What Were Ancient Egyptian Armies Like? Weapons, Armour, Organisation
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 มิ.ย. 2022
- Use the link below, download Rise of Kingdoms and enjoy the great Egypt civilization.
Mobile: bit.ly/ROK_Metatron
PC: bit.ly/ROKPC_Metatron
Use bonus code: 22ROKEGYPT to get incredible gifts.
What was the Ancient Egyptian army like? What kind of soldiers did they use? Weapons? Armour? Tactics? Let's find out! - เกม
Use the link below, download Rise of Kingdoms and enjoy the great Egypt civilization.
Mobile: bit.ly/ROK_Metatron
PC: bit.ly/ROKPC_Metatron
Use bonus code: 22ROKEGYPT to get incredible gifts.
@1:10 every time I think of an Egyptian army I think of Yule Brenner whipping his chariot forward to get the Israelites during therir flight in The Ten Commandments.
For some reason it always stuck in my head. Any hoo back to the vid
Happy to see you again Metatron 👍
Hey I tried using the code, but it just said it's not the right time.
Can you make a video about subsahara body armor.
You know, with that hat and skirt on, you look JUST like Marge Simpson!
FINALLY!!! ive never seen a comprehensive analysis of Egyptian armies. Mostly ive only seen either amazing and elite chariots or pheasant spearmen in loin cloths and holding cowhide shields. Obviously, there must be more nuance than that. Ive also not seen a comprehensive analysis of the army though their kingdoms and dynasties so it has been difficult for me to build up a good picture.
The Egyptians were using birds as soldiers? They really were advanced
Finally we hsve some nuance.
@@filmandfirearms Yes, they used to dance ƪ(‾.‾“)┐ before battle
Ah yes, the ancient pheasant levymen
@@filmandfirearms So funny dude
I'd call prisoners fighting for a pardon penal troopers rather than mercenaries. It's a pretty important distinction to get an understanding as to how many free and willing fighters choose to be a war dog over a civil life. It tells you a lot about the culture if the mercenaries are, free from coercion, plentiful and satisfied with their lot.
From my limited understanding the Hebrews (Israelites, Jews, whichever term you want to use) were mercenaries and didn't get paid properly thus their rebellion and exodus. Exodus seems to be a military campaign record if you look at it that way.
There's a very important distinction ofte made in archeology between conscripts (people forced to do war), soldiers (people whose profession is war), and warriors (people whose vocation is war). Prisoners coerced into military service would certainly be in the "conscript" category, even if they would be considered separate from the regular conscripts by their peers.
I'm trying to find "professionals" in different settings, because I find the distinction between warriors castes, or classes and professional soldiers interesting. I hope Metatron covers the merceneries with this in mind. But I suspect that his use of the word in this context his use of "mercenaries" are more akin to "foreigners" than to "professionals". Which is fine. As long as we all agree how someone is using certain words right now, all is good.
i dont agree its more "youre cheftain, tribe beaten no more, join our tribe" and the force fighting is a rite of passage
"Don Metatrone as an Egyptian Thumbnail" is a thing I didn't know I needed!
A great subject, Metaltron! I love your approach of not just focusing on one period, but analyzing how Egyptian armies developed over time. Just as with Rome, Egyptian armies changed radically over time to adapt to new challenges and technology.
I’m glad you liked it
Metaltron has a nice ring to it.
@@Tyresio12 A nice metallic ring, yes
I hope you flesh out this series more, Egyptian military prowess gets overlooked. The rampant warlordism of the pre unification period [4000-3200bc] and massive, massive regional fortresses cities of the middle kingdom [2000-1700bc] and hyper manoeuvre tactics of the new kingdom [1550-1100bc].
And it was all for nothing when Rome came Waltzing in...
@@justinlast2lastharder749
The time Periods that are mentioned were ancient to the Romans.
