Deviation Actions
Description
>"Are you going to lead the troops yourself Thutmose?"
>"Why should I? Egypt has plenty of capable generals. You know as well as I do that I am no soldier."
>"Won't you go to the field at all?"
>"Indeed not! It is foolish to endanger pharaoh's body without reason."
>"Then I shall go myself! Let the people of Egypt see that they have a queen worth of them!"
(Hatshepsut and Thutmose II from the novel "Child of the Morning")
Warning! History content ahead!!!
Beginning of the New Kingdom and the 18th Dynasty
In the history of Ancient Egypt, Middle Kingdom was known to be prosperous era where arts, construction, religion and philosophy boomed. However, it came to an end as the last ruler of the strong 12th dynasty died 1802 BCE without heir. The following 13th and 14th dynasties were considerably weaker and unable to hold on to the entire territory of Egypt. The deteriorating and weakening of the centralised goverment marked the end of the Middle Kingdom and started the period when ancient Egypt fell into disarray for a second time, known today as the Second Intermediate Period. During this period Egypt was divided between rivalling dynasties and factions. It also saw the invasion of the Hyksos, who conquered the northern Egypt and established a ruling dynasty of their own (15th dynasty). Native Egyptian 16th and 17th dynasties tried to oppose Hyksos but with little success. It was only during the time of the last two kings of 17th dynasty when Hyksos were defeated. With the creation of the 18th dynasty around 1550 BCE by Ahmose I, the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt was completed and land was put, once again, under centralised administrative control.
All this marked the beginning of the New Kingdom era. Its first ruling dynasty, 18th dynasty (c. 1550–1298 BCE), became one of the Egypt's most prosperous dynasties and marked also the peak of its power, wealth and land areas. Several of its pharaohs were those of Egypt's most famous ones including:
Ahmose I (1st pharaoh)
He completed the conquest and expulsion of the Hyksos, restored Theban rule over the whole of Egypt and reasserted Egyptian power in its formerly subject territories of Nubia and Canaan.
Thutmose I (3rd pharaoh, Hatshepsut's father)
He campaigned deep into the Levant and Nubia, pushing the borders of Egypt farther than ever before.
Hatshepsut (5th pharaoh)
The longest reigning female pharaoh of indigenous Egyptian dynasty. More of her later.
Thutmose III (6th pharaoh, Hatshepsut's nephew and stepson)
Sometimes called "the Napoleon of Egypt", Thutmose III is consistently regarded as one of the greatest of Egypt's warrior pharaohs, who transformed Egypt into an international superpower by creating an empire that stretched from southern Syria through to Canaan and Nubia.
Amenhotep III (9th pharaoh)
His reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and artistic splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power.
Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten (10th pharaoh)
He is especially noted for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the Aten.
Tutankhamun (13th pharaoh)
Not particularly great pharaoh while living, Tutankhamun was made famous because of the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922.
Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut (name means "Foremost of Noble Ladies") was the daughter of pharaoh Thutmose I and his great royal wife Ahmose. She had therefore fully royal lineage originating from both of her parents. Thutmose I had also a son, Thutmose II, but unlike Hatshepsut, he was a son of one of the minor wives, Mutnofret. He was therefore a "lesser son" but as there were no fully royal sons, Thutmose II was considered to be the most likely heir.
When Thutmose I died, Thutmose II married his half-sister Hatshepsut so that she (and her royal heritage) would secure his right to the throne. Hatshepsut thus became the great royal wife of Thutmose II. Thutmose II's reign was not long though and he left very little impact on Egypt. Many Egyptologists even believe that it was his wife-sister Hatshepsut, who was the real power behind the throne already during his reign.
When Thutmose II then suddenly died, there was again a lack of a fully royal son. Hatshepsut and Thutmose II had only a daughter, Neferure. With a secondary wife, Iset, Thutmose II had also a son, Thutmose III. But he was but an infant when his father died. Therefore Hatshepsut, being the great royal wife, ruled at first as a regent on behalf of her two years old stepson.
It took only a year though when Hatshepsut declared herself to be the pharaoh. She justified her claim by saying that she was her father's intended heir and that he made her the heir apparent of Egypt, not her brother Thutmose II. She also claimed that her birth was that of godly origin.
