The military of ancient Egypt has spanned thousands of years, evolving and adapting as the kingdom progressed from the golden age of the Old Kingdom towards the eventual Hellenization that would render their foot soldiers indistinguishable from a Macedonian phalanx.
Earlier in Egyptian history, being a member of the army denoted no special title or placement in society, leading to a militia that was mostly comprised lower-class men that lacked funds to train in other employments. During the age of the Old Kingdom, soldiers often employed the use daggers, shields, and spears, most notably utilizing a single-arched bow that was much harder to draw and utilize than the compound bows that were introduced at the end of Egypt's early military.
As Egypt established itself as a major military power in its respective region, its army began to become larger and much more well-trained, seeing leaps in technological ability with the introduction of chariots, the iconic khopesh, as well as the compound bow. These bows were used primarily in the New Kingdom alongside war chariots in order to create a deadly, long ranged army.
However, with the expansions of Alexander the Great into Egyptian territory and the beginning of the Ptolemaic dynasty, Egyptian warriors became heavily Hellenized, and indistinguishable from those of Macedonian Greece.
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Battle vs. Incan Soldier (by Samurai234)
In a valley an Incan warrior sneaks around, looking for enimies. up ahead, he sees a egyptian warrior walking across. The Incan pulls out his sling and loads a rock on the sling. he fires the sling, but misses the egyptian. The egyptian looks up and sees the incan who fires his sling. The incan fires another rock, but the egyptian blocks it with his shield. the egytian pulls out his Bow and Awrrow and fires an arrow, but the incan warrior blocks it with his shield. The Incan warrior charges at the egyptian warrior, war lance in hand. The Egyptian warrior grabs his shield and spear. the two warriors struggle for a while, but the Egyptian warrior has a slight edge due to his shield. The egyptian warrior stabs his spear in the incan warrior's arm, injuring him. He tries to finish the incan warrior off, but the incan dodges the spear, and breaks the spear with his axe. the egyptian warrior pulls out his Kopesh curved sword and the two swing thier weapons at each other, until the egyptian manages to hook and the Incan warrior's axe from his hand. The incan pulls out his truncheon and disarms the egyptin warrior of his shield and sword. he prepares to finish him off, but the Egyptian warrior pulls out his dagger and slashes the Incan in the hip. he then retrieves his Kopesh and slashes the incan in the neck. The incan falls dead as the Egyptian yells in victory.
Expert's Opinion
The Experts thought the the reason the egyptian warrior won was because even though the incan warrior had better armor, the Egyptian's Bow and arrow was able to defeat the Incan's sling. the egyptian warrior's shield was also a big factor, as it' large size was able to stop the incan warrior's projectiles.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Rematch vs. Incan Warrior (by Samurai234)
In the South Amerrican Jungle, an Incan Warrior is scouting around the the field. He spots a Egyptian Warrior walking across the field. The Incan loads a rock on his sling and fires it. The rock misses, and the Egyptian is confused. The Incan jumps out of the brush and charges at the Egyptian Warrior with his War Lance. The Egyptian fires sevral arrows at the Incan, one of which hits the Incan in his chest. The Incan pulls the arrow out and sees the Egyptian charging at him with a Mace. The Incan puts up his lance to defend himself, but the mace breaks the lance's tip off. He uses the broken lance to knock the mace out of the Egyptian's hands and throw him to the ground. The Incan charges at him with his Axe. The Egyptian thrusts his spear at the Incan, but the axe breaks it. The Egyptian rolls out the way of the axe and pulls out his Khopesh. The two clash, until the Egyptian is able to use the sword the hook the axe out of the Incan's hands. The Incan pulls out his last weapons, the knife and the Truncheon. The two clash again, with the Incan laying in a strike with his club. The Incan tries to do a slash with his knife, but the Egyptiann is uses his Khopesh to remove it. The Incan growls in anger and lays a hit on the Egyptian's shoulder. The Incan runs into make the last blow, but the Egyptian pulls out his dagger and thrust it in the Incan's chest. He then recovers his Khopesh and slashes the Incan in his neck. The Egyptian gives a shout of victory before walking off.
