Ancient Egyptian Weapons, Chariots, Fighting Boats and Fortresses | Middle East And North Africa

Home | Category: Government, Military and Justice

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN WEAPONS

During the Middle Kingdom period (1991-1785 BC), when cultures elsewhere were using bronze weapons and armor, Egyptian soldier battled half-naked with clubs and flint spears. Regular armies were not formed until the New Kingdom (1540-1070). Fortresses were set up to hold off the Nubians. Sesostris III established a series of forts that were with signaling distance of one another.

The Hittites and Assyrians began using iron weapons and amour in Mesopotamia around 1200 B.C. with deadly results, but the Egyptians did not utilize the metal until the later pharaohs. The Egyptians began using chariots and composite bows long after their rivals.

According to ancientmilitary.com: “Over its long history the Egyptians employed a wide variety of ancient weapons. During the earliest periods stone and wood weapons were used, these early Egyptian weapons included slings, clubs, throwing sticks, stone maces and stone tipped spears. Horn and wooden bows were also constructed and used with stone tipped arrows. By 4000 BC the Egyptians had started importing obsidian from the Eastern Red Sea areas for their weapons. This glass like stone has properties that allow it to have a sharper point than the sharpest metals; these almost molecularly thin blades are used even today for scalpels. [Source: ancientmilitary.com/egyptian-weapons ++]

“By the time upper and lower Egypt were first united and their society coalesced around 3150 BC, the Egyptians had already been using bronze weapons. They used bronze for spearheads, axes and maces. It was also during this period that the composite bow came into use, made with horn and wood. Over the following centuries as the Pharaoh’s dominated ancient Egyptian society they began to standardize weapons, stock pile arsenals and borrow weapons systems from invading peoples.” ++

Armor and Clothing of Ancient Egyptian Soldiers

As it is necessary for a soldier to be able to move easily and quickly, the Egyptian soldiers as a rule wore nothing but a short skirt, which was still further shortened in front to allow of a rapid stride. This costume however afforded no protection at all to the lower part of the body, which was therefore covered by a special three-cornered or heart-shaped lappet, fastened on in front, and probably made of leather.

It appears that Ramses II, if the chance pictures we possess do not mislead us, introduced a great change into this conventional costume, for his warriors no longer wear this lappet to their skirt, but are mail-clad in a thick cap, and a close-fitting upper dress. This helmet and coat of mail, however, did not consist of metal, they were made more probably, as many of the pictures seem to show, of thickly-wadded material and forms an excellent protection. In rare instances they may have been covered with metal plates.

Under Ramses II the high officers and especially the charioteers certainly wear a special costume — a long skirt, an upper dress, and over that a short leathern coat of mail covering the breast, back, and thighs. Later they seem to have returned again to the old war costume with the heart-shaped lappet in front.

Stone Weapons and Maces in Ancient Egypt

Scorpion macehead

James Harrell of the University of Toledo wrote: “Chert was the most commonly used stone for weapons requiring a sharp edge, including arrow and spear points, and axe blades. It was, however, rarely employed for the mace, a stick with a heavy, well-rounded (ovoid, discoidal or pear-shaped) stone mass at one end. Maceheads, which were perforated to hold the stick, were carved from other hard, but easier- to-work, stones. [Source: James Harrell, University of Toledo, OH, Environmental Sciences, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]

These include most of the ornamental stones used from the late Predynastic Period to the Old Kingdom, and especially limestone, one of the principal building stones of ancient Egypt. Maceheads of the late Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods were sometimes decorated with carved scenes and apparently served as ceremonial weapons. A good example of this is the famous 1st Dynasty limestone macehead of King Scorpion from Hierakonpolis, now in Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.

“Most weapons were of stone until well into the Old Kingdom when metal became more common. Stone maceheads and chert arrow points, at least, continued to be made until the end of the Dynastic Period, but the maceheads were largely ceremonial and the chert points served as a less expensive but still effective alternative to the superior metal arrowheads. For example, many of the arrows in the 18th Dynasty tomb of King Tutankhamen had chert points

Jason Urbanus wrote in Archaeology magazine: Weapons occasionally assume symbolic importance that transcends their martial purpose and comes to represent the power and authority their possessors hold over others. At times, some ancient weapons were seen as mystical items, endowed with supernatural properties. Maces were closely associated with the earliest Egyptian rulers. They could be used to crush an opponent’s skull in close combat but were also seen as important symbols of pharaohs’ strength and supremacy. Some ancient examples, such as the approximately 5,000-year-old mace-head of King Narmer, were not intended to be used in battle, but were explicitly designed to serve as ceremonial or votive objects. This mace-head was carved with scenes from Narmer’s life that emphasized his authority and the subjugation of his enemies. [Source: Jason Urbanus, Archaeology magazine, May-June 2020]

