The First Dynasty of Egypt (c. 3100‒2900 BCE) was a relatively geographically constricted ancient state located near the Nile delta of Egypt, which was first unified under a ruler called Menes.
[1]
Population and political organization
Kings of the First Dynasty were buried in the royal cemetery in the Umm el-Qa’ab area at Abydos in Upper Egypt, where funerary enclosures and a mortuary cult supported an ideology of divine kingship.
[2]
However, it is believed that Memphis, downriver at the neck of the delta, was the main administrative centre because tombs of administrative officials have been discovered nearby.
[3]
Also known as the White Walls,
[4]
apparently after the colour of the palace enclosure walls,
[5]
Memphis probably had at least 6,000 residents at a population density of 193 per hectare.
[6]
The government of the Early Dynasties is thought to have developed significant divisions of labour and a more hierarchical structure under King Djer, who introduced permanent institutions,
[7]
although Egyptologist Hratch Papazian stresses that a true hierarchical bureaucracy emerged ’only during the latter parts of the Old Kingdom’.
[8]
Writing had been in use since the Protodynastic period (’Dynasty 0’, or the later Naqada periods),
[9]
when hieroglyphs were used for labels such as those found in the tomb of U-j at Abydos, dating to around 3150 BCE.
[10]
Regional centres of the First Dynasty included Hierakonpolis, Abydos, and minor centres further south at Naga-el-Deir and Aswan. First-Dynasty Egypt was likely not yet divided into the clearly demarcated provinces, controlled by local governors, that we find in later periods.
[11]
There is no clear evidence for professional priests or large-scale religious organization, but there may have been temple compounds within settlements, serving different ritual functions from the funerary complexes located outside the towns.
[12]
The Egyptian population during the Early Dynastic period is difficult to determine, but the archaeologist Bruce Trigger estimated that there could have been over 2 million people living in the Nile Valley at this time.
[13]
[1]: (David and David 2002, 86) R. David and A. E. David. 2002. Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. London: Routledge.
[2]: (Bard 2000, 41) Kathryn A. Bard. 2000. ’The Emergence of the Egyptian State (c. 3200-2686 BC)’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 57-82. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[3]: (Bard 2000, 64-65) Kathryn A. Bard. 2000. ’The Emergence of the Egyptian State (c. 3200-2686 BC)’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 57-82. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[4]: (Malek 2000, 104) Jaromir Malek. 2000. ’The Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2160 BC)’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 83-107. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[5]: (Thompson 2012, 1) Dorothy J. Thompson. 2012. Memphis under the Ptolemies. 2nd ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
[6]: (Mumford 2010, 331) Gregory D. Mumford. 2010. ’Settlements - Distribution, Structure, Architecture: Pharaonic’, in A Companion to Ancient Egypt, Volume 1, edited by Alan B Lloyd, 326-49. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
[7]: (Engel 2013, 20-38) Eva-Maria Engel. 2013. ’The Organisation of a Nascent State: Egypt until the Beginning of the 4th Dynasty’, in Ancient Egyptian Adminstration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 19-40. Leiden: Brill.
[8]: (Papazian 2013, 67-68) Hratch Papazian. 2013. ’Departments, Treasuries, Granaries and Work Centers’, in Ancient Egyptian Adminstration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 41-83. Leiden: Brill.
[9]: (Bard 2000, 75) Kathryn A. Bard. 2000. ’The Emergence of the Egyptian State (c. 3200-2686 BC)’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 57-82. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[10]: (Bard 2000, 60) Kathryn A. Bard. 2000. ’The Emergence of the Egyptian State (c. 3200-2686 BC)’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 57-82. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[11]: (Moreno García 2013) Juan Carlos Moreno García. 2013. ’Building the Pharaonic State: Territory, Elite, and Power in Ancient Egypt during the 3rd Millennium BCE’, in Experiencing Power - Generating Authority: Cosmos and Politics in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, edited by J. A. Hill, Ph. H. Jones, A. J. Morales, 185-217. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
[12]: (Bard 2000, 78) Kathryn A Bard. 2000. ’The Emergence of the Egyptian State (c.3200-2686 BC)’ in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt edited by Ian Shaw. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[13]: (Trigger 1983, 51) Bruce G. Trigger. 1983. ’The Rise of Egyptian Civilization’, in Ancient Egypt: A Social History edited by Bruce G. Trigger, Barry J. Kemp, David O’Connor and Alan B Lloyd, 1-70. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
| 36 R |
| Egypt - Dynasty I |
| Memphis |
| Pre-dynastic Egypt | |
| Naqada IIIC | |
| Naqada III | |
| IIIC | |
| Dynasty I | |
| Terminal Predynastic | |
| Protodynastic period |
| none |
| Egypt - Dynasty II |
| continuity |
| Succeeding: Egypt - Dynasty II (eg_dynasty_2) [continuity] | |
| Preceding: Egypt - Dynasty 0 (eg_naqada_3) [continuity] |
| unitary state |
| Absent | |
| Present |
| inferred Present |
| inferred Present |
| inferred Present |
| inferred Absent |
| Present |
| inferred Absent |
| Uncoded |
| inferred Present |
| Present | |
| Absent |
| Present | |
| Absent |
| Present | |
| Absent |
| Present |
| Absent |
| Present | |
| Absent |
| Present |
| Present |
| Present | |
| Absent |
| inferred Absent |
| absent |
| Year Range | Egypt - Dynasty I (eg_dynasty_1) was in: |
|---|---|
| (3100 BCE 2901 BCE) | Upper Egypt |
The "early Egyptian state was a centrally controlled polity ruled by a (god-)king from the Memphis region." One reason Memphis is considered the likely main administrative centre is the large number of tombs of administrative officials located in the region.
