DBA Resource Page

Ancient Armies

New Kingdom Egyptian
(1550 BC - 1070 BC)
(DBA #11)

By Tom Ryan

(Pictures to follow)

The New Kingdom in Egyptian history is probably its most glorious in terms of building, culture and military accomplishments. It began with the expulsion of the Hyksos and from his point on, most of its Pharaohs were generals and foreign policy centred more and more around security, especially in Syria. The Pharaohs regarded Syria as not only economically vital, but also their destiny.

18th Dynasty

After the expulsion of the Hyksos, Amenhotep I, who reigned 1551-1524 BC, began to extend Egypt's boundaries in Nubia and Palestine. When Thutmose III achieved sole rule after the death of his mother, Hatshepsut in 1483 BC, he reconquered Syria and Palestine, which had broken away during their co-regency. He then continued to expand his empire southward beyond the fifth cataract, into Nubia and westward into Libya. Amenhotep II, who reigned 1453-1419 BC, and Thutmose IV tried to maintain the Asian conquests in the face of growing threats from the Mitanni and Hittites, but they found it necessary to use negotiations as well as force to penetration further into Mesopotamia.

While Amenhotep III ruled peacefully from 1386-1349 BC, the Hittites had been establishing control over Syria and threatening Egypt's position in Palestine. He was only successful in maintaining the balance of power among Egypt's neighbours by diplomacy. His son and successor, Amenhotep IV, more commonly known as Akhenaton, was a religious reformer who fought the power of the Amon priesthood. His only military contribution was to let the imperial possessions slip away, thereby setting the stage for the more dynamic external and military affairs of the 19th Dynasty.

19th Dynasty

The 19th Dynasty was founded by Ramses I, who had served his predecessor, Horemhab, as vizier and commander of the army. He reigned for only two years, from 1293-1291 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Seti I, who reigned 1291-1279 BC and is considered to be one of the most active and successful military leaders of the period. He led campaigns against Syria, Palestine, the Libyans, and the Hittites. His most famous son, Ramses II, succeeded him and reigned for nearly 67 years. He was responsible for a great deal of construction at sites such as Luxor and Karnak. He built the Ramesseum (his funerary temple at Thebes), the rock-cut temples at Abu Simbel, as well as sanctuaries at Abydos and Memphis and these provide an invaluable source of information on this period. After campaigns against the Hittites, climaxing in the much interpreted battle of Qadesh around 1300, Ramses concluded a treaty with them culminating in a marriage to a Hittite princess. His son Merneptah, who reigned 1212-1202 BC, defeated one wave of Sea Peoples, and he is reported to have caused some havoc in Israel. Later rulers of this dynasty had to contend with constant uprisings by subject peoples within the empire.

20th Dynasty

The second ruler of the 20th Dynasty, Ramses III, halted, but did not defeat the Sea Peoples. He gave them land in Canaan, which became Philistia. His mortuary complex at Medinet Habu, near Thebes documents his military victories.

The rising power of the priesthood of Amon and that of the army contributed to the decline of the New Kingdom and a general state of chaos after Ramses' death. This period offers a backdrop for wargame battles that are rarely seen, that is, civil war scenarios.

Enemies

Enemies in the DBA list include Nubian (#3), Early Libyan (#4a), Early Syrian (#4b), Midianite Arab (#5), Early Canaanite, Ugaritic or Syrian (#8b), Hittite (#9), Mycenaean and Minoan (#10), New Kingdom Egyptian (#11), Early Hebrew (#13), Sea Peoples (#14a), Later Libyan (#14b), and Philistine (#15a).

I am surprised not to see the Later Canaanite, Ugaritic or Syrian (#15b) listed as an enemy. It covers the time period 1340 - 1100 BC and I would presume that the rulers of those states within Egypt's sphere of influence would continue to require reminders of where their loyalty lay or that they would request aid from their overlord in times of internecine wars.

A very important enemy of New Kingdom Egypt which has been left out of the DBA lists altogether is the Kingdom of Mitanni. In addition to Anu Arora's proposed variant, there is a suggested list at the end of this essay.

Army Composition

4x LCh These represent the light, fast, maneuverable chariots that differentiated the New Kingdom armies from those that came before. The role of the chariotry was to support the infantry in battle. They were crewed by a driver (kedjen) who would also act as a shield bearer, and an archer (seneny). For variety, one of these elements might be replaced by a Syrian allied Maryannu, such as those that may have comprised the Ne'arin division at the Battle of Qadesh.

