The Enemies of Ancient Egypt

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The Enemies of Ancient Egypt

The Enemies of Ancient Egypt

by Jimmy Dunn writing as Troy Fox

The earliest depictions we have of Egyptian kings portray the motif of prostrate foreigners as

a symbol of Egyptian supremacy over the rest of mankind. For example, the NarmerPalette

shows the kingin his efforts to rid the world of such aberrations as the vile !siatic. "ere, we

find the trampling of the Nine #ows, as the Egyptian referred to their enemies, as a vivid

embodiment of the king$s supremacy over foreigners %and sometimes even other Egyptians&.

The figure nine represented three times three, which was the plurality of Pluralities, thus

designating the entirety of all enemies. !nd later, during the New 'ingdom, the (phinx (tele

of!menhotep ))provides a striking textual description of the Egyptian 'ing smiting his

enemies*

"e bound the heads of the Nine #ows... "e has gathered them all into his fist, his mace has

crashed upon their heads...

"ence, the visual image of the king slaughtering foreigners was an important, as well as

constantly repeated element of Egyptian iconography throughout the empires ancient history.+ith the cane from the tomb of Tutankhamunnow in the Egyptian !ntiuities

-useumin airo, we find a very symbolic reference to Egypt$s traditional enemies. arved on

its handle are the heads of a Nubian and an !siatic, and indeed, these embody the Egyptian

air of symmetry. Egyptians saw the !siatics and the Nubians as the two opposite poles of a

hostile world outside the Nile valley. )n fact, they sometimes simply referred to these enemies

as the North and the (outh. !ctually, /ust about everyone outside the Nile 0alley was

considered enemies of Egypt, for those were the lands of chaos. The visual depiction of

Egypt$s enemies and their role became so prevalent that it is difficult to distinguish in the

archaeological and textual sources between purely ritualistic and rhetorical references to

foreigners and genuine historical records. 1epeatedly, we find examples of battles, and king$s

smiting enemies that in fact, did not take place, but were mere copies of earlier scenes.

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The Execration Texts, which dates from the 2ldand-iddle 'ingdoms, is one of the most

important souses for information on the specific names of Egypt$s enemies. They were

discovered near tombs atThebesand (aara, as well as in the ritual site at -irgissa in

Nubia. Those found in Nubia even included one example of such text inscribed on a human

skull. +ritten in the hieratic scripton small pottery vessels and clay figures of bound captives,these text listed the hostile foreigners, places, groups of people or individuals that the

Egyptians wished thought to be inherently evil and wished to destroy. The ob/ects were then

deliberately broken and buried, inflicting a magical victory over these enemies. The names

listed in these texts include deceased Egyptians, as well as foreign princes and peoples

mostly inNubiaand (yria3Palestine. "owever, it is clear that these lists name both old and

new enemies, which were mixed together, forming a powerful universal statement about the

way in which Egypt viewed the outside world.

Foreigners from Ramesses III Temple at Medinet abu

Factually, Egypt had two forms of enemies. The first type of enemy was held valuable

resources that the Egyptians sought. Except for the Nubians, they were usually not a threat to

Egypt as invaders. These enemies included the empires such as -itanni, "atti. 2ther

enemies mostly possessed little that Egypt wished to have, but were a direct threat to Egypt

as an invading force. These enemies included the 4ibyans and the (ea People.

The !ubians

5uring almost the entire 5ynastic Period of Egypt$s history, the Nubians %or Nehesyw& wereconsidered by the Egyptians to be vile and wretched. The official view of the Nubians was

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clear from a -iddle 'ingdom boundary stele of (enusret )))from (mna which denounces

them*

They are not people one respects6 they are wretches, craven hearted. -y ma/esty has seen

it, it is not an untruth. ) have captured their women, ) have carried off their dependents...

-ilitary campaigns and trading expeditions were sent to Nubia at regular intervals in order to

sustain a regular supply of prisoners, herds of cattle and exotic products from the south such

as ivory, ostrich feathers and ebony. !nd of course there were also the mining operations in

Nubia, where the Egyptian$s obtained much of their gold. -any of these expeditions were

recorded in the tombs of the nobles atElephantine%at modern!swan&. "owever, by the New

'ingdom, Nubia had effectively become a province of Egypt, at least between !swan and

Napata, under the control of a viceroy known as 'ing$s (on of 'ush. 7et even then, the

iconography of the Nubian as a defeated enemy never lost its popularity as a symbol of

Egyptian supremacy. Even during the -eroitic Period, when the Nubian$s controlled Egypt

with ! Nubian as Pharaoh, this motif of the defeated Nubian was still depicted in the royal

regalia, with no apparent sense of contradiction.