[1]
Founded at the beginning of the 1st Dynasty.
[2]
Known as White Wall
[2]
(Ineb=hedj(w) = "white wall(s), i.e the royal palace enclosure walls) or Memphis (Greek Memphis < Egyptian Mn-nfr, an abbreviation of the longer name for the funerary complex of king Pepi I.)
[3]
"’The size of the graves discovered in the cemetery is larger in some instances than royal graves in Abydos dating back to the First Dynasty, which proves the importance of the people buried there and their high social standing during this early era of ancient Egyptian history,’ he [Antiquities Minister Mahmoud Afifi] added. Experts hope evidence may help prove their theory that Abydos was Egypt’s capital in the pre-dynastic and early dynastic periods."
[4]
[1]: (Bard 2000, 64-65)
[2]: (Malek 2000, 104)
[3]: (Thompson 2012, 1)
[4]: Archaeologists find previously undiscovered Ancient Egyptian city Page accessed: 24 November, 2016 http://www.dw.com/en/archaeologists-find-previously-undiscovered-ancient-egyptian-city/a-36499226
"During the Terminal Predynastic (Nagada III or Protodynastic period) from 3300 to 3050 B.C."
[1]
[1]: (Hassan 1988, 172)
"During the Terminal Predynastic (Nagada III or Protodynastic period) from 3300 to 3050 B.C."
[1]
[1]: (Hassan 1988, 172)
"During the Terminal Predynastic (Nagada III or Protodynastic period) from 3300 to 3050 B.C."
[1]
[1]: (Hassan 1988, 172)
"During the Terminal Predynastic (Nagada III or Protodynastic period) from 3300 to 3050 B.C."
[1]
[1]: (Hassan 1988, 172)
"During the Terminal Predynastic (Nagada III or Protodynastic period) from 3300 to 3050 B.C."
[1]
[1]: (Hassan 1988, 172)
"During the Terminal Predynastic (Nagada III or Protodynastic period) from 3300 to 3050 B.C."
[1]
[1]: (Hassan 1988, 172)
Started with the unification of Egypt under Menes (1st Dynasty c3100 BCE
[1]
Emergence of 1st Dynasty c3000 BCE.
[2]
Naqada III
"appearance of a so-called late style, whose forms were already evoking Dynastic pottery."
[3]
3200-3000 carbon dating
[4]
[1]: (David and David 2002, 86)
[2]: (Bard 2000, 63)
[3]: (Midant-Reynes 2000, 43)
[4]: (Midant-Reynes 2000, 43 cite: Libby)
Memphis. No figure. Estimate from the two sources below:
EWA
Memphis. No figures. Estimated 30,000 to 50,000 for the Memphite region in 2500 BCE (if included migrant population of 10,000 to 20,000).
[1]
Mumford:"Early Dynastic to Old Kingdom (c. 3000-2125 BCE): Memphis. 31 hectares. 6,000 people estimated population. 193 per hectare."
[2]
[1]: (Modelski 2003, 28)
[2]: (Mumford 2010, 331)
1st Dynasty controlled "much of the Nile Valley from the Delta to the first cataract at Aswan."
[1]
This works out as 44,717.85 (close borders/little control of surrounding steppe/desert) to 115,102.67 (borders further out from the Nile). Estimated using Google area calculator.