Winner: Egyptian Warrior
Expert's Opinion
The Egyptian warrior was victorious once again due to marginal superiority in arsenal, as well as being a more versatile warrior all-around.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Rematch Information
TBW
Battle vs. Zande Warrior (by Wassboss)
An Egyptian warrior is training with his bow in an open field. Suddenly an arrow hits him square in the chest. Fortunately his armour stops it from penetrating his skin. He pulls it out and looks in the direction of the arrow. He sees a Zande warrior standing on top of a hill bow ready to fire again.
The Egyptian aims his own bow and fires hitting the zande in the side. The zande growls and pulls out the arrow and puts down his bow and pulls out his kpinga. He charges at the egyptian who fires another arrow. This time however the zande blocks it with his shield and carries on running. Once he is in the throwing range of the kpinga he throws it but the egyptian holds up his shield.
The kpinga curves around the shield and hits the egyptian in the chest but once again his armour protects him from injury. He pulls out his spear and thrusts it forward but the zande jumps out of the way and pulls out his own spear. He thrusts his makrigga into the egyptian penetrating his armour and leaving a nasty wound in his leg. The egyptian roars in pain and discards his spear for his khopesh and slashes the zande’s arm.
The zande is undeterred and thrusts forward but this time the egyptian blocks with his shield. He then slices it in two with the khopesh. The zande pulls out his makraka and the two warriors begin to duel. Despite having the shorter blade the zande manages to get the upper hand and disarms the zande by hooking the khopesh out of his hands and throwing it aside.
The egyptian pulls out his last remaining weapon, the dagger, and waits for the zande to make the first move. The zande starts off with an over head swing but quickly changes it into an under arm stab confusing the egyptian and scoring a hit on his already injured leg. The egyptian cries in pain and the zande tries to decapitate him. The egyptian ducks under the swing and stabs the zande in the stomach.
The zande coughs up blood and the egyptian yanks the dagger up cutting through the zande’s left lung and slicing his heart. The zande collapses and dies. The egyptian shouts in victory and limps off to get help for his leg. Winner Egyptian warrior
Expert’s Opinion
The Egyptian won because his armour stopped the arrows from penetrating his skin and once in close range he dominated the Zande.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. Persian Immortal (by Wassboss)
The Persian fleet marchs over the open plain, in straight lines of 5. The leader rides his chariot in the front, his body guards in a circle around him. “Sir, some of the archers can see the enemy sir” one of the bodyguard whispers, jumping onto the side of the slow moving chariot and pressing his mouth to the leader’s ear. His leader peers into the distance and spots the Egyptians split up into 4 quarters of 4 with the leader on his own chariot a little bit behind his men, his bodyguards also standing around him. Almost immediately as he spots them he hears the sound of a horn being blown and the Egyptians cheer and start running towards the Persian’s, who stop and ready themselves for the battle ahead.
“Archers fire your arrows” the Persian leader shouts and the ten men at the back bend back the string on their bows and let loose a volley of arrows, partially blocking out the sun which is already partially blocked out by the clouds. The Egyptian leader yells for his men to raise their shields and they do so mere seconds afterwards but they hesitate for too long and 7 men are killed when the arrows come down. (20-13)
The remaining Egyptian archers (8 in total) send their own volley of arrows at the Persian’s but the immortals are prepared and raise their own shields in defiance. Despite this 4 Persian’s fall to the ground 1 clutching his eye and the other 3 their necks. (16-13)
The immortals fire another volley of arrows but the Egyptians are prepared this time and raise their shields, the arrows bouncing harmlessly of them. Now too close for another volley of arrows the Persian Leader shouts out a command of “Swords and Spears men, Sword and Spears”. Almost exactly as these words are issued the Persian’s drop their bows and draw their swords and spears. Two spears fly forward from the ranks of the immortals, one bouncing harmlessly off an Egyptian, the other striking one in-between his armour and pierces his heart. (16-12)
The front line of Egyptians draws their own spears and point them into the ranks of the Persian’s. The crash into the Persian formation, skewering 5 Persian’s with their spears. (11-12)
The Egyptians discard their now snapped, bent or headless spears and draw their other weapons, running straight into the fray. The Persian leader draws his sword and lops of the head of a nearby Egyptian, his head rolling away. (11-11)
