The Ramesside era of the New Kingdom (1293-1070 BCE) is known as the last of the great native Egyptian states, when Egypt lost its foreign territories and the system of centralized government broke down once again. In contrast to the Thutmosid Period, which was dominated by an administration located in Upper Egypt, the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties (known as the Rammeside period) were based in the Nile Delta region of Lower Egypt - first at Memphis, then at a new grand capital at Per-Ramesses.
Population and political organization
The New Kingdom had a centralized administration that split the country under two viziers, who oversaw the Northern Tchety and Southern Tchety. Within these large units were nomarchs of nomes, village chiefs and local constables.
[1]
The important local officials were directly responsible to the bureau of the vizier, and they had to travel back and forth between the vizier’s seat and their local posts in the course of their duties.
[2]
The draw of the centre both indicates the degree of power of the centralized administration and shows that the regions had the necessary administrative complexity to run themselves without the presence of their local ruler.
[2]
Governmental administration during the later New Kingdom Dynasties was ’characterized by the growing strength of hereditary office’, and the position of provincial nobles grew more secure.
[3]
During this period, the god Amun, the central deity of the priests at Thebes, became merged with the sun-god Ra and as Amun-Ra was worshipped throughout Egypt, including at Memphis. Rites connected with this ’king of gods’ served to legitimize the rule of the Egyptian king on earth, who was believed to be the ’bodily son of Amun’.
[4]
[5]
Government grants were bestowed on temples in return for ’formal blessings’ for state activities.
[6]
However, the pharaoh’s power to appoint the high priest was ’nominal’, especially from the time of Ramesses III onwards,
[7]
and the priests of Karnak in Upper Egypt became powerful hereditary rulers who acted independently of the administration at Per-Ramesses in the delta.
[8]
The city of Per-Ramesses, established around 1270 CE, had an immense population of about 250,000,
[9]
while the kingdom supported a peak total population of more than three million.
[10]
[1]: (Brier and Hobbs 2008, 72) Bob Brier and A. Hoyt Hobbs. 2008. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. 2nd ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
[2]: (van den Boorn 1988, 115-16) G. P. F. van den Boorn. 1988. The Duties of the Vizier: Civil Administration in the Early New Kingdom. London: Kegan Paul International.
[3]: (O’Connor 1983, 192, 229) David O’Connor. 1983. ’New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, 1552-664 BC’, in Ancient Egypt: A Social History, edited by Bruce G. Trigger, Barry J. Kemp, David O’Connor and Alan B Lloyd, 183-278. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[4]: (Van Dijk 2000, 298-99) Jacobus Van Dijk. 2003. ’The Amarna Period and the Later New Kingdom’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 265-307. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[5]: (Doxey 2001, 69-70) D. M. Doxey. 2001. ’Priesthood’, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Volume 3, edited by D. B. Redford, 69-70. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[6]: (Abu Bakr 1981, 102) A. Abu Bakr. 1981. ’Pharaonic Egypt’, in General History of Africa, Vol II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, 84-111. Paris: UNESCO.
[7]: (Van Dijk 2000, 298-300) Jacobus Van Dijk. 2003. ’The Amarna Period and the Later New Kingdom’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 265-307. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[8]: (Hassan 1993, 568) Fekri Hassan. 1993. ’Town and Village in Ancient Egypt: Ecology, Society and Urbanization’, in The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns, edited by Thurstan Shaw, Paul Sinclair, Bassey Andah and Alex Okpoko, 551-69. London: Routledge.
[9]: (Moreno García 2014, 11) Juan Carlos Moreno García. 2014. ’Invaders or Just Herders? Libyans in Egypt in the Third and Second Millennia BCE’. World Archaeology 46: 610-23.
[10]: (Eyre 2010, 303) Christopher Eyre. 2010. ’The Economy: Pharaonic’, in A Companion to Ancient Egypt, Volume 1, edited by Alan B. Lloyd, 291-308. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
| none |
| Egyptian Civilization |
| Egypt - Thebes-Libyan Period |
| continuity |
| Preceding: Egypt - New Kingdom Thutmosid Period (eg_new_k_1) [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Egypt - Thebes-Libyan Period (eg_thebes_libyan) [elite replacement] |
| unitary state | |
| loose |
| [250,000 to 300,000] people |
| 1,000,000 km2 | 1293 BCE |
| 746,000 km2 | 1200 BCE |
| 567,000 km2 | 1100 BCE |
| [2,000,000 to 3,000,000] people |
| unknown |
| present |
| absent | |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| Year Range | Egypt - New Kingdom Ramesside Period (eg_new_k_2) was in: |
|---|---|
| (1293 BCE 1071 BCE) | Upper Egypt |
Memphis: 1293-1278 BCE; Per-Ramesse: 1250-1069 BCE Per-Ramesse: [1278-1237 BCE]-1069 BCE
A distinction should be drawn between major centres of economic and religious activity and the political center of the New Kingdom. Memphis remained the important political center until the Ramesside capital shift into the Delta.
If a timeline were to be drawn up of the shift of importance commonly attributed to New Kingdom cities, it might look like this: Thebes: 1570-1373 BCE; Akhetaten: 1373-1330 BCE; Thebes: 1330-[1278-1237 BCE]; Per-Ramesse: [1278-1237 BCE]-1069 BCE
Ramses II (c1278-1237 BCE) created new capital at Per-Ramesse: “the house of Ramses”.
[1]
Memphis: 1293-1278 BCE; Per-Ramesse: 1250-1069 BCE Per-Ramesse: [1278-1237 BCE]-1069 BCE
A distinction should be drawn between major centres of economic and religious activity and the political center of the New Kingdom. Memphis remained the important political center until the Ramesside capital shift into the Delta.
If a timeline were to be drawn up of the shift of importance commonly attributed to New Kingdom cities, it might look like this: Thebes: 1570-1373 BCE; Akhetaten: 1373-1330 BCE; Thebes: 1330-[1278-1237 BCE]; Per-Ramesse: [1278-1237 BCE]-1069 BCE
Ramses II (c1278-1237 BCE) created new capital at Per-Ramesse: “the house of Ramses”.
