Human settlement in Egypt may have begun as long as two hundred and fifty thousand years ago. Climatic and geographic conditions were highly favorable to the rapid development of a large-scale agricultural society. Egyptian society of 4000 B.C. was formed around provincelike entities called nomos ruled by individual chiefs or nomarchs. Over time, these nomarchs assembled in loose feudal arrangements into two clusters of kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt. In 3200 B.C., the king of Upper Egypt, known variously to history as Narmer, Menes, or, probably most correctly, Hor-Aha (Fighting Hawk), unified the two kingdoms by force into a single Egyptian state. Hor-Aha diverted the rivers of the Nile and founded the first Egyptian capital at Memphis. Thus began the reign of pharaohs of the predynastic period, which lasted for 700 years.
The kings that followed from 3100 to 2686 B.C. expanded the Egyptian state. Successful campaigns were launched against the Nubians to the south and the Libyans to the west. Expeditions were undertaken in the Sinai, and trade was established with the states north of Lebanon and Jordan. During this period a state bureaucracy was brought into existence, writing was introduced as a tool of centralized administration, and political institutions were transformed from a chiefdom into a theocratic state led by a divine pharaoh supported by administrative, religious, and military institutions.
The period from 2686 to 2160 B.C. was the period of the Old Kingdom, and it was during this time that we see the emergence of a definable military organization which was shaped by two factors. First, Egypt was protected by formidable natural barriers to her east and west in the form of great deserts. The peoples of these areas, the Sand Peoples of Palestine and the Libyans to the west, were largely nomadic and represented more of a nuisance than a military threat. Nubia to the south presented a real threat of invasion, but the fortresses and strong points built in 2200 B.C. seemed to have contained the threat relatively well. For a period of almost a thousand years Egypt was under no significant military threat from outside her borders. Second, Egypt's political order was somewhat fragmented. Although united in a single kingdom, the local chiefs maintained their own military forces and often exercised control over strategic trade routes. The situation was not unlike that of feudal Europe where the high king depended greatly upon the local barons for military and political power.
The impetus for the army came from the need of the central rulers to defend the state and deal with periodic revolts by the local chiefs. The pharaoh's army consisted of small but regular standing forces of several thousand organized like household guards. Egypt introduced conscription during this time, levying one man in a hundred to be called to service each year. The pick of the conscripts went to the regular army. During this period the first military titles and ranks also appear. Yet, the majority of the army was still organized into militia units under the command of local barons. In normal times, these forces were stationed and trained at the local level. In times of crisis, the political relationship between the barons and the pharaoh determined in practice how many troops were made available for national aims. Such a form of military organization produced an army that was unfit for forging a large national empire.
The exact structure of the Egyptian army of this period is unclear. Some distinctions were made between regular officers and others, and it is evident from titles that the army was broken into a number of military specialties and ranks. The size of the army is also a matter of some conjecture. Weni, a commander of the army in the Sixth Dynasty (2345 B.C.), recorded that his force was "many tens of thousands strong." A string of 20 mud-brick fortresses was built around 2200 B.C. to guard the southern approaches to Egypt; each required at least 3,000 men per garrison. This would suggest an army of 60,000 men in the frontier force alone. With a population approaching two million at this time, these and even larger force levels could easily have been achieved.
The Egyptian armies of the Middle Kingdom (2040-1786 B.C.) became more structurally sophisticated as Egypt struggled through periods of anarchy and the weakening of centralized power, leading eventually to its invasion and conquest by the Hyksos in 1720 B.C. Still, a clearer command structure did emerge with the pharaohs acting as field commanders on the major campaigns and with general officers in charge of safeguarding the frontiers and managing logistics. Titles emerged for such positions as commanders of shock-troops, recruits, instructors, and commanders of retainers. There was also the title for troop commander, and progression in rank seems to have moved from command of 7 men to a company of 60 to a command of 100 men.
By 1790 B.C. the centralized government of Egypt began to lose ground to the rebellious local barons, and the national army proved insufficient to bring them to heel. Taking advantage of the disarray, the Hyksos invaded Egypt and established themselves for almost 200 years as its rulers. The name Hyksos is probably a Greek rendering of the Egyptian term hik-khase, meaning "chiefdom of a foreign hill country." In the Egyptian lexicon of the day, these people were referred to derisively as asiatics. While the origins of the Hyksos remain obscure, it is likely that they were the nomadic tribes of the Palestinian land bridge.
It remains an interesting question how a people who were culturally and economically so far beneath the Egyptians could have conquered such an advanced culture as Egypt's. The answer lies in the use of very sophisticated military technology. The Egyptian army of this period was an infantry force organized by function in units of bowmen, spearmen, and archers. The primary killing weapon was the mace; even the bow was the simple bow of limited range and penetrating power. Given that the Egyptians had never fought anyone who had any more sophisticated weaponry than their own, this same weaponry had served sufficiently for more than a millennium. The Hyksos, on the other hand, were an army of mobility and firepower. The centerpiece of the Hyksos army was the horse-drawn chariot. They used the composite bow and penetrating axe and also carried the sword. In addition, the Hyksos wore helmets and body armor and carried quivers for rapid reloading of their bows. These weapons conferred a decisive military advantage, and the Hyksos made short work of the Egyptian army.
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