Greeks fault lol
Egyptian Khopesh
+10% damage against Hebrews
-50% to river crossing
*sea crossing
I used to have a HUGE Ancient Egypt phase when I was at school. And from that I have multiple albums and books and I have a series of magazines that came with figurines of gods. Sadly most got destroyed but I think I still have Hathor(which according to Ancient Egyptian Horoscope/Guridan Gods is my Guardian...). I've even been to Egypt at some point and I have a Alabaster cat figurine(I used to collect cat figurines. I have quite a bit of them. I'm a huge cat person) from there, a papyrus and Eye of Horus pendant. I have a blue, stone scarab for bracelet too...as family heirloom.
Did you walk like an Egyptian?
@@hansolowe19 how do egyptians walk?? I think they walk like all of us
@@charlesghannoumlb2959 it's a song dude
I think I probably collected the same magazine :) I think only one or two figurines have survived and are still lurking on my book shelves.
@@charlesghannoumlb2959 (it's a pop song 🎵)
The most historically accurate movie about ancient Egypt ever produced is Pharaoh (1966). Great depiction based upon a great novel, one of the big productions of the era like Zulu or Waterloo.
It's a nice introduction. And there is room for much more, like how the Hyksos brought the chariot into Egypt and how the Egyptians learned to use it against them.
Then there is another fascinating subject: Greek mercenaries in the later period (6th/5th century BC).
There may have been Greek mercs earlier on, i.e. late New Kingdom considering the references to the Ekwesh (I.e. Acheans) in some documents.
Yep, built the pyramids but couldn't handle some chariots. Dear oh dear.
Also Libyan mercenaries pre and during the Bronze Age collapse
@@overdose8329
Yep, there was even a Libyan Dynasty.
Out of the many depictions there are of the hyksos have you ever seen them ride chariots? I've seen them with donkeys and sheep, never a wheel, nor a wagon.
Wow, 2 ancient egypt videos in less than an hour from 2 of my favorite channels! Just watched Kings and Generals video on the oldest recorded battle between Egypt and rebelling canaanites. Now i get to see the equipment the Egyptians would have used in the battle, awesome!!!
Ikr
i just did the same
Love Metatron from Egypt🇪🇬
Thank you for taking interest in our history
I'd be keen to see more of these. I've found Egyptian armies fascinating ever since i found out the axe was their primary weapon, possibly the only country to have had it so. I'd be interested to see how they faced off against other empires, like the Assyrian spear armies and so on.
The Vikings loved their Axes more than Egyptians ever did...as the Native Americans loved their Tomahawks.
@@justinlast2lastharder749 The favourite weapon of the Vikings was the spear. The idea they all preferred axes is a bit of a myth.
@@justinlast2lastharder749the Viking age started with the raid at Lindisvarn (probably spelled that wrong) in the 700s AD, the Egyptian civilization started 5,500-6000 years ago. No comparison, not even close to contemporaries.
I absolutely love it, I actually knew most of this stuff because back when the History Channel was good when I was young there were a few shows that covered much of Ancient Egyptian warfare including all the different "Ages". Particularly there was a fondness of talking about Ramses the Second not because he was a Master Strategist, but because He as we knew at the time drafted what was essentially the first written Peace Treatise between Egypt and the Hetites after a Major Battle.
I don't know if this information is up to date, but at the time it was widely agreed upon that this was the case.
Battle of Khadesh. And yes.
I enjoyed this introduction. The axes really got me by surprise. I thought it was the spear. Can't wait to see more in the future :)
Me too. I wonder if they had similar techniques to the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons: basically keeping the axe in motion via smooth movements once you've started moving it to save effort and energy and exploiting its mass more so do do damage.
@@ironhead2008 You would literally just waste energy doing that. Also for the vikings, the spear was their primary and most common weapon. Spear and shield. If for whatever reason you wound up drawing your sidearm, be that a sword, or indeed an axe, you don't need to keep it in motion.
You certainly can, but why? You've a shield and you'd need to constantly be moving it out of the way of your twirlies. It'd be a lot easier to just choke your grip up on the handle a bit and trade range and max power for speed.
Besides, very few people fighting during the height of the viking age would be decked out in the heaviest armor of the day. You don't need MAX POWER with a good war axe if all a dude's got covering his flesh is a tunic or a bit of padding.