[1]
Breakdown of the centralized state under Rameses III
[1]
: "the king had only nominal control over who was appointed high priest."
[2]
According to Hassan (1993), "Southern Egypt, at the periphery of the new centre of power, eventually became an independent territory under the heredity rule of the priests of Karnak."
[3]
[1]: (Van Dijk 2000, 298)
[2]: (Van Dijk 2000, 300)
[3]: (Hassan 1993, 568)
Breakdown of the centralized state under Rameses III
[1]
: "the king had only nominal control over who was appointed high priest."
[2]
According to Hassan (1993), "Southern Egypt, at the periphery of the new centre of power, eventually became an independent territory under the heredity rule of the priests of Karnak."
[3]
[1]: (Van Dijk 2000, 298)
[2]: (Van Dijk 2000, 300)
[3]: (Hassan 1993, 568)
John Baines, Seshat Oxford workshop (2017): ???,???.
EWA: No data on Memphis. Thebes around 20,000 and 30,000. Bietak estimates that the population of Per-Ramesses was around 250,000. He also states 18 square km for the site size. "the later Ramesside period marked a new era, when Pi-Ramesses, in the eastern Delta, became the main capital of the kingdom. The Austrian excavations are gradually revealing the huge dimensions and complexity of this metropolis of about 18km2 and 250,000-300,000 dwellers."
[1]
Per-Ramesses topography - should be up-to-date hectare estimates in link.
[2]
Thebes until Ramses II (c1278-1237 BCE) built new capital, Per-Ramesses.
Per-Ramesses. 160,000: 1200 BCE. 120,000: 1100 BCE.
[3]
Thebes. 60,000: 1500 BCE. 80,000: 1400 BCE. 80,000: 1300 BCE. 150,000: 1200 BCE. 100,000: 1100 BCE. 120,000: 1000 BCE.
[4]
Thebes. 80,000: 1360 BCE. 60,000: 1000 BCE.
[5]
Memphis 50,000: 1200 BCE, 34,000: 1000 BCE.
[6]
Population estimates for the New Kingdom (c. 1550-1069 BCE)
[7]
Piramesse 350 (1,000?) ha 100,000 persons 286 (1000?) people per ha
Tanis 105 ha 31,000 persons 295 per ha
Luxor 280 ha 85,000 persons 305 per ha
Memphis 79 ha
el-Amarna 380 þ (1,200?) ha 30,000- 50,000? 79-131 (25-42)/ha.
Hermopolis 100 ha
Tell el-Yahu- diya 13.7 ha
[1]: (Juan Carlos Moreno García, Invaders or just herders? Libyans in Egypt in the third and second millennia BCE, 11)
[2]: http://www.academia.edu/1108200/The_Topography_of_New_Kingdom_Avaris_and_Per_Ramesses
[3]: (Modelski 2003, 33)
[4]: (Modelski 2003, 34)
[5]: (Chase-Dunn spreadsheet [6])
[6]: (Chase-Dunn spreadsheet [7])
[7]: (Mumford 2010, 331)
[1]
Ramses III (c1182-1151 BCE) Asiatic colonies conquered by Sea Peoples.
The following territories should be included: up the Nile all the way to the fifth cataract: North Levant (Liban, Syria (c. 20% of Syria), Western Jordan, Israel, Libyan coast West of the Delta, about 300 km west of Alexandria.
[1]
Ramses III (c1182-1151 BCE) Asiatic colonies conquered by Sea Peoples.
The following territories should be included: up the Nile all the way to the fifth cataract: North Levant (Liban, Syria (c. 20% of Syria), Western Jordan, Israel, Libyan coast West of the Delta, about 300 km west of Alexandria.
[1]
Ramses III (c1182-1151 BCE) Asiatic colonies conquered by Sea Peoples.
The following territories should be included: up the Nile all the way to the fifth cataract: North Levant (Liban, Syria (c. 20% of Syria), Western Jordan, Israel, Libyan coast West of the Delta, about 300 km west of Alexandria.
For Egypt 2,000,000 to 2,500,000; 2.1 to 2 million for New Kingdom according to Hassan and Butzer
Egypt: 4.5m by the end of the New Kingdom.
[1]
Province of Nubia, 100,000. Palestine: 250,000. Egypt: 3m.
[2]
Egypt: outlier estimate of about 10 million inhabitants (experts suggest deleting/suppressing this).
[3]
Graph shows increase 2.0 - 3.0 million during New Kingdom.
[4]
2.9 - 4.5 million for late New Kingdom.
[5]
[1]: (Stearns 2001, 30)
[2]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 226)
[5]: (O’Connor 1983, 190) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
EWA: example of vassal capital: Byblos. District capital and vassal capital is the same but district capital is within Egypt and vassal capital is for outside. There is strong inferred evidence for the level of hamlets.
1. Capital
2. Vassal capital or Regional Centre
[1]
(3. Towns)(4. Villages)(5. Hamlets)
"There was a distinct heirarchy of settlements. The cities were Memphis, Thebes and (later) Pi-Ramesse. Elsewhere, in any given region, the provincial capital was usually the most important administratively and probably the largest in population. It was surrounded by a zone of fairly large and densely concentrated villages (interspersed by rare towns intermediate in administrative function (and size?) between the villages and the capital. Unfortunately, it is impossible to equate this hierarchy with any certainty to Egyptian nomenclature; ’cities’, ’towns’ and ’villages’ (respectively niwt, dmi and whyt) were distinguished from each other, but the terms appear to be used with great looseness. Slightly less ambiguous are smaller units, such as ’nobleman’s estate’ (bhm) and ’house (hamlet? of X’ (’tnx)."
[2]
[1]: (Baines, John. Personal Communication to Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. April 2020. Email)
[2]: (O’Connor 1983, 211-213) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Brier and Hobbs (2008, 72)- Diagram "Government organization at the time of the New Kingdom."