He swirls the chariot around and spots an Egyptian archer who fires an arrow right at him. It strikes the Persian in the chest, knocking him off the chariot and making his horse run whining off into the distance. “Guards to me” he shouts over the noise of battle and his bodyguards immediately rush to his side, managed to kill 3 of the Egyptians as they rush to their leader. (11-8)
“Push forward” he shouts and his bodyguards obey, moving quickly through the Egyptian ranks. The two bodyguards in front of drop down, arrows protruding out of their throats. (9-8)
The leader ducks down as another arrow flies past his head and grabs a sagaris from the dead body of one of his immortals. He straightens himself back up and slams the axe into the back of an Egyptian’s head, which was having a sword duel with an immortal. (9-7)
The Persian lifts his hand up in gratitude but he doesn’t have any time to thank his leader, as his head is crushed from behind with a mace. (8-7)
The Egyptian warrior drops his heavy and cumbersome mace and draws his Khopesh, running up to the Persian leader. One of his bodyguards puts steps forward, putting himself between the Egyptian and his master. The Egyptian swings his sword downwards and slices into the guard’s neck, making the blood shoot out. The guard grabs his throat in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding and the other guard steps forward, thrusting his spear into the Africans chest, piercing both the armour and heart of the Egyptian, causing him to fall backwards his hands grasped over his heart. (7-6)
Meanwhile the Egyptian leader watches the battle from a safe distance, a few feet away from the fighting. Suddenly an arrow strikes his horse in-between its front legs, sticking into its chest. The horse squeals and bolts forwards catching the leader off guard. Realising he will be killed if he stays on the chariot he leaps off, the horse collapsing not soon afterwards. “Men protect me” he shouts but only 2 men rush to his side the other 3 are locked in combat with their Persian adversaries. The leader takes his bow from where it was slung over his back and fires an arrow at one of the Persian’s, hitting him in the left eye. (6-6)
As he does so another Egyptian crushes the leg of a Persian immortal with a swing from his mace. The immortal screams in agony and the Egyptian finishes him off with a blow to the head. The he and another Egyptian run to their leader, obeying his original request. Another one tries to bolt but is struck in the back by 3 arrows, dropping faster than a boulder in a lake. (5-5)
The Persian archer smiles at his accuracy and returns to his master, along with the other 2 remaining immortals. They charge at the exact same number of Egyptians, their swords and spears raised above them. The Persian archer and the Egyptian archer (Whom the leader gave his bow to) fire their arrows at the same time, each one downing the other with an arrow to the neck. (4-4)
As they grow nearer the last remaining Persian body guard throws his spear, the long thin spear sailing through the air at a great speed. It hits the nearest Egyptian in the neck, knocking him off his feet from the sheer impact of the projectile. (4-3)
Another Egyptian runs forward with a spear and slams it the Persian guard, impaling him through his chest. He then draws his Khopesh and decapitates another Persian who is too slow to respond to his teammate’s death. (2-3)
The Persian leader rakes his sword across the spear Egyptians neck, leaving a long gash in his neck. He then kicks him backwards, knocking him into the other Egyptian soldier, knocking them both to the ground. (2-2)
The Egyptian struggles to push the corpse of his comrade off of his body and the Persian leader thrusts his sword through his right eye, finishing off the downed African. (2-1)
The other Persian tries to kill the Egyptian leader but he ducks underneath and stabs him in-between his armour with his dagger. (1-1)
The Persian leader charges at the Egyptian and swings his sword, aiming for his opponent’s neck. The Egyptian ducks under this attack and grabs the Persians sword hand, twisting it and forcing the Persian to drop his sword. He then tries to stab him in the abdomen but the immortal sees the glimmer of steel and pushes the Egyptian back, drawing his own dagger as he does so. They stand facing each other for a moment before lunging for each other, the Persian being slightly faster off the beat. He ducks under the Egyptians stab and rams the blade into his armpit, the curved edge hooking around a nerve. The Egyptian yells in pain and the immortal rips his dagger out, tearing the nerve out as well. He then stabs the Egyptian through the eye and pulls him into him. Digging the dagger even further until the Egyptian stops moving. He then drags the knife out of the egyptians eye, pushing him as he does so. (1-0)
The Persian leader looks over the battle field but none of his men have survived the conflict. He raises his dagger into the air and lets out a cry of “PEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRSIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”.He then heads over to his chariot which has stopped not too far from where he is standing, his horse grazing on the grass. He jumps into the back and pulls on the reins, regaining control of the chariot and heading back to tell his superiors of his success.