Types of Ancient Egyptian Weapons

ome have called objects like this throwing sticks or even boomerangs but actually they were clappers, a type of musical instrument

According to ancientmilitary.com: “The Bow: The bow long remained the main armament of Egyptian forces throughout Egypt’s long military history; perhaps due to the lack of armor worn by Egyptian warriors and their enemies in the hot climate where they operated. The ancient Egyptian’s continued to use both long bows and composite bows throughout their history. Arrowheads switched from stone to obsidian during the pre-dynastic period. Obsidian was exchanged for bronze around 2000BC, and finally, domestically produced iron arrow heads began to appear around 1000BC. Most archers were foot soldiers however Egyptian chariots also carried them. Archers provided range to the chariot warriors, and when range and speed were combined the chariot mounted archers became dominate figures on the ancient battlefields. Nubian mercenaries often served as foot archers and are said to have been their best bowmen. [Source: ancientmilitary.com/egyptian-weapons ++]

“Egyptian Swords – The Sickle Sword or Khopesh: The khopesh is probably the most iconic of the Egyptian weapons. It features a curved, thick blade and measured about two feet long. A khopessh has a thick, crescent shaped blade that is used for slashing. There are several styles of this wicked weapon, and one very well designed style that combines the advantages of both of them. Basically one style has a hook on the end that is used for grabbing people, their weapons or shields and the other variety has a point on the end that can be used for stabbing. The hybrid type has both a point and a hook on it, and this can be used to pull an opponent’s shield down then thrust (stab) the end of the khopesh into their face. There is nothing nice about a Khopesh, it leaves nasty wounds and looks vicious. ++

“Egyptian Axes: Another weapon that the Egyptians developed with a uniquely Egyptian style was the battle axe. The first Egyptian battleaxes were produced during the Old Kingdom period, around 2000 BC, and were constructed of bronze. Their crescent shaped blades were affixed into grooves on long handles. This was a weaker connection than the axes made by their contemporaries that featured a hole through the axe head that the handle fit through, but it served their purpose of slashing unarmored troops and hacking through the hide covered, wood framed shields used at the time. However, once they met the Sea-peoples and the Hyskos they found their axes to be inadequate and changed their design. Egyptian axes could be used for hacking or be thrown. Another, interesting and all Egyptian weapon is a fan like axe. This weapon had a fan shaped head used for slashing, mounted on a pole. However, this weapon isn't a true axe and may have been for ceremonial uses only. ++

“Spears: The second largest contingent in an Egyptian army (after the bowmen) was the spearmen. Spears are cheap and it takes little training for levy soldiers to figure out how to use them. Charioteers also carried spears as secondary weapons and to keep enemy infantry from getting to close. Similar to arrowheads Egyptian spears progressed through stone, obsidian, copper and finally iron stages. ++

“Egyptian Throwing Sticks: The Egyptians must have had a place in their heart for this weak little weapon (weak compared to bows and slings, both of which the Egyptian’s used). A throwing stick was essentially a boomerang that didn’t come back. Perhaps it stuck around as long as it did because it was a cheap secondary weapon for infantry troops. Although a throwing stick was unlikely to kill anyone it could have also been used to distract an enemy during melee combat. While one guy throws a stick at your face another guy would stab you in the gut, that kind of thing. Famously, they were also used for hunting waterfowl along the Nile, even by Pharaohs.”

Weapons of Different Ancient Egyptian Military Units

Ancient Egyptian bow

One picture, which shows the foot soldiery of the first army on the march, illustrates the equipment of the troops under Ramses II. They are armed with lances, and alternately also with daggers or sickle shaped swords, while every fifth man, probably a subordinate officer, carries a short wand. They have hung their heavy shields over their backs during the march.

The pictures of the troops serving as bodyguard at the court of King Akhenaten belong to a somewhat earlier date. The arms of this corps consist of a shield and light lance; the officers carry clubs. Another company carry heavy lances, an axe, and a shield, and are commanded by officers with sticks; they are also distinguished from the first corps by their coiffure, which is made to cover their ears; the front flap of their skirt is also somewhat narrower. Similarly attired is a company armed with a sort of threshing flail, and commanded by men bearing clubs. We are also able to recognise a troop of auxiliaries of this period — Syrians in their native costume armed with long lances; a short dagger is stuck in the loincloth; they are commanded by Egyptians.