[1]
1. Pharaoh (not included in diagram)
2. Overseer of the Temples and Prophets of all the Gods"a government official who functioned not as a priest but as the civil overlord of an institution that controlled great national wealth. So entwined were Egypt’s civil and religious affairs, however, that, in addition to his civil post, a vizier often held the position of overseer of the temples. Ranked directly below the overseer stood high priests ..."
[2]
3. High Priests of each god"the chief priest was designated as the ’first god’s servant’."
[3]
"at Karnak, a second, third or even fourth god’s servant served under him."
[3]
4. Second god’s servant are these servants at the same or at different levels i.e. does the second command the third etc.?5. Scroll carriercleric who "maintained and read the sacred texts of the temple."
5. Wab priestsmaintained idols and instruments. had to be circumcised. shave whole body every two days, bathe twice a day and twice a night, weather non-animal clothing, avoid pork, fish and beans, they worked shifts of one month followed by three months of rest.
[4]
"Wab priests ... were organized into squadrons of ten or so, and served under the command of a ’god’s father.’ All were male, but women could serve as priestesses who sang and danced for a god."
[5]
4. Third god’s servant5. Scroll carrier
5. Wab priests
4. Fourth god’s servant5. Scroll carrier
5. Wab priests
1. King
"In the temple, the sun-god’s daily journey through the heavens was symbolically enacted by means of rituals and hymns, the principal aim of which was to maintain the created order of the universe. The king played a crucial role in this daily ritual; he was the main officiant, the sun priest, who had an intimate knowledge of all aspects of the sun-god’s daily course."
[6]
"Although the seat of government during most of the New Kingdom was the northern capital, Memphis, the 18th-Dynasty kings had originated from Thebes, and this city remained the most important religious centre of the country. Its local god, Amun (’the hidden one’), had become associated with the sun-god Ra and as Amun-Ra King of the Gods was worshipped in every major temple in Egypt, including Memphis."
[7]
_ Cult of Amun, Thebes _
2. God’s father or Amun
[8]
2. God’s wife of Amun
[9]
3. Steward of the estate of Amun" administered the land owned by the temple.
[8]
3. Overseer of priests.
[10]
same as? High Priest of Amun
[11]
4. Second Priest of Amun
[8]
[12]
5. Third Priest of Amun
[8]
[12]
6. Fourth Priest of Amun
[12]
7. Scribes and other workers?
_ Cult of Osiris, Abydos _
2.
3.
4.
5.
_ Cult centres _
1.
2.
3.
EWA: 1 Pharaoh, [2 High Priest of Amon], 3 High Priest/Temple Steward, 4 Lector-priests, God’s servants. God’s fathers. 5 Wab priests.
Pharaoh (1). Divine Adoratrice (?). Overseer of Priests of Upper and Lower Egypt (2). High Priest/Temple Steward (3). God’s servants. God’s fathers. Lector-priests (4, 4-5 or 4-6). Wab priests (5, 5-6 or 5-7). Non-priestly workers.
[1]: (Brier and Hobbs 2008, 72) Brier, Bob. Hobbs, H A. 2008. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. Greenwood Publishing Group.
[2]: (Brier and Hobbs 2008, 74-75) Brier, Bob. Hobbs, H A. 2008. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. Greenwood Publishing Group.
[3]: (Brier and Hobbs 2008, 75) Brier, Bob. Hobbs, H A. 2008. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. Greenwood Publishing Group.
[4]: (Brier and Hobbs 2008, 75-76) Brier, Bob. Hobbs, H A. 2008. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. Greenwood Publishing Group.
[5]: (Brier and Hobbs 2008, 76) Brier, Bob. Hobbs, H A. 2008. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. Greenwood Publishing Group.
[6]: (Van Dijk 2000, 266)
[7]: (Van Dijk 2000, 267)
[8]: (Van Dijk 2000, 300)
[9]: (Bryan 2000, 210)
[10]: (Bryan 2000, 230)
[11]: (Van Dijk 2000, 301)
[12]: (Bryan 2000, 261)
Brier and Hobbs (2008, 72)- Diagram "Government organization at the time of the New Kingdom."
[1]
1. Pharaoh (not included in diagram)
2. Great Overseer of the Army3. Overseer of the North Armies4. General officers
3. Overseer of the South Armies4. General officers
EWA: This is based upon the cavalry as this is better known and represents likely the longest chain of command: 7 Pharaoh (Commander-in-Chief), 6 South and North Chief deputy, 5 Chief of army/general (leads expedition or building work), 4 Intermediate officer (equivalent of batalion) , 3 Commander of Company, 2 Commander of Platoon, 1 Soldiers
1. Pharaoh
2. South and North Chief Deputy3. Chief of army/General4. Intermediate officer5. Commander of company6. Commander of platoon7. Individual soldier
Schulman’s New Kingdom hierarchy - does not include scribal ranks
[2]
1. General (Commander of a host)
2. Chief of troops
3. Troop commanders
4. Adjutants4a. Standard bearers
4b. Chariot warriors were supervised by chiefs who had the rank of standard bearers. (18th Dynasty).
[3]
Became Charioteer and Shieldbearer. Shieldbearer commanders. Chariotry commanders.
5. Adjutants of a company
6. Platoon leaders
Infantrymen
Pharaoh. Commander-in-chief. Chief deputy of the northern corps/Chief deputy of the southern corps. Division general/Military commander (5000 men). Host (? men). Company (250 men). Platoon (50 men). Squad (?).
Noncommissioned officer headed the smallest army unit (50 men). Troop commander had authority over five of these units (250 men), which amounted to a company. A division of 20 companies (5,000 men) was headed by a military commander. There were 4 divisions - named after the royal gods Amun, Re, Ptah, and Seth and the four bases Thebes, Heliopolis, Memphis, and Piramesse - in the entire army (20,000 men).
[4]
Fortresses had commanders.
[5]
In New Kingdom the King became a more active military leader. Most military men were soldier-farmers, in a “kleruchic” system, where they could be mobilized when needed. Foreign mercenaries also used.
