The Military in New Kingdom Egypt

rationalise the role and importance of the soldiers in New body politic Egypt. In New Kingdom Egypt, the military machine became very important. The army evolved from being a disorganised band of conscripted peasants into a lethal, professional outfit vigorous equipped and ready for combat. Egypt became the most expansionist it had even been in its history. The emergence of Egypts army started in the 18th Dynasty when Ahmose expellight-emitting diode the Hyksos from Egypt. Tuthmosis I and Tuthmosis III and also Ramses II and Ramses III further maintained Egypts military strength in campaigns ranging from Nubia to Syria.Prior to the New Kingdom in Egypt, the countrys military was an inexpert group do up at different times of peasants, Nubian and Greek mercenaries and the Kings individualized troops. In the New Kingdom, this changed dramatically. For the first time Egypt had a standing army, and being a soldier brought prestigiousness and social standing as it had not done in the past. With the advances in the way the army was made up, there were also major advances in the equipment they used. For the first time body armour was used, as rise as the sickle sword.During the 18th Dynasty in Egypt, Ahmose brought military to the fore of Egyptian life. He was the first king of the 18th Dynasty and probably govern from 1539-1514 BC. Ahmose attacked Avaris and subsequently the Palestinian fortress of Sharuhen to end the Hyksos reign over Egypt. Ahmose hence turned to Nubia and Egypts land grew south to the Second Cataract. After this Ahmose returned his attentions to Palestine and whitethorn have led campaigns as far as the Euphrates. Tuthmosis I followed soon afterward Ahmoses reign and was highly instruct in military practises.He only ruled for a short time around 1493-1481 BC. til now Tuthmosis I was a very effective general and in several campaigns, Tuthmosis I reached Argo, the Third Cataract, in Nubia and also the Euphrates River part ironing the Syrians. He also defended Egypts colonies against the Mitanni people. Tuthmosis III was also very focused on military. It is possible he spent most of his younger historic period in the military as his stepmother and regent, Hatshepsut, took over the rule of Egypt when Tuthmosis III was only very young.Tuthmosis III only took over the governance of Egypt when Hatshepsut ultimately died, leaving him free to take his rightful place. He ruled from around 1504-1450 BC, although for part of that time Hatshepsut may have been ruling. as yet formerly Tuthmosis III was king of Egypt, he led many successful military campaigns. He has even been referred to as the Napoleon of Egypt. In the battle for Megiddo, Tuthmosis III led his troops to fight through a narrow pass where soldiers could only march single file.When the army emerged from the canyon it was spy that the enemy troops has arranged their lines expecting an attack from the two easier routes, and the Egyptians subsequently defeated their enemy in battle. In other wars, Tuthmosis III and his army marched from Thebes along the Syrian coast and captured three cities. Every year after that, Egypts armies would march against Syria until dominance over Palestine was established. Tuthmosis III recorded the capture of 350 cities at Karnak and he finally took the Syrian city Kadesh in his 42nd year of rule.The military continued to play a part in Egypts affairs during the New Kingdom with Ramses II. He was part of the 19th Dynasty and ruled from 1279-1213 BC. His most well known campaign was the Battle of Kadesh, although he brilliantly maintained Egypts borders against the Sherden (pirates) and created a defensive line of forts along Egypts north western border. Ramses II also made a peace treaty with the Hittites, which led to Egypt prospering greatly. Further more than, Ramses II secured the kingdom of Amurru to return to Egyptian influence, as it had been disconnected during his fathers reign.However the Battle of Kadesh was his most famous, although was neither a victory but more of a loss for the Egyptians. Ramses II advanced on the Hittite army from the south, but was led to trust by captured enemy scouts that the Hittites were still far away to the north. Ramses set up camp only to point out that the Hittites had already arrived for battle, and tried to hurry the rest of his army forward. However, 2 500 Hittites ambushed them as they tried to bump into up with Ramses forces and were defeated. The Hittites then attacked Ramses and his troops.According to documentation, Ramses almost single handedly held off the Hittites. However it may be the gaffe that the Hittites were simply distracted by the riches in the camp. Ramses was then saved by the appearance of the Nearin, another body of troops, which Ramses had separated in order to approach Kadesh from the north. The armies may have fought again the attached day, but the end result of the conflict was the peace treaty betwee n the Egyptians and the Hittites. This then prevented Egypt from ever pickings control of Kadesh.Ramses III was the last great Pharaoh of Egypt and ruled in the 20th Dynasty from 1184-1153 BC. In Ramses IIIs reign, the Libyans attacked in the south but were crushed by the Egyptian army. However Ramses and Egypt had a more effective threat to deal with the Sea People, who had destroyed the Hittite empire. The Sea People moved in to Egypt from Syria with the designing of settling. Luckily for Egypt Ramses was quick to send his army to fend off the Sea Peoples and the crisis was averted at least for a time.Next the Sea People approached from the sea, a cleaver move considering Egypts poor naval force. However again Egypt fended off this attack and saved itself once more. Ramses again proved himself an effective general while defending from another attack from the Libyans and Meshwesh which left 2 000 enemy soldiers dead on the battlefield. However once the New Kingdom collapsed Egypt lost most (if not all) of its colonies and was mostly ruled by foreigner. No one ever saw the likes of what occurred in the New Kingdom again.The military in New Kingdom Egypt was an organised and prestigious machine unlike anything that Egypt had seen before. Several Pharaohs stood out from the rest in terms of what they did for Egypt Ahmose, who expelled that Hyksos Tuthmosis I and Tuthmosis III who led campaigns in Nubia, Argo, Syria and Kadesh Ramses II and Ramses III were both excellent generals who maintained Egypts borders and fought to maintain the existence of Egypt. During New Kingdom Egypt the military became more important than it had ever been in the last years of power of the worlds most fantastic nations.