Old Kingdom Warfare (Fixed Audio)

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…
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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 (see website for full details):

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).


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