Weapons and armor during the time of the pharaohs - the builders of the pyramids
Looking through the archive of my publications on the history of armor and weapons, published in VO, I found that among them there is not a single one on the history of weapons of Ancient Egypt. But this is the cradle of European culture, which has given mankind a lot. As for the periodization of its history, it is traditionally divided into the Old Kingdom (XXXII century - XXIV century BC), Middle Kingdom (XXI century - XVIII century BC) and New Kingdom (XVII century - XI century BC) Before the Old Kingdom in Egypt there was a Predynastic period and then the Early Kingdom. After the New Kingdom, there was also the Late Period, and then the Hellenistic Period, and between the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms, as a rule, there were also transitional periods filled with turmoil and rebellions. Often at this time, Egypt was exposed to the blows of nomadic tribes and warlike neighbors, so that its history was by no means peaceful and military affairs in Egypt, which means that offensive and defensive weapons have always been held in high esteem!
Already in the era of the Old Kingdom - the era of the kings-builders of the pyramids in Egypt, there was an army recruited from free peasants, individual units of which were armed with uniform weapons. That is, the army consisted of warriors with spears and shields, warriors with maces, small axes and daggers made of copper and bronze, and detachments of archers with large bows, whose arrows were tipped with flint. The task of the troops was to protect the borders and trade routes from attacks by the Libyans - the most significant among the tribes of the "Nine Bows" - the traditional enemies of Ancient Egypt, the Nubians in the south and the Bedouin nomads in the East. During the reign of Pharaoh Sneferu, the king's army captured 70,000 prisoners, which indirectly speaks about the number of Egyptian troops, about the perfection of their tactics, and - about their superiority in weapons!
Since it is very hot in Egypt, the ancient warriors did not have any special "military uniform" or protective clothing. All of their clothing consisted of a traditional skirt, a lamb's wool wig that acted as a helmet to protect the head from the stunning blow of the mace and shield. The latter was made of bovine hide with the wool outward, which, apparently, was combined in several layers and stretched over a wooden frame. The shields were large, covering the person up to the neck and pointed at the top, as well as somewhat smaller, rounded at the top, which the warriors held by the straps attached from the back.
The warriors formed a phalanx and moved towards the enemy, covering themselves with shields and putting out their spears, and the archers were behind the infantrymen and fired over their heads. Such tactics and approximately the same weapons among the peoples with whom the Egyptians fought at that time did not require any greater perfection of weapons - the more disciplined and trained soldiers won, and it is clear that these were, of course, the Egyptians.
At the end of the Middle Kingdom, the Egyptian infantry, as before, was traditionally divided into archers, warriors with short-range percussion weapons (clubs, clubs, axes, axes, javelins, spears) who did not have shields, warriors with axes and shields, and spearmen. This "branch of the army" had shields 60-80 cm long and about 40-50 cm wide, as, for example, in the figurines of warriors found in the tomb of nomarch Mesekhti. That is, in the era of the Middle Kingdom, the Egyptians knew a deep formation of spearmen, covered with shields and built in several rows!
It is interesting that the troops of the Egyptians at this time consisted exclusively of infantry. The first case of the use of horses in Egypt was attested during the excavations of the city of Buchen - a fortress on the border with Nubia. The find belongs to the era of the Middle Kingdom, but although horses were already known at that time, they were not widespread in Egypt. It can be assumed that some wealthy Egyptian bought it somewhere in the East and brought it to Nubia, but he hardly used it as a means of draft.
As for the infantry archers, they armed themselves with the simplest bows, that is, made from one piece of wood. A complex bow (that is, assembled from different types of wood and pasted over with leather) would be too difficult for them to manufacture, and expensive to supply ordinary infantrymen with such weapons. But one should not think that these bows were weak, because they had a length of 1.5 m or more, and in skillful hands they were a very powerful and long-range weapon. The English bows of the Middle Ages, made of yew or maple, and in lengths from 1, 5 to 2 m, were also simple, but they pierced steel armor at a distance of 100 m, and the English archer despised anyone who could not fire 10 - 12 arrows in a minute. However, there is one subtlety here. They did not shoot directly at the men at arms, or they shot only at a very close distance: almost point-blank! At a long distance, volleys were shot upwards on command, so that the arrow fell on the knight from above and hit not so much himself as his horse. Hence the armor on the neck of the knight's horses from above! So there is no doubt about the capabilities of Egyptian archers armed with bows of this size, and they could well hit opponents not protected by metal armor at a distance of 75 - 100 m and up to 150 m under favorable conditions.
Ancient Egypt: weapons and armor of warriors on chariots
Over its thousand-year history, Egypt has experienced not only ups but also downs. So the era of the Middle Kingdom ended with the invasion of the Hyksos nomads, its defeat and a period of decline. They were helped to cope with the Egyptians by the fact that they fought on two-wheeled high-speed chariots drawn by a pair of horses, which gave their troops unprecedented maneuverability and mobility. But soon the Egyptians themselves learned to breed and train horses, make chariots and fight on them. The Hyksos were expelled, Egypt experienced a new rise, and its pharaohs, no longer content with defending their borders and expeditions for gold to Nubia, began wars with their neighbors in Asia, and also tried to penetrate the territory of modern Syria and Lebanon.
