War and Conflict - Ancient History: Egypt

Rock-throwing slings, bow and arrows, and spears were all common weapons from the Pre-Dynastic Period onwards. There is no archaeological record of constructed, rope wound weapons like cross bows.

The Old Kingdom during its last years suffered from a variety of instances of dysfunctional governance and infrastructure that resulted in the dissolution of the Old Kingdom and the resulting fragmentation of power. These include discord as a result of Pepi II's lengthy reign, in addition to the monarchs' consolidation of more power and strife between Memphis, Thebes and Heracleopolis. Environmental problems resulting from less rainfall and flooding of the Nile only exacerbated this situation. In contrast, during the entire early period of Egyptian history, Egypt and Nubia engaged in periodic war, but neither side was able to overcome the other. Egypt finally conquered the northern Nubian Kingdom of Kerma around 1500 BCE (during the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom). On the other hand, during the later period of Egyptian decline in the Third Intermediate Period, the Kingdom of Kush finally conquered Egypt around 760 BCE, resulting in the Twenty-fifth Dynasty.

Nubia was a notable rival civilization that existed to the south of Egypt throughout much of the history of ancient Egypt. Like Egypt, Nubia emerged along the banks of the Nile River. The relationship between Nubia and Egypt varied widely throughout the long period of ancient Egyptian history. For many years they were important trading partners; then, during the Middle and New Kingdoms, Nubia was essentially an Egyptian tributary state; but, during the Third Intermediate Period, Nubia actually ruled Egypt as the 24th Dynasty.

The Hyksos are primarily notable for invading Egypt and bringing to an end the rule of the Middle Kingdom. In the mid-seventeenth century BCE, the Hyksos invaded the fractured and weak ruling dynasties in Egypt and swiftly conquered them. The Hyksos ruled over Egypt for approximately a century before they were overthrown.

During the Middle Kingdom period, the Egyptians constructed several forts along the border with Nubia. These fortresses were often ineffective and hard to defend. Iken, for example, was built on flat ground and so was not well-equipped to resist a sustained invasion. Because of this ineffectiveness, many Egyptologists believe that these forts were intended to instill fear and awe so as to discourage invasion, rather than to actually withstand invasion.

Accounts of the Pharaoh’s frequent military campaigns are legion. These accounts almost always convey that the Pharaoh had won a great victory, even if he did not. This demonstrates how the Egyptian government used propaganda to reinforce the notion of the Pharaoh’s absolute power and authority.

Iken was a fortress built during the reigns of Senusret II and III, during the height of the Middle Kingdom. Iken was the largest fortress built during this period. It was built in southern Egypt, along the border with Nubia, to protect against Nubian invasion.

The New Kingdom pharaohs, despite their many fearsome Asiatic conquests, were not at all averse to diplomacy. In fact, when it was deemed religiously and politically preferable, they frequently took the diplomatic route to either avoid or end military conflicts with neighboring states. These pharaohs developed their own special blend of diplomatic relations – peace overtures would be made and then cemented through the ritual exchange of valuable gifts and strategic royal marriages. Their willingness to engage in diplomacy, as well as the many alliances which thereby resulted, contributed greatly to the over prosperity and territorial expansions enjoyed by the Empire during this era.

The Battle of Kadesh was fought in the 13th century BCE, during the reign of one of the most powerful Egyptian rulers - Ramasses II. It was fought between the Egyptian Empire and their great rivals, the Hittites. It ended in something of a stalemate, although Ramasses II claimed a great victory.

Thutmose I ruled during the early years of the 18th Dynasty (the first ruling dynasty of the New Kingdom). He led a series of successful military campaigns which expanded Egyptian power deeper into Nubia. He also contributed to the further destruction of the Hyksos people in the Middle East.

The Battle of Kadesh was fought during the reign of Ramasses II, during the height of the power of the New Kingdom. It was fought between Egypt and their great rivals at the time, the Hittites. It ended in partial victory for the Egyptians and a negotiated peace treaty between the Hittites and the Egyptians.

