, sword and arrowhead became bronze. At this time, detachments of archers and spearmen appear.

The Egyptian wars of the 20th century did not end with brilliant victories, despite their sometimes successful beginnings.

The Egyptian army is numerous, its personnel numbers almost half a million people. If a million reservists are added to the main staff, then we can conclude that this country has a huge military potential. None of the continent or the Middle East has such armed forces.

Egypt's wars with Israel have become an example of how you can lose with overwhelming superiority in manpower and technology. The first of them took place already in 1948 and ended in defeat, which caused the dissatisfaction of the officers with King Farouk. The underground organization founded by Nasser and Naguib came to power in 1952. The new government achieved the real sovereignty of the country by signing an agreement with Great Britain in 1954.

The result of the next war between Egypt and Israel in 1956 was also unsuccessful, but it showed the continuity of Nasser's policy towards this country.

In Yemen was accompanied by a constant increase in the size of the Egyptian contingent. At the beginning of the intervention (1962), it was 5 thousand troops, and by 1965 it had reached 55 thousand. Despite such an impressive presence, the effectiveness of military operations was low. 15 infantry divisions and two more (tank and artillery), not counting the soldiers of the special forces, experienced a constant shortage of supplies. The officers complained about the topographic deficit, which indicates a low level of logistical readiness.

11 years after the second war between Egypt and Israel began the third, later called the six-day war. Having guessed the intentions of the enemy, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces, abbreviated Tsakhal) launched a series of preemptive strikes on Egyptian airfields, headquarters and communication centers. Part of the country's territory, namely the whole was lost (temporarily).

In 1969-1970, the confrontation with the main enemy passed into a passive phase, called the "war of attrition". She did not reach her goal.

Then came the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The Egyptian army successfully crossed and rushed to Jerusalem, but was stopped and turned back. The Israelis drove the enemy through the desert, then continued the pursuit until they stopped a hundred kilometers from Cairo. Egypt was saved from complete defeat by the intervention of the USSR, which constantly and generously supplied the regional ally with weapons.

Today, few people remember the 1977 North African conflict with Libya. It was fleeting and practically fruitless for both sides.

The second corps took part in Operation Desert Storm on the side of the anti-Iraqi coalition. He was not entrusted with responsible tasks, but where it was required to designate a military presence, he coped with the task quite well.

The misfortune of the Egyptian army, like the whole country, was the catastrophic situation in the field of education. Of the three years spent in military service, an illiterate soldier learns to write and read for a year. It is difficult to count on the fact that having mastered these, certainly useful skills, he will immediately be able to control modern weapons systems.

In January 2011, the world's leading information channels broadcast reports from which one could conclude that there was a war going on in Egypt. In fact, an Islamic revolution took place, Mohammed Morsi came to power, who later became the legitimate president. Order was maintained in Cairo If it were not for the decisive actions of the army command, a civil war could break out in the country.

In Egypt, 2013 marked another government coup. This time, the military toppled Morsi and Adli Mansour, the chief constitutional judge, took over the government. The Egyptian military continues to engage in domestic politics. Perhaps in this field they will achieve greater success than on the battlefield.

Egypt has long been one of the greatest states of antiquity. Since the period of the Old Kingdom (2778-2220 BC), in the era of the kings-builders of the pyramids, Egypt has been constantly fighting against its neighbors, both offensive and defensive. Of course, in such "practical" conditions, the strongest army of the region was born - the fearless warriors of the pharaohs.

In the era of the Old Kingdom, Egypt begins to gradually form a permanent army. For service, the soldiers received large land plots, which served as an excellent incentive to really love the country and fight for its well-being.

Equipment of the Old Kingdom

A simple warrior was armed with a bow and arrows. For hand-to-hand combat, maces and copper battle axes were used, those who were poorer did not hesitate to use stone daggers and spears with stone tips. At that time, Egypt had only one branch of the land forces, the infantry. However, even then these were not just scattered detachments - the commanders knew how to build soldiers in ranks, and when storming fortresses they skillfully used assault ladders.

clear structure

Unlike many other nationalities of that time, the Egyptians knew how and loved the precise organization of any business. The army of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom was divided into units of 2.3 and 10 thousand soldiers. Recruitment to the army took place on a voluntary basis, which was also unusual - all of Egypt's neighbors generally used the services of mercenaries, who were bought at the right time.

Specialization of the Middle Kingdom

The armament of the Egyptian warriors was constantly evolving. Already during the Middle Kingdom, new, more advanced bows appeared with an arrow flight range of up to 180 meters. The organization of the entire army, divided into detachments of spearmen and archers, also changed. All units had a certain number of soldiers of 6, 40, 60, 100, 400 and 600 soldiers.

Regular army and chariots

At some point, the army of Egypt turned into a regular draft army. The youth had to serve a certain term, after which people returned to civilian life. A significant strengthening of the army occurred through the use of mercenaries - most often the Egyptians used the Nubians. In the middle of the 17th century BC, the Hyksos seized power in Lower Egypt, from whom the Egyptians learned about war chariots.

Equipment of the New Kingdom

The organization of the Egyptian army reached its peak during the New Kingdom. The army became not only regular, but also caste, the weapons of the warriors (straight and sickle-shaped swords were in use) were supplied by the state. Previously, a warrior was protected only by a helmet and a wooden shield, but now most could boast of reliable leather shells with sewn bronze plates. The infantry had already begun to give way to war chariots: the Egyptians realized that it was almost impossible to resist this force.

War chariots

In the middle of the New Kingdom era, war chariots came to the fore. Each death machine was equipped with a driver and a shooter, and foreigners were not allowed to drive a war chariot. The warriors were forced to buy a very expensive chariot with their own money, but this was considered more of a privilege - at that time the army finally becomes caste.

Warrior caste

Even ancient authors divided the military caste of Egypt into the Calasirians from the eastern Nile Delta and the Hermotibia, who lived near the western delta. Their number was huge: there were up to 250,000 Calasirians, and 140,000 Hermotibiians. The pharaoh did not allow these castes to engage in another craft: the son had to receive military skills from his father.