Victims of civil war in ancient Egypt. They’re bound with ropes and have their heads cut off and placed between their legs. (from the Narmer palette, about 3000 BC)
Civil wars in ancient Egypt
Because it is surrounded by deserts like the Land of Oz, Egypt is pretty hard to invade. So a lot of the time Egypt was at peace.
More about Egypt’s geography
Lots of Ancient Egypt articles
But not all the time. The Egyptians fought among themselves over who would be in charge of their country, and over whether the country would be united (as in the First Intermediate Period).
Soldiers from the 11th Dynasty (about 2000 BC)
Who invaded Egypt?
The Egyptians also sometimes fought off invasions from the Libyans to their west, or from the Nubians to their south (and sometimes they lost to these attacks too).
More about the Nubians
Around 1700 BC, there was a big invasion of Hyksos from the north. They brought the first horses and chariots to Egypt.
More about the Hyksos
Rameses III conquering the Libyans (ca. 1300 BC)
Where did Egyptians attack?
Also, the Egyptians sometimes attacked their neighbors. They sometimes marched armies into the Levant (modern Israel) to their north, as in the New Kingdom.
More about the New Kingdom
And sometimes the Egyptians tried to get control of Nubia (modern Sudan) to their south or the Libyans to their west.
War chariots and weapons in ancient Egypt
More about bows and arrows
Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses at the Battle of Qadesh (Abu Simbel, New Kingdom)
Ancient Egypt’s mercenary soldiers from Sudan and Greece
Beginning as early as the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian pharaohs hired Nubian mercenaries from Sudan to fight in their wars.
More about mercenary soldiers
It is likely (though not proven) that the New Kingdom Egyptians hired Greek mercenary soldiers to fight in their wars with them about 1500 BC.
Greek hoplite soldiers
Certainly many Greek soldiers fought for Egypt while Egypt was revolting against Persian rule in the 500s and 400s BC.
Learn by doing: archery
More about bows and arrows
And more about the Nubians
Bibliography and further reading about Egyptian warfare:
Eyewitness: Ancient Egypt, by George Hart. Easy reading.
The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, by Ian Shaw (2002).
History of Ancient Egypt: An Introduction, by Erik Hornung (1999). A college textbook. On the conservative side – not much on new developments.
Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture, by William H. Stiebing (2002). Expensive for a paperback, but brief and very up to date. And yes, it includes Egypt in the Near East.
Pharoas
plz
You’ll find them here:
Pharaohs in ancient Egypt
this did not help me
What were you trying to find out? I’d be happy to answer your questions here.
i was tring to find out battle tactics
Hi! We don’t know as much about ancient Egyptian battles as we do about later ones. You can find out some things about them here: https://historycollection.co/ancient-world-conflict-6-battles-changed-ancient-egypt/ . By the New Kingdom, they had a few rich men in chariots, who could charge through the crowd. They had a lot of ordinary soldiers who marched on foot, armed with spears and shields. And there were archers, too.
I’m doing a project and this is a good site to see. I’m doing it on Ancient Egypt wars
Dr.Karen did Menes fight with another group of people or just to unite Upper and Lower Egypt? Thamk You.
Like I told Jasmine, Menes is really more of a story than a person. All we know about him, if he even existed, is that he fought to unite Upper and Lower Egypt. So we don’t have any story where he fought other people.
Dear Karen carr,
did Menes go to war?
Menes is really more a story than a person – we don’t even know if there ever was a real Menes. But in the story, yes, Menes fought to make all of Egypt into one country. You can read more about him here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Menes
thanks but maybe try to add more info :)
Sure! What were you trying to find out, Regina?
This did not help me with my project at all.
Sorry to hear it, Sophia! What were you trying to find out?
To Professor Karen Carr,
I found this article very interesting and I would like to congratulate you on it it is great to see that all those years of hard work payed off,
Sincerely,
Kat D Von Doo
(ps please do not try to contact me)
To Professor Karen Carr
it was a great article that helped me very much
Sincerely,
Kat D Von Doo
Thank you! I’m delighted to hear it.
i think thats rude
this was not helpful as it needs to talk about conflict and war so you didnt include conflict so thats why it wasnt helpful
it was the best thing ever in my life yh keep going and dont stop with this article they help a lot
:P
not the best article check out mine
https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Warfare/
Thanks for the suggestion!