Other pictures show us African companies serving under the same king and armed with bows and arrows. " These various regiments are of course accompanied by the standard-bearers, so often mentioned in the inscriptions; representations of a few of the various standards are given in the accompanying illustration. '' As we see, some of these standards are in the form of fans, while others consist only of single ostrich feathers, which as we have already observed were a symbol of victory.

Egyptian Chariots

The Semitic Hyksos who briefly ruled Egypt introduced the horse and chariot around 1700 B.C. When hooked up to a pair of horses, an Egyptian chariot, weighing only 17 pounds, could easily reach speeds of 20 miles-per-hour (compared to two miles-per-hour with oxen). The chariots enabled the Egyptians to expand their empire. Chariot technology was also introduced to ancient Egypt by the Hittites.

According to ancientmilitary.com: “Chariots became indispensable to the Egyptian armies. The Egyptians built fast, light chariots and would use them to race into position shower their enemies with arrows and retreat before a counter attack could be launched. These strikes would demoralize an enemy army, making them feel helpless against further attacks. Egyptian chariots carried a driver and an archer and were assembled at the battlefield. At the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC, 5,000 – 6,000 chariots slugged it out. Kadesh was probably the largest chariot battle in history, pitting the heavier Hittite three man chariots (they added a spearman) against the quicker Egyptian two man chariots. In the end both sides claimed victory and one of the first known international peace treaties was signed. [Source: ancientmilitary.com/egyptian-weapons ++]

Ramesses II on a chariot

Ancient Egyptian Chariot Forces

In ancient Egypt chariot forces played the part of the cavalry. The chariot soldiers stood two abreast on the chariot. One fought from the chariot with his bow and arrows or with his darts, which were conveniently at hand, stuck into two quivers on the side of the chariot; the other drove the horses, which were sometimes protected padded coats." To the surprise of the Egyptians the Hittites drove in a different fashion; ' they manned their chariots with three soldiers; that is to say, they added a shield-bearer, who had to protect the other two with his shield, whilst the Egyptian chariot-soldier had to cover himself with his own shield.

The barracks for the chariot force were the the royal stables; large departments with “chiefs of the stables," and “scribes," who had not only to take care of the horses, but also to look after many other matters, which to our ideas have really very little to do with the army. For instance, the scribe of one of these stables in writing to his chief, after he has informed him how it fared with the horses, continues: “I have attended to what my lord wrote to me: ' Give provision to the soldiers and to the 'Aperu, who are dragging the altar of Ra of Ramses to Memphis. ' “ We see that in times of peace the division of the chariot force was employed on the public works just as much as that of the foot soldiery. We have already mentioned the “stable of the caus such as in Egyptian parlance, of education.

Amongst the highest officers of this force were the royal charioteers. These were, at any rate some of them, distinguished, well-educated men of high rank, and Ramses II as well as Ramses III availed themselves of the services of their own sons as “chief charioteers of his Majesty, and superintendents of the horses. " Amenemopet, another "chief charioteer," a number of whose letters have been preserved, styles himself in them a “royal ambassador to all countries, the governor of foreign countries and peoples "; he was therefore not only a general but also a diplomatist. He was a man of scholarly education, and doubtless in his heart he felt contempt for his lower more practical military appointment.

Tutankhamun destroying his enemies

Ancient Egyptian Navy

The first represented naval battle, pitting the forces of Pharaoh Ramses III against the Sea peoples in the Nile delta, took place in 1186 B.C. with sailing ships, which are much are harder to maneuver that oared vessels. [Source: "History of Warfare" by John Keegan, Vintage Books]

When the people endeavored to enter the mouth of the Nile by sea, Ramses III attacked them with his war-ships and his foot-soldiers, and won the most complete victory. Though the empty phrases of the inscriptions teach us very little about the particulars of this naval battle, yet we are able to form a general idea of it from the accompanying illustration. The ships on both sides — we can recognise the Egyptian by the lion-heads in the bows — have reefed their sails in order not to interfere with the men who are fighting; the basket at the masthead also has been removed to make room for a slinger. The Egyptians understand how to pull round the ships of the enemy with their grappling irons, so as to bring them to close quarters; in fighting also they have the better of their opponents, for they all carry bows, whilst the barbarians with their short swords can only fight in a hand-to-hand medley. [Source: Adolph Erman, “Life in Ancient Egypt”, 1894]

This battle is almost the only naval engagement in Egyptian history; for though in the wars with the Hyksos we certainly hear of fighting on the water, yet in the latter case the Nile was the scene of action. From the account of this battle, we learn that on the ships of war the subordinate officer bore the title of u'aii, as in the case of the foot-soldiers, while the highest rank that an officer could attain was that of “chief of the ships," such as admiral. The ships had their individual names, as Battle Animal, or Glorious in Memphis. The ship of Pharaoh is also called Beloved of Anion, and as the standard-bearer and the uan of the latter ship are often mentioned," it must have been a ship of war. As a rule however, as far as we know, the army in Egypt was always of far more importance than the navy.

