The period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom (1550- 1085 B.C.) saw the formation of the Egyptian Empire at its greatest height. Encouraged by the expulsion of the Hyksos invaders, the Egyptian rulers began to form a professional army which was to con-quer territory all the way to the Euphrates River. The XIX Dynasty is particularly interesting, as it includes the reigns of Horemheb and the Ramessides, rulers brought to the throne through the influence of the powerful new army. These men worked for the further enlargement and aggrandizement of the army. The army was increased from a force of two “corps” of 2,000 men each at the time of Horemheb to four “corps” of about 5,000 men each at the time when Rameses II fought the well known battle of Kadesh. The term “corps” used to designate these units is strictly a matter of preference. I use the term in preference to calling the units divisions, because each unit contained all of the elements of the army and was quite capable of independent operation. Each corps was broken down into what one might call regiments of 250 men each, or 25 chariots each. It seems as though about four of these “regiments” were grouped together into a divi- sional command of 1,000. There were two types of infantry regiments, The heart of the infantry was the force of medium or heavy infantry (depending upon how you used the terms). The greatest part of this force was armed with bows. The rest were armed with spears and shields or, in some cases, with two-handed battle or pole-axes. Sidearms were small axes of various types, or maces. These troops wore a short linen kilt and a quilted helmet. Most had either a cuirass of thick, quilted material, or one of metal scales sewn into a linen corselet. The shield had an outer covering of animal hide which could be left natural or colored black, white, brown or tan. This medium infantry force was made up of regulars, young trainees, and Nubian auxiliaries. In addition, part of the regulars formed a force of elite shock troops which spearheaded the final impact assault. The light infantry force was composed of spearmen and slingers. They wore little more than a simple loin cloth, and had no protection save for the shield carried by most of the spearmen. The chariotry was the elite arm of the corps, staffed by nobles and those of royal blood. There were two types of chariots. The light type carried a driver and an archer. The heavier type also carried a full complement of spears and axes as well as a shield for the warrior. The former type was used to drive around the flanks of the enemy, showering him with missiles. The latter type could perform this function, and could also be used to burst through the formed lines of the enemy. The four corps of the army were called Amun, Pre, Ptah, and Sutekh; each being the name of a god of the province in which each corps was raised. The words Amun and Sutekh translate as powerful bows and victorious bows. This, plus the fact that Nubia (a perennial source of auxiliary troops) was referred to as the Nine Bows should give you some idea as to Egyptian tactics. The typical formation was chariotry on each flank of the formed-up medium infantry, the non-bow armed mediums being at the center of the formation. Light troops to the front kept the enemy from interfering as the medium archer’s advanced and poured missiles into the front ranks of the enemy formations. At the same time, the chariots galloped around the flanks of the enemy, adding more missile fire and additional confusion. When all this missile fire had sufficiently disordered the enemy, the spear and axe-armed medium infantry, led by the shock troops, would lunge forward to break the enemy line apart. The heavy chariots could also take part in this final thrust. One could imagine that this heavy reliance on missile fire and confusion to defeat the enemy would work quite well against loosely organized tribal armies, but might run into trouble against a well trained and well-protected enemy who was willing to wade through the missile fire to get a crack at the main Egyptian infantry line. As a rough guide to table top organization for an army of the XIX Dynasty, I would recommend the following: Heavy Chariots: 10% Light Chariots: 10% Medium Infantry Archer’s: 40% Medium Spearmen or Axemen: 15% Light Auxiliary Spearmen: 10% Elite Medium Spearmen or Axemen: 5% Light Auxiliary Slingers: 10% Actually, the bulk of the information in this article would apply to any army of the New Kingdom period of expansion and protection of the empire. The main difference between the XIX Dynasty period and the rest of the New Kingdom period (both before and after the XIX Dynasty) are: 1. Before the XIX Dynasty, the army was much smaller, as it was gradually built up over a period of two hundred years from a professional force of 4,000-5,000 to one of over twenty thousand. 2. Both before and after the XIX Dynasty, the Egyptian regular infantry wore an additional protectional device called a “lappet.” It was a leather device of roughly triangular shape which was suspended from the area of the hips. It was almost as wide as a man’s hips at this point, and narrowed to a point at about knee level. 3. During the period before the XIX Dynasty, the materials used for protection of the head and upper body were not of the protective quality of those used in the helmet and cuirass during the Dynasty period. This protective standard was maintained following the Dynasty, however. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #86 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by The Courier Publishing Company. 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