The armies of the Old Testament fought for conquest as well as survival against enemies of various makeup and quality. The religious fanaticism of the Hebrews, coupled with the Ark of the Covenant make this army extremely tenacious and hard to break. After the Egyptian and Hittite empires began to decline, the numerous tribes of Syrian and Palestine warred amongst themselves, the foremost opponents being the Jewish tribes, the Philistines, the Phoenicians, and the Arameans.

Gideon (c. 1100 BC) managed to unite, albeit for a short time, the Hebrew tribes and battled the Midianties, Arabic invaders from east of the Jordan River. Soon after, the Philistines subjugated much of the area, resulting in Hebrew uprisings led by Saul (1028-1013), which ended in his death at the Battle of Mount Gilboa in 1013. David (1010-973) was the leader who managed to unite the Hebrews in a successful effort to defeat not only the Philistines, but the other enemies of the Jewish tribes as well. Under his rule, the Hebrews subjugated much of Syria.

Though a two-dimensional foot army, the Hebrews had large numbers of fanatics, tribesmen for delaying terrain troops and large numbers of skirmishers. This army has little chance unless the terrain is right. The chariot armies will rip it to shreds. Yet, the Early Hebrew armies have so much character! If you like to line up and charge from table-edge to table-edge, this army might be for you. Tactics? Use the fanatics to sweep a flank with the holy relic in the centre to bolster the rest of the army. Not an army for beginners.

Enemies: New Kingdom Egyptian, Assyrian, Philistine and Later Canaanite, and Midianite Arabs.

More Chariot Armies For Ancient Warfare

Early Hebrew 1250-960 BC
Sea Peoples 1230-1165 BC
Philistine and Later Canaanite 1200-975 BC
Midianite Arabs and Nomadic Camel 1500-650 BC
Aramaean, Phoenician or Cypriot 1200-700 BC
Early Chinese: Shang, Chou, Chin 1700-200 BC
Post Mycenaean Greek 1150-700 BC
Later Babylonian 1500-750 BC
First Temple Hebrews: 960-581 BC
Libyan Egyptian 950-700 BC
Indian 900 BC-450 AD