Military Use of Boats in Ancient Egypt

Steve Vinson of the University of Indiana wrote: “The connection of boats with warfare can be traced back to the Predynastic Period. Possibly the earliest image of boats connected to combat in Egyptian art is the Gebel el- Arak knife handle, an ivory knife handle apparently of Naqada II/Gerzean date, which shows two rows of boats of contrasting designs underneath two registers of men fighting. Because the boats in the upper of the two rows shows hulls that strongly resemble craft depicted on contemporaneous representations from Mesopotamia, the Gebel el-Arak knife handle was once thought to provide strong evidence for the theory of the infiltration into Egypt around 3100 B.C. of a “Dynastic Race,” perhaps from in or near the region of Sumer. Supposedly, the maritime invaders of this “Dynastic Race” will have sailed southeast (!) down the Persian Gulf, circumnavigated Arabia, entered Egypt on the western Red Sea coast, portaged their boats through the Eastern Desert (where numerous allegedly “foreign” boat petroglyphs were found), and then, over time, come to dominate the indigenous, Predynastic Egyptians and imposed on them a centralized, literate state. [Source: Steve Vinson, University of Indiana, Bloomington, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]

ship with Nubian captives

“However, the “Dynastic Race” model, first proposed in the late nineteenth century (in the hey-day of the highly-racially-conscious British imperial project in Egypt, see Vinson 2004), has long been abandoned on multiple grounds. It is therefore hard to know exactly what to make of the Mesopotamian-looking vessels on the knife handle, which are quite unparalleled in other known examples of Predynastic Egyptian nautical art. It seems likely that the Mesopotamian imagery seen here is the result of a range of Mesopotamian cultural importations into late Predynastic Egypt, probably via Syria, reached by Sumerians during the Uruk Expansion of the late fourth millennium B.C.. Military conflict between fleets commanded by Predynastic Egyptians and invading Uruk-era Mesopotamians is probably not the explanation. On the other hand, whoever executed the Gebel el-Arak image was certainly familiar with the notion that boats could be used in warfare.

“In the 1st Dynasty, a petroglyph connected to king Djer at the site Gebel Sheikh Suliman appears to show Nubian captives or slain surrounding a boat, which perhaps indicates a water-borne expedition into Nubia. The 6th Dynasty autobiography of Weni reports the use of boats to launch a sea-borne attack somewhere off the coast of Syria-Palestine at a place he calls “Antelope Nose”. Boats must have been used frequently for military operations, but depictions of such are surprisingly scarce. One excellent, but rare, example is a group of three rowed river boats shown in a wall painting from the 11th Dynasty Theban tomb of an official of Mentuhotep I named Intef. Aside from the rowers, the boats also carry archers and soldiers armed with shields and battle-axes. Who the enemy is, however, is unfortunately unclear.

“At the end of the First Intermediate Period, the Kamose Stela describes Egyptian troops under the Theban king Kamose moving northward in a battle fleet from Thebes to attack the Hyksos at Avaris. From the very early 18th Dynasty, the autobiography of Ahmose, son of Ebana, who had made his career in the military serving aboard combat vessels, describes fighting from Nile boats both at Avaris (under the command of Kamose’s younger brother Ahmose, who finally defeated the Hyksos and reestablished centralized rule in Egypt as first king of the 18th Dynasty) and two invasions of Nubia in which Nile boats were used to convey Egyptian armies (under the commands of Amenhotep I and Thutmose I).

“The only naval engagement actually portrayed in Egyptian art is the great battle against the People of the Sea in the funerary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, which appears to have taken place in the Nile Delta, not in the open sea. It is not, however, clear that any of the vessels involved are actually “Egyptian,” if by that we mean a vessel built, crewed, and commanded by Egyptians. It is notable that the ships on both sides of the battle are rigged with a new, non-Egyptian technology called “brails” (Venetian-blind-like cords that permitted rapid shortening and easy reshaping of sails), and the attire of the great majority of “Egyptian” marines suggests that they could be ethnically or culturally connected to the invading Sea Peoples. If so, it could be that the “Egyptian” fleet is actually a mercenary fleet.