The Battle of Djahy was a defensive battle fought by the Egyptians against a nomadic confederation of raiders known as the Sea People, who invaded Egypt consistently over many years during the Third Intermediate Period.

The Twenty-Fifth Dynasty of Egypt was the last ruling dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period. The dynasty had the misfortune of coexisting with the rising power of Assyria and was dealt a devastating blow when Assyrian forces sacked the cities of Thebes and Memphis in the seventh century BCE.

During the seventh century BCE, the power of the Egyptian empire had waned substantially. The territory had been ruled by foreign invaders (from Libya and Nubia) for several generations and the state was greatly weakened by internal conflict and decentralization of power. The rising Assyrian Empire, which emerged in the Middle East, took advantage of this situation and conquered most of Egypt in the seventh century.

King Kashta of Kush invaded Egypt during the 8th Century BCE, conquering the country. The emperors of Kush then ruled as pharaohs of Egypt for the 25th dynasty, until they were removed by the Assyrians.

The Sack of Jerusalem took place during the tenth century BCE. It is generally believed that the Egyptian forces were led by one of the Libyan rulers of Egypt, most likely Shoshenq I. Although, there is a considerate amount of disagreement among historians and Egyptologists owing to the paucity of reliable historical evidence from this time period.

We know the most about the Sea Peoples from Egyptian accounts such as the Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah, although similar phenomena are described in Levantine, Anatolian and Mesopotamian sources, suggesting a massive marine migration of loosely affiliated peoples who disrupted the stability of the entire region. These migrations and invasions were an essential, although not the only, element in what is described as the Bronze Age Collapse. Rather than the powerful empires consolidating their strength and spheres of influences, instead this resulted in the destruction of long-standing states (the Hittite Empire and Mycenaean Greece), as well as the immense weakening of Egypt during its transition from the New Kingdom to the Third Intermediate Period. Egypt eventually weakened to the point that it became susceptible to conquest by the Assyrians, and then in turn the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. While the Sea Peoples are sometimes blamed from the collapse of Mycenaean civilization, an alternative postulation is that the Sea Peoples themselves consisted of native Greeks displaced by political and environmental factors, forcing them to travel by sea to populate and invade Egypt and the Levant. This is supported by linguistic and archaeological evidence of the Philistines, who appear to have spoken an Indo-European language related to Greek, and whose art and pottery strongly resembles earlier Greek forms.

Artaxerxes III was a ruler of the Persian Empire during the fourth century BCE. When he came to power, Egypt had recently rebelled against the Persian Empire and was trying to re-establish itself as a strong, independent kingdom. Artaxerxes III led a successful Persian reconquest of Egypt and established himself as the first Pharaoh of the 31st Dynasty.

The Assyrian Empire conquered most of Egypt in the seventh century BCE and ruled for less than two centuries before they were themselves conquered by the mighty Persian Empire. The Persians ruled Egypt for a little over a century before they were deposed by an Egyptian rebellion. The Persians took back control a few generations later, but were then swiftly conquered by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE.

The Old Kingdom during its last years suffered from a variety of instances of dysfunctional governance and infrastructure that resulted in the dissolution of the Old Kingdom and the resulting fragmentation of power. These include discord as a result of Pepi II's lengthy reign, in addition to the monarchs' consolidation of more power and strife between Memphis, Thebes and Heracleopolis. Environmental problems resulting from less rainfall and flooding of the Nile only exacerbated this situation. In contrast, during the entire early period of Egyptian history, Egypt and Nubia engaged in periodic war, but neither side was able to overcome the other. Egypt finally conquered the northern Nubian Kingdom of Kerma around 1500 BCE (during the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom). On the other hand, during the later period of Egyptian decline in the Third Intermediate Period, the Kingdom of Kush finally conquered Egypt around 760 BCE, resulting in the Twenty-fifth Dynasty.