[6]
[1]: (Brier and Hobbs 2008, 72) Brier, Bob. Hobbs, H A. 2008. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. Greenwood Publishing Group.
[2]: (Spalinger 2013, 400)
[3]: (Spalinger 2013, 401)
[4]: (Gnirs 2001)
[5]: (Van Dijk 2000, 285-286)
[6]: (Manning 2012, 76)
Source 1: Brier and Hobbs (2008, 72)- Diagram "Government organization at the time of the New Kingdom."
[1]
1. Pharaoh (not included in diagram)
2. Northern Tchety3. Northern nomarchs4. Village chiefs5. Constables
4. Great Kenbet of the North5. Village Kenbets
2. Southern Tchety3. Southern nomarchs4. Village chiefs
4. Great Kenbet of the South5. Village Kenbets5. Constables
2. Overseer of the House of Gold (Treasury)3. Overseer of Granaries
3. Overseer of Cattle
2. Taxes ?
Source 2: "Fig. 3.4. Schematic outline of the developed structure of government in the New Kingdom. The fragility of much of the evidence on which this diagram is based must be emphasized, as must its inability adequately to illustrate significant changes in the structure ... Nevertheless, the writer believes that the diagram gives a reasonable approximation of the divisions of functions and powers within New Kingdom government."
[2]
1. King
2. Chancellor of the Court3. Camberlain of the Court
2. Chief Steward of the Royal Estates3. Bureaucracy for the Royal Domain
2. Commander-in-Chief3. Chief Deputy of the Northern Corps
3. Chief Deputy of the Southern Corps4. General Officers
4. Bureaucracy5. Garrisons / Town and Village Levies / Military villages
2. Overseer Of Prophets Of (All The Gods) Of Upper and Lower Egypt -- "held at various times by vizier, high priest of Amun."3. God’s Wife of Amun4. Priesthoods Bureaucracy
3. High Priest of Amen4. Priesthoods Bureaucracy
3. High Priests of Other Gods4. Priesthoods Bureaucracy
2. Northern Vizier
2. Southern Vizier3. Overseers (2) of the Treasury4. Bureaucracy5. Village Chiefs
5. Town Mayors6. for both mayors and kenbet-councils "there was internal hierarchization and differences in function."
[3]
5. Councils6. for both mayors and kenbet-councils "there was internal hierarchization and differences in function."
[3]
4. Police5. Village Chiefs
5. Town Mayors
5. Councils
2. Overseer of the Granaries of Upper and Lower Egypt / Overseer of Cattle not sure I understand the correct position of these titles
2. Governors of Northern Lands3. Vassel Kings
Battalion Commanders
2. Governor of Southern Lands. King’s Son of Kush.3. Deputy of Wawat4. Mayors of Egyptian Centres
4. Chiefs of Indigenous Groups
3. Deputy of Kush4. Mayors of Egyptian Centres
4. Chiefs of Indigenous Groups
3. Battalion Commanders
van den Boorn (1988)
"We note, that the interrogation of local urban officials takes place in the bureau of the vizier ... It is evident, that interrogations and hearings of urban authorities entailed their journeying to the seat of the vizier: for the vizier, a perfect means of exercising effective control over his urban officials. For the functionaries involved, the possibility of being called back to the residence-city meant a check on possibile irregularities, also support for their local politics in having the opportunity to consult the vizier and knowing that they were backed. On the practical side, it entailed a great deal of traveling. Moreover, it presupposes a local apparatus managing affairs in their absence."
[4]
Alternative attempt (multiple sources):
1. Pharaoh
The term "Pharaoh" - Egyptian for "great house" - emerged as political title in the New Kingdom.
JGM: Note also use of term in the Old Testament.
"One office that was more often that not held by foreigners was that of ’royal butler,’ a senior executive position outside the normal bureaucratic hierarchy, the holder of which was often entrusted with special royal commissions."
[5]
_ Central government line _
[6]
2. Vizier
[7]
3. Overseer of policemen(Thut III - Am II period). "Inscription from the tomb of Vizier Rh-mi-r’": ""It is he (the vizier) who appoints the overseer of policemen in the bureau of the pr-nswt."
[8]
3. Overseer of the treasury
[9]
4. Overseers of gold and silver houses, royal stewards, overseers of the granary
[10]
, Overseer of works
[11]
5. Royal scribe
[12]
Are these public officials appointed by central or local government? Was there an "Overseer of the market places" at level 4a.? Perhaps they appointed the public weighers.
5. Qabbaneh (public weighers in the market place)
[13]
6. Notary assisted the Qabbaneh
[13]
_ Provincial line _
[6]
2. Vizier"It is he [the vizier] who holds the hearing of the mayor and the settlement-leaders who have gone out in his name to Upper and Lower Egypt."(Thut III - Am II period). "Inscription from the tomb of Vizier Rh-mi-r’"
[8]
2. Nomes
[9]
Nomes had capitals. Hebenu was the capital of the Oryx nome.
[9]
3. Chiefs of towns"It is he [the vizier] who holds the hearing of the mayor and the settlement-leaders who have gone out in his name to Upper and Lower Egypt."(Thut III - Am II period). "Inscription from the tomb of Vizier Rh-mi-r’"
[8]
3. Chiefs of villagesMayors e.g. mayor of Thinis (region of Abydos).
[14]
"It is he [the vizier] who holds the hearing of the mayor and the settlement-leaders who have gone out in his name to Upper and Lower Egypt."(Thut III - Am II period). "Inscription from the tomb of Vizier Rh-mi-r’"
[8]
4. Local bureaucrats
5. Scribes
_ Nubian line _
[6]
2. Governor"Viceroy and overseer of southern countries."
[15]
Provinces in Palestine and Syria
[5]
3. Bureaucrats for the whole of Nubia4. Bureaucrats for both Nubian Provinces5. Scribes
(Thut III - Am II period). "Inscription from the tomb of Vizier Rh-mi-r’" mentions mayors and settlement-leaders.
