History

Almost eight thousand years ago, Egypt was divided into a number
of provinces fighting each other one day and acting as close allies
the next day ,whenever common interests forced them to unite and cooperate.
This prevailed until the state achieved stability as two independent kingdoms ,
one in Lower Egypt taking " papyrus " as the insignia of the kingdom and the
other in upper Egypt taking "lotus " as its insignia .

C.A sculpture showing King Narmar wearing his Crown in the
battles of the Egyptian union in the Year 3100 B.C.

In The Prehistoric Age , There Were Many Attempts To Unite The Two Kingdoms. Yet, They All Failed. Untill King Narmer succeeded in unifing them,
giving birth to Egypt in 3100 B. c & laying the foundation for the first pharaonic dynasty .

King Zosar, the first King who organized the Egyptian army
on correct Military basis around the Year 2686 B.C.

With the unification of Upper& Lower Egypt, it was necessary to establish
a strong army whose headquarter was the city of Menf. Narmar also established the Egyptian first fleet in With the beginning of the third
Pharaonic Dynasty in 2686 B.C, Egypt was exposed to manyraids by
the nomads on its eastern borders, the thing that urged king Zosar
to establish army with its own military traditions and its distinct banners.
This army was regarded as the first regular army in history, Later on,
" Zosar " organized Egypt into districts where he set, companies. Moreover,
he established his own royal army made up of corps, and established a substantial fleet as well.

Castle of "Semna" in The south of the valley, it was used to
secure the southern part of Egypt and as a center for the commercial exchange with Sudan.

From the seventh up to the tenth dynasty (2181-2040 B.C) when riots
and unrest took place ,bloody conflicts arose among the rulers of provinces
that they seeked the assistance of mercenary soldiers from neighboring countries,the thing that raised the army's combat efficiency.
During the eleventh & twelveth dynasties the army tended to be more unified,
as well the active service system & conscription were introduced,
Every province ruler was responsiple of training and strengthening
his own army which would join the army of the pharaoh when the country is invaded or when one of the province rulers declares mutiny.

The army was divided into two sections : spear holders and archery soldiers.
The weapons used at that time were bows, arrows, spears, swords,
daggers, axes and shields. Moreover, horns were used for calling the soldiers to assemble.

The most prominent development added to the ancient Egyptian army
was the use of the war wheels, the weapon that was taken from "Heksos"
but highly developed and used by Egyptians to the extent that they started to breed horses, an animal that was not very common in Egypt, and modified
the designs of the war wheels. It was mentioned, that the Egyptian army under the command of "Tohotmos the third" captured 24 war wheels and 2238 horses in the well-known battle of "Magedo".

Throughout the ancient Egyptian history, the army fought a number of famous battles, the most prominent was the liberation battles against &quotHeksos "
who occupied the country for almost 150 years (1725 - 1575 B.C),
until King " Ahmos " defeated them in 1575 B.C, expelled them from
the country and started the modern pharanoiac state era.
Afterwards in 1468 B.C. The Egyptian army, under the command of Tuhotmos III fought the battle of Magedo against a coalition of Asian princes to the north of Palestine. This king is considered one of the greatest commanders in ancient history. He conducted about 16 military campaigns to the east and south of the country, through which he was able establish the first empire in the human history.
In 1285 B.C Ramsis II fought his famous battle (Kadesh)
in northern Syria against the Asian kingdoms and managed to establish the second Egyptian empire.


Some old Egyptian daggers