War in Old Kingdom Egypt

The History of Egypt Podcast

Dominic Perry

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2014

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Before the fall (c.2600 - 2200 BCE). Early Egyptians were fierce and active warriors. Our evidence for the Old Kingdom “army,” however, is scattered and fragmentary. Sifting through the pieces, we can reconstruct some elements of the early armed forces. In this episode, we explore royal texts that describe campaigns; pyramid art showing battles and soldiers training; and even images of siege warfare… Written and recorded in 2024. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Intro music by Stephen Rippy from Age of Empires (1997). Outro music and interludes by Keith Zizza. Music and interludes by Luke Chaos. Episode Chapters: Introduction 00:00 Dynasty IV Raids and Warriors 02:40 Army Organisation and Weapons 16:07 Battle Scenes of Unas and Ka-em-heset 25:58 Siege Scene of Inti 38:00 Notable artefacts (see Bibliography for full titles): Archers from the reign of Khufu, MMA. See Goedicke 1971, MMA Open Access. Sahura training scenes: Published in El Awady 2009. Unas battle scene: First published by Selim Hassan 1938 (Archive.org). Siege scene of Khaemheset: First published in Quibell and Hayter 1927. Archive.org. Siege scene of Inti: See Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Warfare, 2019 (Pen & Sword). First published Petrie 1894. See also Kanawati and McFarlane 1993. Examples of pre-New Kingdom Egyptian weapons in museum collections: Wooden bows: Louvre, MMA (FIP or early MK). Arrows: MMA (FIP or early MK), Louvre (Pre-Dynastic), MFA (FIP or early MK), ROM (FIP). Maces: ROM (4th Dyn., Khafra), ROM (Pre-Dynastic), MMA (FIP or MK). Spearheads: Louvre (FIP), Louvre (12th Dyn.), MMA (MK). Axes: Louvre, (OK), Louvre (FIP), Louvre (MK). Select Bibliography: L. Bestock, Violence and Power in Ancient Egypt: Image and Ideology Before the New Kingdom (2018). T. El Awady, Sahure: The Pyramid Causeway: History and Decoration Program in the Old Kingdom (2009). H. Goedicke, Re-Used Blocks from the Pyramid of Amenemhat I at Lisht (1971). MMA Open Access. S. Hassan, ‘Excavations at Saqqara 1937--1938’, Annales du Services des Antiquités de l’Egypte 38 (1938), 503—514. Archive.org. N. Kanawati and A. McFarlane, Deshasha: The Tombs of Inti, Shedu and Others (1993). A. Labrousse and A. Moussa, La chaussée du complexe funéraire du roi Ounas, I (2002). F. Monnier, ‘Les techniques de siège décrites dans la documentation pharaonique’, Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne 15 (2022), 51—73. ENIM.fr. A.-L. Mourad, ‘Siege Scenes of the Old Kingdom’, Bulletin of the Australian Centre of Egyptology 22 (2011), 135—158. Academia.edu. J. E. Quibell and A. G. K. Hayter, Excavations at Saqqara: Teti Pyramid, North Side (1927). Archive.org. I. Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Warfare (2019). N. Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age (2005). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Salamalekum, peace be upon you.
0:08.1	Welcome back to the History of Egypt podcast.
0:12.2	Today we begin a new mini-series, revisiting the first intermediate period.
0:18.9	This is the era between 2,200 and 2000 BCE, when politically, the old
0:26.3	pharaonic state temporarily broke down. It is a complicated and messy time, but also
0:33.3	an incredibly vibrant one, full of exciting stories from ordinary people.
0:39.8	I covered the first intermediate period way back in 2014, and a lot has changed since then.
0:47.0	The podcast is different, with bigger goals and ambitions.
0:51.0	I am a better researcher, and hopefully a better writer. And most importantly, scholars
0:57.0	have published a lot of new material in that time. Some stories are quite different from when
1:03.9	I first explored this period. Now, 10 years later, I would like to start revisiting it.
1:11.0	In this miniseries, we are going to focus on one major theme, warfare.
1:16.4	The first intermediate period is rife with stories, images and traces of ancient battles.
1:23.0	Some of these were small, skirmishes between petty chieftains. Others were huge, devastating
1:29.7	sieges and the destruction of sacred sites. If you are interested in ancient
1:35.4	conflict, the first intermediate period is a rich subject for study. This episode
1:41.8	is part one, Before the Fall.
1:45.3	We begin our tale during the later years of the Old Kingdom, around 2,600 to 2,200 BCE.
1:54.4	I want to introduce the Egyptian army, quote unquote, during that era, firstly because
1:59.9	I only covered it briefly back in 2014
2:02.6	and also because we must. The military traditions, knowledge, skills and technology
2:08.6	that emerged during the Old Kingdom helped define and shape the conflicts of the first intermediate period.
	...

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