[16]
EWA: Central line/capital: King, Central elites, bureaucrats
Provincial line: King, Central elites, chiefs of towns and chiefs of villages, local bureuacrats and scribes
Nubian line as an example of ’foreign’ territory: King, Nubian Governor, bureaucrats for the whole of Nubia and for both Nubian provinces, scribes
O’Connor (1983)
[17]
"The garrisons of Egyptian (and Kushite) troops in the ’Northlands’ were small, scattered and under the direct control of several ’battalion-commanders’ and not of the governors. ... The ’Southlands’ (Wawat and Kush), with their Nubian population ... was ruled by a single governor, who shared no important administrative power with the local chieftains; its military forces were centralized under a single ’battalion-commander’".
[18]
"The internal government of Egypt was divided for functional reasons, into four major units (fig. 3.4) and these were sometimes further divided geographically ... Centralized control was maintained by means of the small group of powerful officials who headed each department, who reported directly who the king, who were appointed and removed by him."
[18]
Dier-el-Medina worker village
1. Pharoah
2. Vizier3. Palace scribePalace scribe managed the community and was himself appointed by the Vizier.
[19]
Two teams of workers worked ten days and then were replaced.
[19]
4. Team on the left(or right) supervisor5. Team on the left(or right) worker (*5)
4. Team on the left(or right) doctor
4. Team on the left(or right) non-commissioned officer5. Team on the left(or right) guard
5. Team on the left(or right) gate-keeper
[1]: (Brier and Hobbs 2008, 72) Brier, Bob. Hobbs, H A. 2008. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. Greenwood Publishing Group.
[2]: (O’Connor 1983, 208) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (O’Connor 1983, 214) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[4]: (van den Boorn 1988, 115-116) van den Boorn, G. P. F. 1988. The Duties of the Vizier. Civil Administration in the Early New Kingdom. Kegan Paul International. London & New York.
[5]: (Van Dijk 2000, 292)
[6]: (Ref. Helck. 1957. Zur Verwaltung des Mittleren und Neuen Reich.)
[7]: (Van Dijk 2000, 285)
[8]: (Pagliari 2012, 727) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[9]: (Bryan 2000, 230)
[10]: (Bryan 2000, 261)
[11]: (Bryan 2000, 236)
[12]: (Bryan 2000, 264)
[13]: (Willard 2008, 2249)
[14]: (Bryan 2000, 241)
[15]: (Bryan 2000, 234)
[16]: (Pagliari 2012, 726) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[17]: (O’Connor 1983) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[18]: (O’Connor 1983, 209) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[19]: Ziskind, Bernard. Halioua. Occupational medicine in ancient Egypt. 2007. Medical Hypotheses. Volume 69. Issue 4. pp 942-945. Elsevier.
During the New Kingdom the priesthood became a full-time profession. The position of "first prophet" was initially held by members of the royal family, then by officials appointed by the Pharaoh. [1] Temples "sustained by government grants bestowed in return for formal blessings on the undertakings of the state." [2]
[1]: (Doxey 2001)
[2]: (Mokhtar 1981, 102)
Social order considered maat, that is, divinely intended. [1] However, in the army commoners could achieve promotion to officer status. [2] shn[t]y st.f m ’h "One whose position/status was promoted in the ’h." (tomb of Dhwty, Thut III - Hatsh. period). [3] the ’h is considered to be a palace with ceremonial and ritual functions.
[1]: (Hinds 2006, 5)
[2]: (Healy 1992, 19)
[3]: (Pagliari 2012, 716) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
No professional judges or lawyers.
[1]
Not present until Ptolemaic era.
Archival texts of court proceedings.
[2]
[1]: (McDowell 2001)
[2]: (O’Connor 1983, 185) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
King highest judge, vizier second highest judge. However, law usually administered at local level.
[1]
JGM: Note the important text: "The Duties of the Vizier" that lays out the chief judges responsibilities, and provides the formal organization of the legal system of the New Kingdom. See G.P.F. Van Den Boorn,The Duties of the Vizier:Civil Administration in the Early New Kingdom. Kegan Paul, 1988.
[1]: (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73)
Not discovered.
Few codes known to exist. However, the law system was nationally integrated such that local disputes could be appealed to a higher court.
Legal Text of Mose concerns control of land tenure and tax obligations. "In a case that went through five lawsuits over control of, or rights to, disputed land in the Village of Neshi, the plaintive Mose, as descendant of Neshi sought to overturn the judgement of of the Qenbet, "council" or court of magistrates in Memphis." This was the local court that had jurisdiction over the case "at the level of the nome, because Memphis was the capital of the nome in which the disputed land was located." The case moved up to the "Great Qenbet over which the Vizier presided, at national level."
[1]
Inscriptions record pharaonic decrees on crimes and punishments. Instructions for Merikare, written in Middle Kingdom, "set down basic guidelines for administering justice" and was well known in the New Kingdom.
[2]
Legal system based on precedent and case law.
[3]
[1]: (Kohler and Gumerman 2000, 313)
[2]: (Hinds 2006, 6)
[3]: (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73)
The following quotes are relevant but do not explicitly confirm the existence of a physical building exclusively devoted to legal proceedings.
van den Boorn (1988)
"We want to stress that the vizier apparently does not pronounce a verdict on the dispute itself. He only orders a re-assessment to be carried out by the local officials in charge and stipulates its duration. Therefore, the petitioner’s request is not for a trial or re-trial, his appeal is concerned with obtaining legal permission for a re-assessment by the local authorities. Ultimately, the matter will be settled locally."
[1]
O’Connor (1983)
"Oracles, which were always delivered by a specific god but variously in his ’national’ or local form, were a source of reassurance and guidance for individuals and an important social mechanism easing the tensions and conflicts inherent in closely-knit and largely self-regulating town and village communities. The local kenbet-councils ... were clearly unable or unwilling to solve many disputes involving ownership or rights and cases of theft and other crimes, and these were therefore submitted to a god as a neutral arbitrator of unimpeachable authority."
[2]
"The New Kingdom kenbet-councils were primarily judicial but they were also quasi-administrative, since they were often concerned with property rights."
[3]
Archival texts of court proceedings.