Hatshepsut assumed all the titles, regalia, symbols and powers of a pharaoh and became the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt, her throne name being Maat-ka-re (Truth is the soul of Re). She reigned 22 years upon her death. Her rule is mostly remembered for her achievement in rebuilding the economy as well as numerous construction projects, including her famous mortuary temple, Deir el-Bahri, still standing, She also sent expeditions to the land of Punt and re-established its trade, which brought wealth and allowed the economy to boom. She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty.
While Hatshepsut never denied Thutmose III's kingship and officially ruled in joint with him, he had little power over the empire while Hatshepsut exercised the formal titulary of pharaoh. It seems also that Thutmose III chose to (or had to) wait his aunts death before he himself become pharaoh and served as a head of her armies during her reign.
Hatshepsut and War
Hatshepsut is generally considered to be a pharaoh who inaugurated a long peaceful era. There are some mentions which indicate that she was successful in warfare early in her reign but was she a "warrior-queen"?
Wars during Thutmose II's reign (Hatshepsut being his Great Royal Wife)
Upon Thutmose II's coronation, Kush rebelled, as it had the habit of doing so upon the transition of Egyptian kingship. Thutmose II dispatched an army into Nubia to crush the rebellion. He also seems to have fought against group of nomadic Bedouins in Sinai. However, neither of these campaigns were led by Thutmose personally. Instead those were carried out by his father's generals, as mentioned by one of them, Ahmose Pen-Nekhbet.
In her novel "Child of the Morning" Pauline Gedge sets Hatshepsut to lead the campaign to crush the above mentioned rebellion in Nubia because her husband Thutmose II is not willing to do so himself. She goes to the field and even fights in the following battle. Like said it is known that Thutmose II didn't participate but there are no known historical sources of Hatshepsut's participation either.
Wars during Hatshepsut's reign (as a regent and full pharaoh)
Although Hatshepsut's foreign policy seems to have been mainly peaceful, she sent some raiding expeditions to Byblos and Sinai. It is also possible that she led military campaigns against Nubia and Canaan but very little if nothing is known about those. Therefore we really have no historical evidence if she ever actually went to the field by herself. She might have or she might have not. We really don't know.
Egyptian War Gear
War chariots
Prior to the Second Intermediate Period, the horse was unknown in Egypt. Hyksos, who conquered the northern Egypt during that time utilized both horses and chariots and thus introduced Egyptians to the horse-drawn war chariot. The Egyptians modified the chariot of the Hyksos to make it lighter, more maneuverable, and faster. Each chariot was drawn by two horses and held two men, a driver and a warrior. It should be noted that horses were not used as a cavalry like we nowadays envision it. First of all, Egyptian horses were smaller and couldn't carry a fully armed warrior by themselves. Secondly no saddle or stirrups were invented yet and riding a horse was therefore very unstable let alone fighting in its back.
But two horses could easily draw a light chariot with two men. The horses provided speed and chariot provided the more stable platform for the warriors. Chariots were most likely used for shoot-and-scoot tactics. To flank, harass and wear down infantry and to chase down routed enemies. While Egyptian light chariots were more maneuverable than many other chariots, those still required wide, flat terrain to be used effectively and were restricted or even useless in uneven terrain.
Weapons
Like the tactics described above required, the main weapon of the Egyptian chariot warriors was a bow. The bow was usually the composite bow, more powerfull than the earlier simpler bows and again introduced by the Hyksos. For closer combat and melee there were javelins, spear or a sword.
Armor
Ancient Egyptians wore very little if none body armor. Same seems to be applied to helmets as Egyptians rarely covered their heads. Sometimes broad leather bands covered part of the torso of charioteers, but generally soldiers are depicted without any body protection. Shield seems to have been the main defensive gear Egyptian soldiers utilized in masse.
Pharaohs were - not surprisingly - the only exceptions and I have drawn Hatshepsut according to it. In her head she wears so called blue crown (khepresh), which New Kingdom pharaohs are often depicted wearing in battle. She is also wearing a bronze scale armour with sleeves, covering the whole torso. At least Ramesses II has been shown to have this kind of armour. He ruled some 200 years later but I don't find it too far fetched that Hatshepsut would have had similar. The lion head belt decoration is also seen in many statues of pharaohs. Egyptian archers used also armguards/gauntlets. Hatshepsut's wristbands here are not 100% accurate though.
A little side note. I actually first regretted the idea to dress her to that armour as I had managed to form up her anatomy and muscles in a way which pleased my eye greatly and because Egyptian warriors seldomly wore any armours. But as pharaohs were sometimes shown to be exceptions, I went with the scale armour.
genial