50,000: 3100 BCE; 75,000: 3050 BCE; 100,000: 3000 BCE; 100,000: 2950 BCE; 100,000: 2900 BCE
[2]
This includes only habitable area. we will have another that includes the desert (John Baines)JGM: We should bring up, somewhere, theories on the rise of the first state in Egypt in relations to the oases, western desert. Lots of archaeology has occurred, and there is a clear relationship between the desert hinterlands in southern Egypt and the rise of the state in the Nile valley.
[1]: (Bard 2000, 63)
[2]: (Chase-Dunn spreadsheet)
EWA: 4 Memphis, 3 regional centres like Hierakonpolies and Abidos, 2 minor centre like Aswan/Naga-el-Deir, 1 villages. ref. Bard 2014, 2nd edition.
EWA final: this variable for early dynastic to Hyksos should be 4 to 5. The reason is that we can infer the existince of hamlets at the bottom end of the scale. This should be implemented for all the intermediate polities.
1. Memphis
2. Regional centres (Hierakonpolis, Abydos)3. Minor centres (Aswan, Naga-el-Deir)4. Villages(5. Hamlets)
EWA: unknown
_ Abydos cult centre _
Abydos was the most significant cult centre. Kings of the 1st Dynasty were buried in the royal cemetery in the Umm el-Qa’ab area. There were funerary enclosures and a mortuary cult that supported an ideology of divine kingship. In the funerary enclosures priests and other personnel practiced king-cults.
[1]
1. King.
2. Priests
3. Other
_Town cult complex_
In the 1st Dynasty there were probably cult temple compounds within towns which "served a different function from those associated with the funerary complexes, which were located outside the towns."
[2]
1.
2.
3.
[1]: (Bard 2000, 64-69)
[2]: (Bard 2000, 78)
1. King
2. nobles(3. officers.)4. Individual soldiers
Throughout Egyptian history, the army was a multi-purpose organization which was engaged for civil works labour projects, defence and campaigns.
Soldiers were responsible for transportation of monuments and quarried stone, large irrigation works and land reclamation. The dual purpose of the army was reflected in the hierarchy with the high "brass" as likely to be administrators as fighters.
[1]
[1]: (Gnirs 2001)
EWA: unknown
1. King
_ Administration at Memphis _
2. Overseers
[1]
Early use of writing suggests administration system from Dynasty 0.
[2]
Djer introduced permanent institutions, royal domain got a name different from the king, division of labour and hierarchy increased.
[3]
3. Overseers "whose activities took place only in Lower Egypt""Early Dynastic period, administrative seals and labels mention royal agricultural domains put under the authority of a very particular category of overseers whose activities took place only in Lower Egypt."
[1]
4. Scribes
[4]
_ Provincial administration _
2. Nomes
[5]
"Other towns must have developed or been founded as administrative centres of the state throughout Egypt. ... At Hierakonpolis, an elaborately niched mud-brick facade within the town (Kom el-Ahmar) has been interpreted as the gateway to a ’palace,’ possibly an administrative centre of the early state."
[6]
Reign of Den: "Settlements concentrated in areas where irrigation was easily manageable, and those were the districts that seem to have been organized as nomes first. ... The single institutions (domain, : hw.t pj-hr.w-msn.w) are more and more subdivided into several departments, and during the 2nd Dynasty villages are attached."
[3]
3. ... ? ...
[1]: (Juan Carlos Moreno García, Invaders or just herders? Libyans in Egypt in the third and second millennia BCE, 3)
[2]: (Bard 2000, 75)
[3]: (Engel 2013, 20-38)
[4]: (Bard 2000, 74)
[5]: (Bard 2000, 78)
[6]: (Bard 2000, 65)
Before the New Kingdom inter-regional trade was conducted between institutions. "Merchants who worked for their own gain existed in ancient Egypt only during the New Kingdom." Ancient Egypt was a "supply state" with the necessities distributed down from institutions to the people. Goods exchanged at markets were primarily consumables like beer and bread, also some dried meat, fish, vegetables and fruits. Non-consumables included household artifacts. [Altenmüller_Schwaiger 2001] However: "non-institutional trade networks should be considered. Egyptology has traditionally interpreted pharaonic foreign trade as relying exclusively on exchange operations promoted and carried out by the monarchy, especially through expeditions seeking for exotic and luxury items from Punt, Nubia and the Levant. However, things seem more complex." [Moreno_García 2014] AD: coded as unknown since no evidence for a market place or building.
Menes began construction of basins to retain flood waters, dug canals and irrigation ditches to reclaim marshland. [1] "By the Early Dynastic Period, simple basin irrigation may have been practised, thus extending the amount of land under cultivation and producing increased yields." [2]
[1]: (Angelakis et al. 2012, 128-130)
[2]: (Bard 2000, 65)
Regional and local officials responsible for hoarding and distribution of grain.