[4]
Courts called kenbet at local and provincial levels.
[5]
"It is difficult to answer the question of whether the kenbet was a council or a court, or both."
[6]
Civil service officials controlled the judiciary. Vizier was the chief judge on civil matters.
[7]
"with priests of the local temples, nomarchs comprised the district court of justice."
[8]
All officials were responsible for reporting crime to the vizier’s office, which either ratified decisions made by the lower officials or set up an investigation itself (and if necessary enacted a punishment).
[9]
[1]: (van den Boorn 1988, 165) van den Boorn, G. P. F. 1988. The Duties of the Vizier. Civil Administration in the Early New Kingdom. Kegan Paul International. London & New York.
[2]: (O’Connor 1983, 199) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (O’Connor 1983, 214) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[4]: (O’Connor 1983, 185) O’Connor, David. "New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 BC" in Trigger, B G. Kemp, B J. O’Connor, D. LLoyd, A B. 1983. Ancient Egypt: A Social History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[5]: (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 73
[6]: (Haring 2010)
[8]: (Pardey 2001)
[9]: (McDowell 2001)
"Merchants who worked for their own gain existed in ancient Egypt only during the New Kingdom." In the New Kingdom there is "evidence that Asian merchants traded on the market in Thebes." [1] "Among the various public officials were the Qabbaneh, or public weighers, who erected their balances in the market place while a notary stood by to record the details." [2] Earliest known depiction of the balance dates to Amenophis III (1391-1353 BCE) [2] Warburton disagrees with the supply state view so presumably independent merchants could have existed earlier "lack of evidence of state ’control’ of crafts or of the economy; ... absence of evidence of ’redistribution’ ... increasingly widespread evidence of commercial activity ... exaggerated attention to titles has paid neither sufficient attention to their absence, nor to the lack of evidence for an administrative role of titles when they are documented. Together these points suggest that the Ancient Egyptian economy was a pre-capitalist market economy in which administration played a relatively unimportant role in itself." [3]
[1]: (Altenmuller 2001)
[2]: (Willard 2008, 2249)
[3]: (Warburton 2007) Warburton, David A. 2007. Work and Compensation in Ancient Egypt. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. Vol. 93. pp 175-194. Egypt Exploration Society.
Irrigation was a local responsibility throughout the Pharaonic period. Central authority primarily concerned with taxation. However, central government was responsible for national projects like land reclamation and irrigation of new areas in Fayyum and Delta. Techniques employed included extension of canal network for the control of flood waters, and the human powered shaduf system. [1]
[1]: (Nicholson and Shaw 2000, 515)
Granaries.
[1]
Taxes - usually grain and cattle - stored in temple or state granaries.
[2]
"The Great Harris Papyrus, in the British Museum, records that during the reign of
Ramesses II, 81 322 men worked in the Temple of Karnak, tending over 400 000 livestock. The huge storehouses attached to the temples were major centres for the redistribution of goods."
[3]
Panehsy usurped "the office of ’overseer of the granaries’" "to feed his men in a city that as already suffering from economic malaise.
[4]
[1]: (Trigger 1983, 232)
[4]: (Van Dijk 2000, 302)
The mines in the Eastern Desert had a "road leading to them [which] was provided with a resting-place, a newly dug well, and a small temple." [1] A pipe network that connects the drinking water to individual settlements is not known to exist / not thought to be present. However, various technologies might have incorporated piped water? 1. Water filtration system in use since c2000 BCE. [2] (privately owned, but also used in temples and government offices?). 2. In Amarna many property compounds had their own well "a unique feature of this city, which made its inhabitants independent of the Nile for their daily water supplies." [3] 3. A map of Amarna labels a "Water Tower" [4] near the central city. This would store too much water for private consumption and could be a store of water intended for public consumption.
[1]: (Van Dijk 2000, 287)
[2]: (Angelakis et al. 2012, 136)
[3]: (Van Dijk 2000, 274)
[4]: (Van Dijk 2000, 273)
Western coast road. [1] Royal Road at Amarna. [2] Reliable road through Sinai had to be developed in order to advance by land into Canaan. Connected east Delta (or Avaris, at Perunefer) to Gaza. [3] Road network emerged with development of irrigation systems. Excavated soil was piled by the side of ditches, these formed embankments which were used as paths and roads. Generally not paved. (An exception was the 11.5 km paved straight road - using flagstones and petrified wood - discovered in the Fayyum, which artefacts date to Old Kingdom). [4] [5]
[2]: (Arnold 2003, 37)
[3]: (Garcia ed. 2013, 435-436)
[4]: (Partridge 2010)
[5]: (Van Dijk 2000, 287)
Memphis and Aswan were two large ports. At Avaris there was a dockyard called Perunefer. [1] Avaris: "We know from Ramesside documents that, at the time of Piramesse, it was a major navy base. It was "the marshalling place of thy (scil. the king’s) chariotry, the mustering place of thy army, the mooring place of thy ships’ troops." [2] "The famous Tale of Wenamun tells that Egyptian exports to the Levant consisted mostly of humble commodities, like fish, hides, linen cloths, papyrus and natron at the very end of the 2nd millennium, when Tanis replaced Avaris/Per-Ramesses as an active harbour frequented by the fleets of institutions but also of private merchants. That was also a period when Egyptian semi-luxury goods found a broad diffusion in the Aegean and the Levant (Mumford 2007: 259; Moreno García 2014a: 22-26)." [3]
[1]: (Garcia ed. 2013, 435-436)
[2]: (Bietak in Maree ed. 2010, 139)
[3]: (Juan Carlos Moreno García, Recent Developments in the Social and Economic History of Ancient Egypt, 21)
The Coptic alphabet is the script used for writing the Coptic language. The repertoire of glyphs is based on the Greek alphabet augmented by letters borrowed from the Egyptian Demotic and is the first alphabetic script used for the Egyptian language. [1]
[1]: Ritner, Robert Kriech. 1996. "The Coptic Alphabet". In The World’s Writing Systems, edited by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 1994:287-290.