Spearmen require a fairly heavy training regimen. Handling even a 10ft. spear and maneuvering in formation is not something you pick up in a week or two.
@@lamwen03 Spears have been the battlefield choice of untrained militia all the way up to highly trained nobility for literally thousands of years. They really DON'T.
@@lamwen03 Yup. I also suspect it was about cost. Remember the state is paying for everything at this point in time and Egypt was not known for it's quality wood although it did have forests back in the early days, the quality hardwood needed for a spear shaft probably needed to be imported. If they did have it, they wanted to use it for ships, charriots, bows supply wagons etc. One spear shaft will haft probably three axes. That's a big material savings. Of course you also need wagons to carry them since marching long distances with a spear is tiresome and adds to the cost. The axe can literally just be hooked to a soldier's belt or stowed in his pack.
This could not have been better timing for me! I just got into ancient egypt, buying ac origins during the sale and doing some research into the period. It was been so difficult to find good videos that go in depth on the ancient egyptian military so I would love it if this continued. Love the content as always!
AC odyssey is garbage when it comes to historical accuracy
@@petitpanierdosier3206 Yeah, but it's pretty much the only game filling the niche of exploring ancient Egypt. But NGL it would be better if it took place earlier in history, like during Ramses II kingdom or King Tut, you know Egypt at it's peak
Really enlightening. The armour was certainly not something that comes to mind instantly with Egyptian armies.
I'm hoping one day to see you cover Assyrian armies. Not only were they the inventors of the professional standing army (giving them a massive advantage over their neighbors), but they also invented some really strange weapons of war.
Define strange
@@GreatistheWorld A hybrid of a battering ram and a massive archer platform. But the ram moved up and down in a slicing motion instead of back & forth.
We see depictions of ancient egyptians with armor quite often in history book. I don't know you would find it surprising at all to be honest
@@petitpanierdosier3206 because most media depictions of Egyptian soldiers show them with little to no armour. You end up forgetting they did it later on.
Fax. Assyrians are criminally underrated
I would love a comparison video about how the chariot was used in Egyptian, Celtic, even Greek and other cultures as well.
I'm here for the full series! One request, when talking about the different kingdom periods include dates for them. It's hard to get a contextual sense of time otherwise.
I seriously appreciate that you made this video. I honestly feel this topic is not covered in mainstream Egyptology.
You have done your research well. Well done, mate 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
First Kings and Generals, and now Metatron.
You guys are spoiling me with Egyptian documentaries today. 🔥🔥🔥
You compared Egypt to Tunisia but, you're forgetting Egypt stretches further south than the edge of the North African coast to which the region of Upper Egypt was likely a lot hotter than that of Carthage plus Phoenicians the founders of Carthage weren't exactly African.
As for armor you didn't mention the leather scale an example found in the old city of Karanis or the cotton/linen corselet armor. and as for helmets they had padded linen head protection. The issue is these materials usually don't stand the test of time so we find very few examples.
That's a good start. I always was semi-curious about Egyptians, especially since their prominent use in media but never thought of getting too deep into them. AC Origins also did it's part to it but I'm not sure AC is too much of an accurate and reliable source of information's. They obviously had to adjust some things and make up others to work as a game. So I hope this will become stable series from Metatron.
Egyptians, a fascinating topic! Can't wait to learn about them from you
As a professional Egyptologist, serving infantry officer, and military historian, very well done, Metatron - bravissimo!
One of the most obvious questions: how does the availability of certain resources dictate the use of weapons and armor. For example: you need plenty of long wooden sticks for spears. For armor you need metals.
For armour, you need metalls? Modern ,bulletpdoof' armour is made of high quality ,plastic' fibres , strengthened with ceramic plates. In pre wwl and wwl era there had been armour made of silk and other cloth/ textile, as far as i know, rich indian noblemen used thick silk vests for centuries. In middlrage europe padded ,Gambeston' , made of cloth was used, and on some ,South Sea' Islands padded armour made of Coconut fibres was used.