[1]
This was true in Old Kingdom, very likely true in the early period. "A Third-Fourth dynasty complex found at Elkab consisted of storage facilities, silos, and sites where agricultural produce was transformed (Hendrickx and Eyckerman 2009)"
[2]
[2]: (Juan Carlos Moreno García, Recent Developments in the Social and Economic History of Ancient Egypt, 15)
Earliest wells date to the el Napta/Al Jerar Early Neolithic (c6000-5250 BC) at Napta Playa in the Western Desert. There is written evidence for wells from 4th dynasty Old Kingdom. "Most of the inscriptions seem to be connected to mining or quarrying activities in the Eastern Desert or travel routes from the Nile Valley towards the Red Sea." "The basic techniques involved in well-building, such as sinking shafts and building casings of solid stones, must be considered to have existed in Egypt at least since the early Old Kingdom and probably even earlier." [1] A pipe network that connects the drinking water to individual settlements is not known to exist / not thought to be present.
[1]: (Franzmeier 2007)
there is an oblique reference to mining in the predynastic on the Naqada IA-IIB polity sheet. [1]
[1]: Franzmeier, F. 2007. "Wells and Cisterns in Pharaonic Egypt: The Development of a Technology as a progress of Adaptation to Environmental Situations and Consumers’ Demands".[in:] Griffin, K. [ed.]. Current Research in Egyptology 2007. Oxford: Oxbow Books. pg: 40, 48.
"early writing preserves specialized information that is of a very cursory nature at this point in cultural development." [1] "by Dynasty 0, writing was used by scribes and artisans of the Egyptian state." [2] The earliest phonetic hieroglyphic writing was found in the tomb J at the Abytos Cemetary U - on the pottery vessels and small bone/ivory labels [3] They are dated to Naqada IIIA. But it should be noticed that already in Naqada I, signs similar to hieroglyphs have been found, especially on the pottery vessels (pot marks). [4]
[1]: (Bard 2000, 64)
[2]: (Bard 2000, 74)
[3]: Köhler, E. C. "Theories of State Formation". [in:] Wendrich, W. [ed.]. Egyptian Archaeology. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing. pg: 41.
[4]: Kahl, J. "Hieroglyphic Writing During the Fourth Millennium BC: an Analysis of Systems". Archeo-NiI 11 (2001); 122, 124.
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.
"early writing preserves specialized information that is of a very cursory nature at this point in cultural development." [1] "by Dynasty 0, writing was used by scribes and artisans of the Egyptian state." [2] The earliest phonetic hieroglyphic writing was found in the tomb J at the Abytos Cemetary U - on the pottery vessels and small bone/ivory labels [3] They are dated to Naqada IIIA. But it should be noticed that already in Naqada I, signs similar to hieroglyphs have been found, especially on the pottery vessels (pot marks). [4]
[1]: (Bard 2000, 64)
[2]: (Bard 2000, 74)
[3]: Köhler, E. C. "Theories of State Formation". [in:] Wendrich, W. [ed.]. Egyptian Archaeology. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing. pg: 41.
[4]: Kahl, J. "Hieroglyphic Writing During the Fourth Millennium BC: an Analysis of Systems". Archeo-NiI 11 (2001); 122, 124.
"early writing preserves specialized information that is of a very cursory nature at this point in cultural development." [1] the Edwin Smith papyrus (1700 BCE): "attempting to salvage content from an older script dating back to 3000 B.C." [2]
[1]: (Bard 2000, 64)
[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.
"early writing preserves specialized information that is of a very cursory nature at this point in cultural development." [1] the Edwin Smith papyrus (1700 BCE): "attempting to salvage content from an older script dating back to 3000 B.C." [2]
[1]: (Bard 2000, 64)
[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.
On the walls of King Unas’s (2375-2345 BCE) burial chamber: "The Pyramid Texts represent the earliest large religious composition known from ancient Egypt; some of their elements were created well before the reign of Unas and map out the development of Egyptian religious thought from Predynastic times." [1]
[1]: (Malek 2000, 102)
poetry is a very simple form of fictional writing and may have appeared once writing was frequently used for functional purposes among a literate elite. "as early as 3000 BCE official reference standards of length, volume, and weight were being maintained in temples and royal palaces in Egypt" [1] However "early writing preserves specialized information that is of a very cursory nature at this point in cultural development." [2]
[1]: (Willard 2008, 2244)
[2]: (Bard 2000, 64)
they possessed a lunar calendar and the hieroglyphs with which they could write it down
In Naqada period there were baked clay and stone tokens - cones, spheres, disks, cylinders, tetrahedrons etc.; impressed tablets. [1]
[1]: Meza, A. 2012. ANCIENT EGYPT BEFORE WRITING: From Markings to Hieroglyphs. Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation. pg: 81, 82.