“With the demise of the New Kingdom, boats certainly continued to be used for military purposes on the Nile. The great stela of the Nubian king Piankhy describes the fleet used to move his troops against his Libyan enemies in the Egyptian Delta, and the Libyan fleet that tried to stop Piankhy. In the Saite Period, Egyptians along with Greek and Carian mercenary soldiers sailed south for a campaign against the Nubians; one expedition is commemorated by Greek and Carian graffiti on the colossal statues of Ramesses II at the rock-cut temple of Abu Simbel.”

Middle Kingdom fortress reconstructed during the New Kingdom around 1200 BC

Middle Kingdom Fortresses

Fortresses were set up in the Middle Kingdom (2040–1782 B.C.) to hold off Nubians and other potential enemies. Sesostris III, who ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 B.C. during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. established a series of forts that were with signaling distance of one another.

It is a remarkable fact that during the Middle Kingdom the Egyptians took great trouble to fortify against the barbarians those weak points which occurred in the natural bulwarks of Egypt, and which they called “the gates of the barbarians. " At the Nubian frontier, where the fortress of Aswan now stands, was the “southern gate," which was sometimes placed under the “superintendent of the South," “and sometimes under the nomarch of Thebes. There was also a particularly weak point in the east of the Delta, where the long valley of the old Land of Goshen, the present VVadi Tumilat, led straight from the heart of the Delta to a break in the chain of the Bitter Lakes. The importance of this place from a strategic point of view has been shown of late years in the military operations of the English in Egypt. During the Middle Kingdom, if not earlier, a great fortress was built here, the “wall of the monarch, which is erected to keep off the Asiatics "; it was garrisoned, and from the top men were always on the look-out for the enemy. " [Source: Adolph Erman, “Life in Ancient Egypt”, 1894]

The ruin of one of these fortresses of the Middle Kingdom gives us a good idea of the plan on which they were built. Senusret III blockaded the right bank of the river at Semneh in Nubia with a great fortress, of which such large portions still remain, that in the restoration here given from Chipiez, nothing essential has been supplied by fancy. ' This immense brick building, with its many projecting corners and its irregular ground plan, is surrounded on the outside by a wall. Chipiez has explained in the most interesting way the curious change of direction in the line of the slope of the outer wall; the object was to render the planting of scaling ladders more difficult. To reach the parapet of a wall built with this change of angle, it is necessary to have much longer ladders than for a perpendicular wall of the same height. In a tomb at Beni Hasan there is also a representation of a fortress of the Middle Kingdom, with a similar change of angle in the wall. On one of the walls of this fortress may be seen a tower that is only about 4½ meters (15 feet) high, and that has two closed doors at the foot. It is interesting that in this representation we have also a scene of the siege of the fortress. The besiegers advance under cover of a penthouse, they are driving a long battering-ram against the wall, and are sending a storm of arrows against the defenders. The besieged stand protected by a parapet about one meter (3 feet) high, or they lie in small balconies that project obliquely, so as to enable them to pour down arrows and stones on the enemy. "

Fortifications in The Nile Delta

The line of fortifications which was intended to keep back these Libyans of the Delta, is met with as early as the time of the Middle Kingdom, and is still standing. It consisted of a wall strengthened by small towers, or according to the Semitic word, inigdols; this formed an obstruction which the slaves who tried to escape from Egypt, and the Libyans who wanted to pasture their cattle on the fields of the Delta, found difficult to pass. At this time we also meet with a defensive work of another kind, namely a broad canal, which presumably connected the lakes of the isthmus together. At the point where a bridge crossed this canal were strong fortresses on both sides; all the various well-stations of the desert route on the Syrian side were also provided with small forts. "' The great fortress which defended this bridge was the “fortress of T''aru," which is so often mentioned as the starting-point of the military expeditions. [Source: Adolph Erman, “Life in Ancient Egypt”, 1894]

artist's view of an ancient Egyptian fortress along the water

This frontier was most strictly watched. Captains of the mercenaries with the divisions under their command garrisoned the fortresses and the wells, and nobody might pass without giving his name, his position and the object of his journey, and producing the letters he bore. For our knowledge of these facts we are entirely indebted to the young scribe Paebpasa, who lived under Merenptah, and was a pupil of Amenemopet, the chief charioteer. He seems to have been stationed in the fortress T'aru, and to have had to keep an account of those who went out or in, and to inform the authorities. For several days he entered the necessary information on this subject on the first piece of good paper that he chanced upon, the back of his school copy-book; and it is in this copy-book that they have been preserved to us.

Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated August 2024