Yes. For instance, the compound bow was a technological innovation because it was invented due to lack of sufficient wood and ended up being far superior to a wooden bow. The compound bow was created originally on the steppes by Indo-Europeans who also created the war chariot and domesticated the horse. The New Kingdom obtained the compound bow, horse, and chariot from the Hyksos (15th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period) who were from the Middle East and Semitic. The Hyksos were driven out before the start of the New Kingdom (18th Dynasty and the era of warrior pharaohs like Ramses, Thutmose)
@@brittakriep2938 please delete your account you sound unbelievably unintelligent
Egyptian archery needs its own video
Great stuff! I'd wish for it to be a longer series. I mean it is hard to claim that ancient egypt is an underrated civilization but its military side certainly is.
Yes!! This is awesome because I’ve been wondering when and what armor was used by the ancient Egyptians for EVER! Also now I know what armor to dress my character in Conan Exiles so it’s *historically accurate.* 😎
Yes, give me all the Egyptian content! Great video, and would absolutely not mind some more content on ancient or medieval africa.
My first image that came to mind when you asked about the Egyptian Army is the images of the soldiers from tomb frescos of the men with sheilds, axes, and bows and Chariots
Great video. I would like to learn more about the armies of the ancient world that usually don't get so much attention.
I would love a video on ancient Celts especially the ones from the British Isles.Other than Braveheart and bagpipes, Celts mostly seem portrayed as a bunch of wild naked guys running at Roman soldiers while a druid wearing a leaf crown looks on.
I've been wanting a video about Egyptian military/arms/organization from you for years! Happy to finally see it!
Great subbject and as always very well prepared and studied, i love the accademic approach you use sir in your episode preparation, keep up the great work
I hope to see more detailed video on chariots in a future video. There are quite a few innovations attributed to the Egyptians including more spokes, axle in the back (to smooth the ride and allow greater speed) a steam-bent tongue (helps act as a shock absorber) attached such that it slides in and out a bit where it connects to the axle (again, shock absorption and resist rollover).
The video "Building Pharoh's Chariot" may be a good one to make reference to, both to show people as well as to analyze/critique: th-cam.com/video/0Loti-WBK_k/w-d-xo.html
I look forward to your video on chariots :)
I also would like a video on the chariots of the ancient Celts/Irish.
@@spacetiger5076 : In german a ,war charriot' is a ,Streitwagen'. In swedish a ,stridsvagn' is a tank.
Great kickoff Rafaele to the Egypt Kingdoms - always loved, studied and also visited Egypt and their history, so great you dig in! Regarding the armour.....it was so way far back in time, compare what other regions had 7000 years ago - and their enemies didn't challenge them yet. They acquired new tactics and weapons learning from them. Classic Egypt was very much isolated in the beginning - due to the Nile gods they very early developed a high culture compared to everybody around. You could view them as a laboratory of culture. Again very excited to see more of Egypt from your side!!!
I really hope you continue this series. Your video just dropped around the same time, that my interest for the old Egyptians has been rekindled! Talk about fortunate timing :D
If I close my eyes I imagine Rami Malek fighting against people on Twitter who claim all egyptians are black
And fighting against people who claim all Egyptians were white. Rami Malek vs Afrocentrists and Eurocentrists.
@You just lost the game You were alive in the 1930s? I recently have read people claim Egyptians were white within the last 2 or 3 years (2019-2022) after they misinterpreted a study about King Tut's genetic analysis (King Tut had genes shared by Europeans and Middle Easterners, so they used that to claim King Tut was actually European).
@@Intranetusa yeah but the difference is nobody seriously claims that
@@cc0767 People still seriously claim it all the time. I recently have read people claim Egyptians were white within the last 2 or 3 years (2019-2022) after they misinterpreted a study about King Tut's genetic analysis (King Tut had genes shared by Europeans and Middle Easterners, so they used that to claim King Tut was actually European).
@@Intranetusa oh great you shifted the goalpost from "all egyptians were white" back to "egyptians were not white at all.
Yeah egyptians were white. Not all. Bye.