Walled towns present prior to 3100 BCE. Were these mud-brick constructions not stone?
Walled towns present prior to 3100 BCE. Were these mud-brick constructions not stone?
Walled towns present prior to 3100 BCE. Were these mud-brick constructions not stone?
Walled towns present prior to 3100 BCE. Were these mud-brick constructions not stone?
Not mentioned for this period in Shaw’s (1991, 15-24) discussion of Egyptian fortifications. [1] According to Gnirs, "fortification architecture and techniques of siege had become the basic means of warfare by the third millennium BCE." [2] 1st Dynasty fortress built "on the highest point of the shore on Elephantine Island." [3]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 15-24) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
[2]: (Gnirs 2001)
[3]: (Bard 2000, 64)
Copper metallurgy from 2500 BCE. [1]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3.
Copper metallurgy from 2500 BCE. [1] Spearheads and arrowheads initially flintstone and bone, later replaced by bronze. [2]
[1]: (Adam 1981, 235) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3.
[2]: (Gnirs 2001)
[1] Ed: more information needed here. What is the nature of the evidence and for what time period does it apply? Reference is J K Hoffmeier in D B Redford. ed. 2001. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford. Have been able to discover there is a ’slings and stones’ section in volume P-Z 2: 409-10. Don’t know if reference taken from here as I currently am unable to access it.
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001)
"By the Dynastic Period, archers were most commonly depicted using a ’self’ (or simple) bow" [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 37) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE." [1] "The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE." [2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018.
[2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London.
"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"the weaponry being used by the Egyptians and their opponents--a combination of bows and arrows, shields, spears and axes--remained virtually unchanged from the Sixth to Thirteenth Dynasties." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 37) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"One of the most important sources for the study of Egyptian weapons in the early Middle Kingdom is a pair of painted wooden models (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) from the tomb of Mesehti, a provincial governor at Asyut in the Eleventh Dynasty (figure 22). Forty Egyptian spearmen and forty Nubian archers are reproduced in faithful detail, showing the typical costume and arms of the common soldier." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)." [1] Before Naqada period people used the flint daggers, but they later disappeared. Metal daggers appeared no earlier than during Naqada IIC-D [2] . absent: Naqada IIA-IIB; present: Naqada IIC-IID
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
[2]: Gilbert, G. P. 2004. Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt. Oxford: BAR International Series 1208. pg: 43.
"Throughout the Dynastic Period of the most commonly used weapon was the axe. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms the conventional axe usually consisted of a semicircular copper head (see figures 23a and 24) tied to a wooden handle by cords, threaded through perforations in the copper and wrapped around lugs. At this stage there was little difference between the battleaxe and the woodworker’s axe. In the Middle Kingdom, however, some battleaxes had longer blades with concave sides narrowing down to a curved edge (figure 23b)" [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 36) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"During the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom the Egyptians depended upon the donkey’s back for land transport. ... Well before 3000 BC donkeys in Upper Egypt were trained to carry loads." [1] Donkeys were domesticated in the Naqada II period. They were used for travel and trade. [2] . The donkey was probably domesticated from the African wild ass ’in more than one place’ but for the Nubian subspecies 5500-4500 BCE in the Sudan. [3] There is no information if donkeys had a role in warfare.
[1]: (Drews 2017, 34) Robert Drews. 2017. Militarism and the Indo-Europeanizing of Europe. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: Nielsen, S. 1999. The Domestic Mode of Production and Beyond. København: Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab. pg: 323.
[3]: (Mitchell 2018, 39) Peter Mitchell 2018. The Donkey in Human History: An Archaeological Perspective. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
While the dogs took part in hunting, it is unknown if they also participated in military expeditions.
camels not considered native to Egypt, likely introduced by Persians in 525 BCE
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
Cowhides probably most common material. [1] "From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [2]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001)
[2]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
Not until the 18th Dynasty c1500 BCE. [1] "The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [2]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) J K Hoffmeier in D B Redford. ed. 2001. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.
"The soldiers of the Old and Middle Kingdom wore no armour. In the Old Kingdom they are usually depicted wearing only a belt and a small triangular loincloth, and by the Middle Kingdom their costume was invariably the same short linen kilt as that worn by civilian workmen. [...] From the late Predynastic Period to the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian soldiers’ only bodily protection (apart from the occasional use of a band of webbing across the shoulders and chest) was supplied by long, roughly rectangular shields made of cowhide stretched over a wooden frame." [1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF.