A Comparison of Warfare of Between The Ancient Egyptian and Hittites

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“The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road to either safety or ruin. Hence it is the subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected” by Sun Tzu by of Sun Tzu’s philosophy on warfare in 400-320 B.C. echoes back across time, when the ancient world was being shaped and carved by war.

Two ancient world superpowers the Egyptians and Hittites were in a struggle for dominance in the ancient Middle East, with control of the lucrative trade routes the key to supremacy. Their art of warfare; military technology, strategy and tactics collide and the fate of their empires, lie solely on the outcome of a single confrontation which has become known as The Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC. It is history’s first documented large scale conflict and this paper will explore and compare the warfare technology of these two ancient civilizations and its deployment of the battlefield.

The Development of Warfare Technology

Egypt began as a collection of feudal settlements in 3200 BC along the Nile Delta that continued to grow by military expansion and over centuries became an empire controlling most of the ancient Middle East, north to Syria- Palestine and south to Nubia. (Ancient Egypt, 2011) (Morkot, 2003, p. xxxvii)The threat of invasion was never a concern for Egypt as they had benefited from its geographical location, protected by the desert to the east and west and by the Mediterranean Sea in the north. In addition, the Egyptians enjoyed military superiority over their enemies and thus believed they did not require weapons more advanced than their enemies. This situation did not incentivize the Egyptians to participate in the international arms trade of their day, “Diplomacy , rather tha...

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Morkot, R. G. (2003). The A to Z of Egyptian Warfare. Lanham, Maryland, USA: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.

Padrusch, D. (Ed.). (2010). B.C. Batttles: Raging Chariots History Channel.

Partridge, R. (2007, Febuary). Ancient Discoveries, Egyptian Warfare. A& E Ancient Discovers . USA.

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