As always, a very
Excellent Overview of the Ancient Egyptian Military. Looking forward to your other and always high quality informative presentations.
Please continue this series! It's a fascinating topic I would love to know more about!
It was something different, and yeah the warfare of the Egyptians isn't heard much so it is nice to hear more about it. One question, why didn't you wear the Roman Helmet?
I enjoy your content so much when it´s about ancient history besides rome. Thanks Raffa!!
Loved this video, mate! Good to see you showing some love to Egypt, a very interesting civilization to say the least
Excellent video! I have only one critique - you're wrong about me being a "noble one." Plebian for Lyfe!
The closest I ever came to seeing an ancient Egyptian army were Ramses' forces near the end of The Ten Commandments.
But I always wondered how accurate it could be.
Not very accurate as Jews were not enslaved by Egyptians. In fact, the Hyksos (15th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period) were Semitic people from the Middle East (believed to be from Canaan; Israelites were originally Canaanites) who conquered Lower Egypt and enslaved Egyptians. They were called Shepard Kings and the Egyptians revolted against these foreign rulers. Thebes was the center of this struggle. Eventually, the Hyksos were driven from their capital city of Avaris on the Nile Delta after a siege and all Hyksos were expelled and driven out of Egypt. Many archaeologists believe Jewish slavery by Egyptians and flight from Egypt to be fictitious. I don't believe the flight was fictitious as I mentioned that the Hyksos were driven out of Egypt.
Many archaeologists would claim that.
Egyptian pharaohs were also notorious for claiming the achievements of their predecessors and erasing history to 'prove' it.
The pharaoh whose kingdom actually defeated the sea peoples also lists 'Exterminating the Israelites' among his achievements.
If you ask me it's as Sore a talking point to ancient Egyptians as it is to Modern atheists in any field with a chip on their shoulder.
@@sonofthebearking3335 @a Simian Gentlemen please, for clarification: my curiosity and statement was about the Egyptian army's depiction in said movie, nothing more.
Egyptian territory at the time Ramses II included the Saini and beyond into the " promised land ". Its a crock of shite.
Wanted a video from you all about Egyptian warfare for ages! Love to see it!!
I've seen demonstration of obsidian and flint arrowheads loosed into both light mailed shirts and gambeson; the results were sobering. The mailed shirt was pierced by the arrow whereas the gambeson in fact caught the arrow, preventing it from piercing too deep. If at the time of the old and middle kingdom, the Egyptian army still utilizing stone age arrows, similar to the meso-americans used against the Spanish conquistadors, linen armor would've been more than adequate enough protection at the time.
Fascinating! I've always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt, all aspects of the culture and history. I hope to see more of this.
Yeah please keep the series up! Ive been wanting to see something like tgis for a while!
Excellent video! I learning something new with your videos so keep up the good work. I like you warhammer models, nice broadside on your desk. Definitely cool to see fantasy collection.
I watched this within the first few seconds of uploading, can’t wait for more Egypt content from the Metatron
Carthage was right on the Mediterranean, however the extreme heat of any land south of the northern edge of the Sahara produced cultures which never developed armor
European knights however were from Europe and kept their fighting style even in the Middle East
Another thing to take into account was that in the time period we are talking about the world was much hotter than it is today with sea levels being high enough that Kuwait was under water and Ur, a city north of the Shat-al-arab, was described as being by the sea
you are correct about Carthage but when it comes to the statement on armor not begin developed south of the north edge of the Sahara not so much.There was indeed armor used and developed south of the north edge of the Sahara and even the Egyptians would go on to use different forms of armor as time went on.
plus crusaders as the people of the region of the Levant and Egypt during the time were armored almost the same way with many had chain mail, lamellar, steel helmets and padded armor etc.
Enjoyed your video! Do keep it up! Interested in ancient weapons
Totally underreported topic, loved the video Rafa!
I love the ancient Egypt videos!!! Please keep them coming!!! 😁
This one was really interesting! Thank you!
A bunch of guys with wicker shields forming a line, a few mummies at the sides to reinforce the flanks and scare the enemies.