Representatives of the Ramses dynasty were especially warlike pharaohs of the era of the onset of the New Kingdom. The armament of the warriors at this time became even more lethal, as the metal processing technology was improved, and in addition to chariots, the Egyptians also learned a reinforced bow, which increased the range of the arrow and the accuracy of its hit. The power of such bows was truly great: it is known that such pharaohs as Thutmose III and Amenhotep II pierced copper targets with arrows fired from them.
Already at a distance of 50 - 100 m with an arrow with a metal leaf-shaped tip, apparently, it was possible to pierce the armor of a warrior on an enemy chariot. The bows were kept in special cases on the sides of the chariots - one on each (one spare) or one at the side closer to which the shooter was. However, using them has now become much more difficult, especially while standing on a chariot and, moreover, in motion.
That is why the military organization of the Egyptian army at this time also underwent major changes. In addition to the traditional infantry - "mesh", charioteers - "netheter" appeared. They now represented the elite of the army, all their lives they studied the military craft, which became hereditary for them and passed from father to son.
The very first wars in Asia brought rich booty to the Egyptians. So, after the capture of the city of Megiddo, they got: “340 prisoners, 2041 horses, 191 foals, 6 breeding horses, 2 war chariots decorated with gold, 922 ordinary war chariots, 1 bronze carapace, 200 leather carapaces, 502 battle bows, 7 tent pillars decorated with silver and belonging to the king of Kadesh, 1,929 head of cattle, 2,000 goats, 20,500 sheep and 207,300 sacks of flour. The defeated recognized the power of the ruler of Egypt over themselves, took an oath of allegiance and pledged to pay tribute.
Interestingly, in the list of trophy shells, there is only one bronze and 200 leather, which suggests that the presence of chariots also required increased protection for those who fought on them, since they were very valuable professional warriors, whom it was a pity to lose. But the fact that there is only one metal shell speaks of the extremely high cost of the then protective weapons, which only the princes and pharaohs of Egypt possessed.
The multitude of chariots taken as trophies unambiguously speaks of their wide distribution, not only among the Asians, but also among the Egyptians themselves. Egyptian chariots, judging by the images and artifacts that have come down to us, are light carts for two people, one of which drove horses, and the other fired at the enemy from a bow. The wheels had wooden rims and six spokes, the bottom was wicker, with the very minimum of wooden fences. This allowed them to develop high speed, and the supply of arrows in two quivers allowed them to wage a long battle.
The Battle of Kadesh - the largest battle between the armies of Egypt and the Hittite kingdom in 1274 BC. - Thousands of chariots participated on both sides, and although it actually ended in a draw, there is no doubt that it was the chariots that played a very important role in it. But in addition to new bows, the Egyptians also had two new types of long daggers - with a massive leaf-shaped blade with an edge in the middle, and a blade rounded at the end and piercing-chopping - with graceful, long blades with parallel blades, which smoothly passed into a point, and also with a convex edge. The handle of both was very comfortable, with two cone-shaped sockets - upward with a pommel and downward with a crosshair.
The sickle-shaped (occasionally double-edged) blade weapon, borrowed by the Egyptians from their enemies in Palestine and underwent a number of modifications in Egypt - "khopesh" ("khepesh"), was also widely used, as were maces, narrow-bladed axes and moon-shaped axes.
This is how the infantry of Ancient Egypt, including the Ancient and Middle Kingdoms, could look like. In the foreground are two spear warriors in headscarves, with printed protective aprons in the shape of a heart over an ordinary apron, possibly in quilted jackets, with crescent short swords made of bronze, and then warriors with a battle club combined with an ax and a poleaxe with a moon-shaped blade. The dart thrower has no protective weapons at all. Two black warriors with bows in their hands - mercenaries from Nubia. Only one pharaoh has armor on his body, next to which there is a signalman with a drum. Zvezda soldier set box. Eh, what is not for the boys just now! And what soldiers I had in my childhood - heaven and earth!
Narmer's palette. Depicts Pharaoh Narmer with a mace in his hands. (Cairo Museum)
Head of the mace of Pharaoh Nermer. (British Museum, London)
Darts and shield. Ancient Egypt. Middle Kingdom. Modern renovation. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Painted figurines of warriors from the tomb of nomarch Mesekhti. (Cairo Museum)
Head of the mace of an Egyptian warrior. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The ax of their tomb of Akhotep. New kingdom. 18th dynasty, 16th century BC. (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)
Ancient Egyptian battle ax. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Reconstruction of the chariot of the New Kingdom. (Römer-Pelizaeus Museum. Lower Saxony, Hildesheim, Germany)
Surprisingly, the ancient Egyptians knew and used boomerangs very similar to those used and used by the indigenous people of Australia. So these two boomerangs from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun are very similar to the Australian ones and differ from them only in their decoration! (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)
Pharaoh Tutankhamun on a chariot. Painting on wood, length 43 cm. (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)
Gold dagger of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)
Pharaoh on a chariot. Wall painting in the Abu Simbel temple.
Relief from the funeral temple of Queen Hatshepsut depicting Egyptian soldiers of the 18th dynasty, 1475 BC. NS. Limestone, painting. (Egyptian Museum Berlin)