1x 4Bd These represent soldiers carrying a large axe which would be swung two-handed while the shield is slung over his back. After 1279 BC they might depict Shardana Royal Guard, Sherden warriors with their distinctive horned helmets and long swords.
4x 3Bd or 4Sp These are the "menfat", the backbone of the Egyptian army armed with spear, shield and a side arm; usually an axe or khopesh. The Bd option would apply only to armies before 1279 BC and represent infantry depicted in art carrying spear in their left hand and khopesh or axe in their right with their shield slung behind their shoulder. After that date Egyptian close fighters are more likely to have advanced in a phalanx type of a formation, thrusting their spears from behind an overlapping shield wall.

2x 4Bw As much as half an Egyptian army would have been made up of archers, many of them formed in close order. Their role was to shower the enemy with a large volume of arrows in support of the close fighters.
1x 2Ps These can be elements of light javelinmen or archers. They might be Egyptians or recruits from vassal or allied states, or mercenaries, such as Syrians, Nubians or Libyans.

Tactics

The Egyptians had developed relatively sophisticated infantry tactics in the Old and Middle Kingdoms involving coordination between massed archers and close combat infantry. With the introduction of chariots by the Hyksos, the New Kingdom generals were able to add a mobile missile platform and scouting arm which helped to make Egypt the most powerful civilization in the region. The chariots would normally open the battle with volleys of arrows intended to break up enemy infantry formations and chariotry. This tactic proved successful, especially against the slower, bulkier chariots of the Hittites. The archers would also provide softening up and support fire for the main offensive arm, the close combat infantry.

Having not yet played this army, I will not venture any speculation on what works best on the wargames table. The DBA list, however, seems to present a similar mix of elements to a historical Egyptian army so it seems logical that historical tactics will work.

Camp

One of the reliefs at Luxor commemorating the battle of Qadesh shows a detailed depiction of Rameses' camp. A shield wall encloses the camp that contains unhitched chariots, supplies, beasts of burden, tents, a pet lion and a Royal enclosure for Pharaoh and his entourage.

Figures

The figures that will be depicted are manufactured by Essex (see my review).

Many manufacturers make NKE, but I canıt comment on them since I havenıt seen them.

Painting

Osprey publishes two books which contain pictures of New Kingdom Egyptian soldiers. They are; Men at Arms #109 Ancient Armies of the Middle East, and Campaign Series #22 Qadesh 1300BC. Since the Campaign Series book contains the same, plus additional pictures over and above the Men at Arms book, you can get away with just that one.

In a nutshell, common Egyptian soldiers wore white kilts and white headgear. The headgear is usually decorated with stripes that could be black, blue, yellow or as is most commonly depicted, red. Shields were normally covered in hide. The more senior officers probably had shields covered in more exotic hides than the bulk of the soldiers whose would probably be covered in cowhide. Chariots were constructed of a wooden frame covered with leather, either painted or not, with woven, wicker floors. Horse panoply would likely have been very colouful. While iron was available, it was far too rare and expensive even for Pharaohıs weapons or armour, so all metal should be depicted as bronze. In very rare instances gold might be used for decoration.

Names of the New Kingdom Pharaohs

Note that due to variations of dates and spellings from different sources, there may be some disagreement or incongruencies. I have entered some alternative spellings in brackets. If the reader disagrees with any of the following information, understand that I am not a historian and that it is supplied only for entertainment purposes.

1550-1307 18th Dynasty

1550-1525 Ahmose (Amosis) (Amonhotep)
1525-1504 Amenophis I
1504-1492 Thuthmose I (Tuthmosis)
1492-1479 Thuthmose II (Tuthmosis)
1479-1425 Thuthmose III (Tuthmosis)
1473-1458 Hatshepsut
1427-1401 Amenophis II
1401-1391 Tuthmosis IV
1391-1353 Amenophis III
1353-1335 Amenophis IV (a.k.a. Akhenaten)
1335-1333 Smenkhkare
1333-1323 Tutankhamun
1323-1319 Aya (Ay)
1319-1307 Haremhab (Horemhab)

1307-1196 19th Dynasty

1307-1306 Ramesses I
1306-1290 Seti I
1290-1224 Ramesses II
1224-1214 Merneptah
1214-1204 Seti II
1204-1198 Siptah
1198-1196 Twosre

1196-1070 20th Dynasty

1196-1194 Sethnakhte
1194-1094 Ramesses III-XI

Hurri Mitanni Variant

The following is a variant based on DBM lists and uses the conversion method found on page 22 of the DBA rulebook.

Hurri - Mitanni (1600 BC - 1274 BC)

6 x LCh 4 Maryannu and 2 Vassal or Provincial chariots
2 x 4Aux Alik Ilki Spearmen
2 x 4Bw or 2Ps Alik Ilki Bowmen
2 x 3Ax or 2Ps Ashshabu levy

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Last Update: Sept. 14, 1999

My thanks to Tom Ryan for this essay. Questions, comments and feedback welcome. Send input to Chris Brantley at brant@erols.com.