Fascinating! I'd love to see more about this period.
Great topic! I'd like to see the series continue!
Great new topic! You are the one to cover it best!
Oooooo do one on the ottomans!👀 pleaseeeeee
I have learned more about the Egyptian Army in a couple minutes then I have ever learned in the last 20 years. Thank you Metatron for this it's very helpful. Not to mention inspiring.
LOVE LOVE learning about all things Egyptian...and NGL I think you're the first to talk in-depth about their military conventions and might, rather than focus on the royalty, the architecture, the mythologies (though I LOVE those too). I do hope you'll continue on these topics! Especially the khopesh, IMO one of the best and most versatile sword designs.
My pleasure!
AXES! My favorites melee weapons, maybe due to the fact that I use one to split wood & never slashed anything with a sword.
I'd be interested in more! early warfare like this has always been super fascinating to me
You're my go-to channel for when I'm bored. You're very informative and entertaining to watch.
Keep clapping those historical cheeks Metatron!!! You’re an inspiration to all of us noble ones!!! The best of the best of the best!!!
Great content as always
Sweet Video. I would love to see more of these Topics. :D
@metatron BRO!!! I’m so glad you’re a Warhammer collector. I love your old fantasy battle tome and army. Is “uimpero” Italian for the “empire “? I’m assuming so. Also, very topical you chose that as one of your armies… ;)
Impero is the word. On the cover it says l’impero because they add the article so The Empire :D yes I also have Bretonnia, High and Dark elves, chaos and Dwarves lol
Nice been waiting for this one
Thank you for this video. I knew I can count on you for making enlighten and well researched explanation on your subjects. Despite me being a child of the Baltic tribe, Ancient Egypt was my first love for history. And it still remains my one of top 3 loves, others WW2 and first Local history.
Great video as always. I would love to see more video on Egyptian warfare and weapons. Though one discussion I would like to talk more about is armor in hot climates. I know there are some things like white linen fabrics covering the armor but its still really hot and wearing a gambeson in the sun for several hours. I know it was done I just don't know how you condition yourself or what you do to the armor to not cook yourself alive.
Love this! Fascinated by the ancient world. So much coverage goes to more “modern” or western ancient peoples. More of this please!
When I close my eyes and try to imagine an Egyptian army I see an army of jackal headed sand demons led by A commander who's half Scorpion and half the Rock and you can't convince me otherwise!
So much info! Thank you 😎🐧❤
Good stuff Raf!
I am eagerly looking forward to this series, great introduction video. I'm particularly interested in the 'Egyptian naginata'.
Love it! Been into the great pyramid documentaries lately so this is great.
Yes please keep the series going
Can you a video like this but for the ancient chinese army. Obviously each dyansty has different armies but I feel it'll still be interesting
Finally !!!! I have been requesting the Egyptian empire for ages !!
Great video!! Pls make another with more details!!
I love your channel. You are very informative.
Excellent...thanks my man...
Please, continue the series. It's great.
Great video', hope to see more on this topic
I'm excited for this series! I don't know anything about Egyptian warriors and it's so interesting! especially now in summer whith abnormal waves of hot air coming from Africa
Ou man! I love this video! Will you do some focused videos on egypt then, while you mentioned it in this one?
Nice video. Please make a video about Dacians and their way of life armor, weapons, habbits, food. Keep up the great work
Very interesting and informative video. Looking forward to more episodes. On a sidenote: I see you have Warhammer Tabletop books in the background. Would be thematic for Ancient Egypt, if you had a Tomb Kings of Khemri army book in view. 🙂
Looks like the Armybooks
"L'IMPERO" (The Empire, in Italian) and "WARRIORS OF CHAOS" underneath.
Awesome subject to cover Metatron.
You have great knowledge, I respect that.
love the video, ive always pondered what egyption armies wore for their armies. I have looking online but that is the only extent of my searches.
I'm looking forward to this series
Great video!
The River God is an interesting historical novel with respect to Egyptian warfare. The follow up is dreadful though.
thx for video ur the best!!!! really intrested
enjoyed big!!! TKS