"The historicity of mnemonic devices in the Middle East (and particularly in Egypt and Palestine) remains to be hereafter demonstrated. The scribes of ancient Egypt were quite fond of word-games; this was a natural development for the land which Jean Capart chose to dub the “pays du symbolisme.”7 J. J. Clère has shown that the Egyptians composed not only crosswords, but acrostics as well.8 Etienne Drioton, the renowned Belgian Egyptologist and Catholic priest, in his “La Cryptographie Egyptienne,” gives several examples of Egyptian cryptograms (symbols — ornamental and otherwise — which convey dual meanings). These may consist of one or more symbols composing but a single word, or of entire sentences which have dual meanings. The latter most often display their dual meanings through homophones,9 to which we have had recourse in our Hor Sensen Papyrus investigations." [1]
[1]: THE USE OF MNEMONIC DEVICES IN ORAL TRADITIONS, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM AND THE HOR SENSEN PAPYRUS By John A. Tvedtnes A paper read at the Nineteenth Annual Symposium on the Archaeology of the Scriptures, held at Brigham Young University on October 18, 1969.
Medical texts. The scribe Kenhirkhepshef, who worked at Deir el Medina during the reign of Rameses II, had a large library with papyri on medical texts, religious spells, hymns, letters, poetry, household hints, dream interpretations. [1] Kahun Gynecological papyrus (1825 BCE), the Edwin Smith papyrus (1700 BCE), and the Ebers papyrus (1500 BCE) covered "surgery, healing, skin diseases, stomach ailments, medicines, the head, dentistry, gynecology, and diseases of the extremities". [2]
[1]: (Booth 2011, 301)
[2]: (Marios, Hanna, Alsiegh, Mohammadali and Tubbs 2011) Loukas, Marios. Hanna, Michael. Alsaiegh, Nada. Mohammadali, M Shoja. Tubbs, R Shane. 20 April 2011. Clinical anatomy as practiced by ancient Egyptians. May 2011. Clinical Anatomy. Volume 24. Issue 4. pp 409-415. Wiley.
JGM: on the absence of philosophy, often noted, I would hesitate about. Or do we mean here "non-religious"? Clearly there was a well thought out Philosophy/Theology, preserved in temple texts still for many temples unpublished. See for example: R.B. Finnestad, Image of the world and symbol of the creator. Harrassowitz, 1985. (Thut III - Am II period). "Inscription from the tomb of Vizier Rh-mi-r’" states the duties of the vizier. [1] "Ancient Egyptians had a strict code of ethics as expressed by the New Kingdom Instructions of Amenemope who lived during the reign of Amenhotep III18. The instructions of Amenemope commanded respect for dwarfs and other individuals with handicapping conditions". [2]
[1]: (Pagliari 2012, 725-726) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[2]: (Kozma 2006) Kozma, Chahira. February 16 2006. Dwarfs in ancient Egypt. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A. Volume 140A. Issue 4. 302-311.
Love poems and tales.
[1]
There was "renewed interest in the classical writers of the Old and Middle kingdoms, especially the ’teachings’ or ’instructions’ of old sages such as Ptahhotep and Kagemni, and descriptions of chaos such as those of Neferti and Ipuwer. It was perhaps because Ramessid scribes felt that these earlier works could not be equalled, let alone surpassed, that contemporary literature, such as love poetry and folk tales and mythical stores that sprang from an oral tradition, was written not in classical Egyptian but in the modern language first introduced in inscriptions by Akhenaten."
[2]
"Prohibitions". Miscellanies used in Ramesside scribal education. Satirical letter of P.Anastasi I. Laus ubis (lyrical form), hymns and prayers. Love songs. "The Antef Song". "Songs from the Orchard". Tales: "Taking of Joppa", "Apophis and Seqenenre", "Doomed Prince", "Two Brothers", "Truth and Falsehood", "Head and Trunk", "Khonsuembheb and the Ghost", "Horus and Seth."
[3]
[1]: (Lichtheim 2006, viii)
[2]: (Van Dijk 2000, 287)
[3]: (Moers 2010, 689)
"The wealth of some farmers is also expressed in private documents, like a late 2nd millennium letter from Elephantine stating that several nemeh-cultivators paid their taxes to the treasury in gold." [1]
[1]: (Juan Carlos Moreno García, Recent Developments in the Social and Economic History of Ancient Egypt, 17)
List of items tax paid in for New Kingdom: Gold, rainment, chest of linen, "large bolts", silver, oxen, calves, necklace bead, "1 two-year-old" and "two-year-olds" (two-year-old what?), garments, grain, yearlings, pigeons, firstlings of the year, honey. [1]
[1]: (Ezzamel 2002, 20) Ezzamel, Mahmoud. 2002. Accounting working for the state: Tax assessment and collection during the New Kingdom, ancient Egypt. Accounting and business research. Volume 32. Issue 1. pp 17-39.