The "ibyans

The 4ibyans were known to the Egyptians as the T/ehenu or T/emehu, though they may have

been composed of more than one race of people. They were depicted by the Egyptians

mostly as dark skinned and bearded, though occasionally with fair hair and blue eyes. ! semi

nomadic people, the 4ibyans occupied the lands to the northwest of the Nile 0alley. Even

during the predynastic period, temple reliefs freuently show them as a defeated enemy, andthere are records from the reigns of the 2ld 'ingdom pharaohs (nefruand(ahureof specific

campaigns against them.

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The 4ibyans, like the Nubians, were by the time of the 2ld 'ingdom, a symbol of the

'ing$s militaryprowess. The reliefs in the 2ld 'ingdom mortuary templesof (ahure

at!busirand Pepi)) at (aara, as well as the 4ate Periodtemple of Taharaat 'awa,

include stock scenes of a 4ibyan chief being smitten by the pharaoh, while the victim$s wife

and children beg for mercy. "owever, the personal names for the 4ibyans in all three scenes

are repetitions and therefore suggest that these reliefs did not actually record historical

events, but were rather an elaborate icon of 'ingship. "owever, it is also clear that at

intervals, the Egyptians had to undertake punitive campaigns against the 4ibyans. )n fact,during the New 'ingdom reigns of -erneptahand 1amesses ))),the Egyptians had to stave

off ma/or invasions from 4ibyans.

"owever, the 4ibyans, as well as other foreign captives, were often being settled in military

colonies by the late New 'ingdom, and these people, known as -eshwesh, eventually

became an influential group within Egyptian society. )n fact, by the 88nd 5ynasty, they even

gained temporary control of Egypt.

The y#sos

5uring the 2ld and -iddle 'ingdoms there seem to have been little military contact of any

significance with +estern !sia. "owever, after the -iddle 'ingdom, during the (econd

)ntermediate Period, Egypt was ruled by a dynasty of !siatic kings known as the"yksos.The

term "yksos really refers simply to the rulers of foreign lands. They came to Egypt with

horses,chariotsand copper weapons, which the Egyptians would later adapt for their own

armies.

The were expelled from Egypt by 'ing !hmose, but this interlude of foreign rule in Egypt

resulted in a new, aggressive policy of imperialism in (yria3Palestine. This would eventually

bring Egypt$s New 'ingdom pharaohs into direct confrontation with the great powers beyond

the 4evant, including first -itanni and then "atti and !ssyria.

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Mitanni$ atti and Assyria

-ost of Egypt$s conflicts with the !siatic enemies revolved around Egypt$s attempted control

the (yrian area of anaan, and the various city states of that region along the -editerraneancoast north of the (inai.!t first, it would seem that the conflicts within (yria with these various

enemies of Egypt were to provide a buffer 9one for Egypt$s defense. "owever, like -itanni

and"ittites, Egypt$s prolonged interest in the region derived from their desire to dominate and

exploit the economic resources and trade. 5uring the New 'ingdom, (yria was the

crossroads of world commerce, with goods from the !egean and beyond entering the Near

East by way of ports such as :garit. +hen one considers the inherent fertility and richness in

natural resources, (yria obviously offered much to the predatory powers who sought to use

this wealth for their own purposes. "ence, some thirty3thee centuries ago, world power was

synonymous with the control of (yria, so it is not surprising that for nearly two hundred years,

the great powers of Egypt, -itanni and "atti expended much blood and treasure in wars

designed to ensure their respective control of this vitally strategic region.

The %ea &eople

Even as Egypt was vying for a powerful position in (yria, there was apparently a disturbance

along the -editerranean coast that displaced whole nations of people. This disturbance was

to effect all of the powers of the region, as these people moved about the lands. They

became collectively known as the People of the (ea, who today we simply call the (ea

People. !s they invaded the lands of the 4evant, the bought with them their families, cattle

and household possessions, with the clear intent to settle (ome of these people have been

identified as the (herden, (heklesh, 4ukka, Tursha and !kawasha.

There were several waves of these people, invading Egypt. !t first, they reached as far south

as the Farafra 2asisand the anopic branch of the Nile. They advanced on Egypt by both

land and sea, and represented a desperate threat to the Egyptians and other powers of the

region.

&ersia and the End of the Dynastic &eriod

!s Egypt$s 5ynastic Period drew to an end, it was not the traditional enemies that finallybrought down this great empire, but rather a succession of new enemies. )t was first the

Persians, who were so offensive to the Egyptians that when!lexander the ;reatarrived in

Egypt, he seems to have been welcomed as a liberator. +hile Egypt would carry on a

dynastic tradition with the arrival of the Ptolomies, there would never again be a true Egyptian

Pharaoh with his own enemies to smite.

References'

Title Author

Armies of the Pharaohs Healy, Mark

Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, The Shaw, Ian; ic

Egyptian Treasures from the Egyptian Museum in !airo Tira"ritti, #rancEgyptian $arfare an" $eapons Shaw, Ian

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History of Ancient Egypt, A %rimal, icolas

&'for" History of Ancient Egypt, The Shaw, Ian

$arrior Pharaoh, The( )ameses II an" the *attle of +a"esh Healy, Mark

!rchives