Expert's Opinion
This was a very close match up which could have gone either way. While the Egyptian warriors had the advantage in close range combat the Persian’s better armour diminished this edge slightly and their superior archery skills helped them take the Egyptians out from a distance and their superior training also helping to balance out the close range combat disadvantage.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. Apache Warrior (by Pygmy Hippo 2)
Deir el-Medina, Egypt
All was calm in the village before a group of ten men showed up with axes, spears, and bows who were merely trying to ask where they were but due to the locals not knowing what they were saying and the weapons they were carrying, the populace started fleeing in terror. The commotion attracted a group of ten New Kingdom Soldiers who tried to end the threat before it got out of hand. "መሣሪያዎችዎን ይጥሉ!" (Put down your weapons!) "What?"
The Apache Warriors were even more confused than before at this odd language while the Soldiers were fed up with this and three in the back started firing arrows from their Hyksos Composite Bows while the others pulled out shields and melee weapons. One Warrior got a flint arrow in his left eye and a bronze arrow in his right and another got his rawhide shield punctured by a barbed iron arrow which cut open his arm before another landed in his throat. The Apache yelled out their war crys and started returning fire with their Bows, while most of the arrows hit leather-covered wooden shields and broke, an iron arrow hit an Egyptian archer in the eye and another was hit in the side.
The Warriors retreated and the New Kingdom Soldiers chased them before another of their archers fell over dead, a victim of rattlesnake poison. This distracted them long enough for another of their men to get his head bashed open from above by a War Club and another had his spine severed by a Native American Spear. The third member of the Apache ambush threw his Spear at an Egyptian's shield where it bent and didn't penetrate, leaving him shocked as his foe hurled an Egyptian Spear at him that hit his stomach.
The other Warriors were quickly dispatched with a stab to the neck from another Soldier's Spear and an Epsilon Axe splitting another's skull as the leader yanked his weapon and some innards out of his dying foe. He turned to see one of his men get a thrown Bowie Knife right between the eyes and another barely blocked a thrown Tomahawk with his shield before he was hit in the side of the head. The Apache and Egyptians went into an outright brawl as a pair slashed the New Kingdom Axe wielder's arm and leg with their Knives before slitting his throat and stabbing his spine while another pulled out a Mace and broke his foreign foe's ribs before crushing his skull with another swing.
The Soldier was fatigued however and in no position to prevent a Tomahawk to his forehead but that Warrior was quickly stabbed through the side by an Egyptian Spear in return. The leader left his Spear in the body and pulled out a Khopesh as their foe's own leader approached him with a rawhide shield and Tomahawk and the two took mock swings at each other as their men finished their bloody brawl. The Apache pair approached the final Egyptian who threw his Spear which they dodged but weren't prepared for him yanking away one of their Knives with a Khopesh and cutting that man's throat open.
The other Warrior gutted the Soldier in return but stumbled away after being hit with the blunt side of the Khopesh and looked up to see the blade coming down on his head, both collapsed a second later. The leaders grew tired of the duel and slammed their weapons into their shields, both got stuck but the Khopesh brought back the rawhide shield with it while the leather-covered wooden shield proudly displayed the Tomahawk. The Egyptian pushed his foe with his shield to the dirt and drew his Epsilon Axe just in time to slam it on the Apache's shoulder before he could reach him with the Bowie Knife.
The Apache Warrior staggered back in pain as he dropped his weapon and was left defenseless as the New Kingdom Egyptian Soldier calmly freed his Khopesh before letting a mighty swing loose that decapitated his foe. He kicked the head away before getting to the rooftop of a nearby building to inform the town of their Dynasty's triumph. "አዲሱ መንግሥት ወራሪዎችን አይወድቅም!" (The New Kingdom shall not fall to invaders!)
Winner:New Kingdom Egyptian Soldiers
Expert's Opinion
The Apache Warriors had an arguably equal blunt object weapon and their guerrilla tactics were something their opponents had never seen and would still be effective in their foe's own territory but the New Kingdom Egyptian Soldiers had almost every other edge from Short, Mid, and Long Range combat to a superior shield and some body armor. While the Apache faced more advanced foes, the Egyptians weren't far behind in experience and the benefits of being part of an Empire meant they were actually at least as, if not more, physically capable than their tribal foes.