unknown. Letters existed. [1] (Thut III - Am II period). "Inscription from the tomb of Vizier Rh-mi-r’" states the duties of the vizier. "It is he who dispatches every messenger of the pr-nswt sent to the mayors and the settlement-leaders; is he who dispatches everyone who will circulate all messages of the pr-nswt." [2]
[2]: (Pagliari 2012, 726) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
"Messengers." [1] Mounted messengers. [2] (Thut III - Am II period). "Inscription from the tomb of Vizier Rh-mi-r’" states the duties of the vizier. "It is he who dispatches every messenger of the pr-nswt sent to the mayors and the settlement-leaders; is he who dispatches everyone who will circulate all messages of the pr-nswt." [3]
[1]: (Spalinger 2013, 408)
[2]: (Healey 1992)
[3]: (Pagliari 2012, 726) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
visible in temple buildings; i.e. Temple of Karnak
visible in temple buildings; i.e. Temple of Karnak
visible in temple buildings; i.e. Temple of Karnak
Tell el-Dab’a and Qantir in the eastern Delta. "The city was strategically situated near the road leading to the border fortress of Sile and the provinces in Palestine and Syria and also along the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, and it soon became the most important international trade centre and military base in the country." [1]
[1]: (Van Dijk 2000, 292)
According to Gnirs, "fortification architecture and techniques of siege had become the basic means of warfare by the third millennium BCE." [1] Fortress of Sile was an "important stronghold on the landbridge connecting the Egyptian Delta with Syria-Palestine." [2]
[1]: (Gnirs 2001)
[2]: (Van Dijk 2000, 285-286)
According to Gnirs, "fortification architecture and techniques of siege had become the basic means of warfare by the third millennium BCE." [1] Fortress of Sile was an "important stronghold on the landbridge connecting the Egyptian Delta with Syria-Palestine." [2]
[1]: (Gnirs 2001)
[2]: (Van Dijk 2000, 285-286)
"The use of a new technique of gluing strips of horn and sinew to a wooden self bow produced the more elastic composite bow, with a considerably greater range than before." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"Sherden [mercenaries] fought with sword and spear." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 44) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The northern exterior wall of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III (Medinet Habu) is decorated with episodes from the war against the Sea Peoples (c. 1164 BC), including a scene of the official allocation of various types of arms (spears, helmets, bows, quivers, khepesh daggers and shields) to the soldiers." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 43) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"A new form of dagger, with the narrow blade and tang cast all in one, appeared at the beginning of the New Kingdom and gradually developed into a weapon resembling a short sword. The most specialised form of dagger was the khepesh, a scimitar-like weapon with a curved blade modelled on an Asiatic form that first appeared in the Second Intermediate Period." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 42-43) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
Chariots pulled by two horses. [1] Horse-drawn chariot first effectively exploited as a weapon by the 18th Dynasty. [2] Horses non-native to Egypt. Introduced c1700 BCE. [3] Mounted scouts important from the beginning of the New Kingdom. [2] According to Egyptian administrative records, a chariot would carry "one or two bows, two to four quivers attached at both sides of the chariot (providing eighty arrows altogether), a spear and/or a javelin, as well as axe and shield for close combat." The crew was the chariot driver and the bowmen with the addition of a shield man from late second millennium BCE. [2]
[1]: ([http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/megiddobattle.htm
[2]: (Gnirs 2001)
[3]: (Partridge 2010, 384)
camels not considered native to Egypt, likely introduced by Persians in 525 BCE
"Body armour, in the form of small bronze plates riveted to linen or leather jerkins, was introduced by the early New Kingdom". [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
Infantry carried round or oval shields covered with hide. [1] Cowhides probably most common material. Copper and/or Bronze may also have been used for shields. [2] "The northern exterior wall of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III (Medinet Habu) is decorated with episodes from the war against the Sea Peoples (c. 1164 BC), including a scene of the official allocation of various types of arms (spears, helmets, bows, quivers, khepesh daggers and shields) to the soldiers." [3]
[1]: (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 74)
[2]: (Hoffmeier 2001)
[3]: (Shaw 1991: 43) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base." [1] Bronze scale armor on short-sleeved, knee length shirt made out of linen or leather. [2] "Body armour, in the form of small bronze plates riveted to linen or leather jerkins, was introduced by the early New Kingdom". [3]
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press
[2]: (Gnirs 2001)
[3]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base." [1] Bronze scale armor on short-sleeved, knee length shirt made out of linen or leather. [2] "Body armour, in the form of small bronze plates riveted to linen or leather jerkins, was introduced by the early New Kingdom". [3]
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press
[2]: (Gnirs 2001)
[3]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base." [1] Bronze scale armor on short-sleeved, knee length shirt made out of linen or leather. [2] "Body armour, in the form of small bronze plates riveted to linen or leather jerkins, was introduced by the early New Kingdom". [3] Note: jerkins lack sleeves.
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press
[2]: (Gnirs 2001)
[3]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base." [1] Bronze scale armor on short-sleeved, knee length shirt made out of linen or leather. [2] "Body armour, in the form of small bronze plates riveted to linen or leather jerkins, was introduced by the early New Kingdom". [3]
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press
[2]: (Gnirs 2001)
[3]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
Appeared in 18th Dynasty, likely to have been made of bronze as the word for helmet is the same as the word for an "ingot of metal." Battle scenes do not depict soldiers wearing helmets. Likely used by charioteers who were unable to carry shields. [1] Sherdan mercenaries wore spiked helmets. [2] "The northern exterior wall of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III (Medinet Habu) is decorated with episodes from the war against the Sea Peoples (c. 1164 BC), including a scene of the official allocation of various types of arms (spears, helmets, bows, quivers, khepesh daggers and shields) to the soldiers." [3]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) J K Hoffmeier in D B Redford. ed. 2001. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Brewer and Teeter 1999, 75)
[3]: (Shaw 1991: 43) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base." [1] Bronze scale armor on short-sleeved, knee length shirt made out of linen or leather. [2] "Body armour, in the form of small bronze plates riveted to linen or leather jerkins, was introduced by the early New Kingdom". [3]
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press
[2]: (Gnirs 2001)
[3]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base." [1] Bronze scale armor on short-sleeved, knee length shirt made out of linen or leather. [2] "Body armour, in the form of small bronze plates riveted to linen or leather jerkins, was introduced by the early New Kingdom". [3]
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press
[2]: (Gnirs 2001)
[3]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
After the introduction of the horse and chariot in the New Kingdom, the importance of the land army increased relative to that of the navy. [1] Navy was viewed as part of the army and amphibious operations were common. [2] “His army could reach any coastal town in Syria by ship in four to five days, while by foot the journey would take more than a fortnight.” [3] Navy mostly of transport and communications sort. [4] Avaris: "We know from Ramesside documents that, at the time of Piramesse, it was a major navy base. It was "the marshalling place of thy (scil. the king’s) chariotry, the mustering place of thy army, the mooring place of thy ships’ troops." [5]
[1]: (Garcia ed. 2013, 436)
[2]: (Healy 1992, 25)
[3]: ([http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/megiddobattle.htm
[5]: (Bietak in Maree ed. 2010, 139)