Warfare in Ancient Egypt and Mesoamerican Civilizations

Introduction: Understanding Ancient Warfare

Warfare in ancient times is understood through the records of civilizations, which often exaggerate victories and accomplishments in order to bolster the perception of a king or leader. Historians and scholars frequently turn to ancient civilizations like the Egyptians or the Romans, where a wealth of writing and material antiquity can be analyzed to gain insight into daily life. As time passes and more information is studied and compared against the still-emerging body of archaeological data, it becomes possible to better understand the nature of warfare in ancient civilizations.

For instance, much of the hieroglyphic writing of ancient Egypt concerns crops, religion, and daily life. These early sources suggest that trade was extremely important to the ancient Egyptians, and that religion permeated nearly every aspect of ancient society. Indeed, even after the Romans had conquered Egypt, Egyptian religion influenced Roman philosophy to such a degree that temples to the Egyptian goddess Isis have been found as far west as London (Freeman, 1999, p. 14). The goddess Isis could not have reached London, however, were it not for the Roman warfare that first conquered ancient Egyptian civilization. The extent to which warfare was waged in ancient times continues to be debated, but the historical and archaeological evidence has begun to reveal that when war did occur, it was on a scale that often completely altered or transformed the civilization in which it took place.

The Romans were not the first warring nation to conquer ancient Egypt. By the time the Romans arrived, there is evidence to show that the Assyrians, Persians, and Greeks had been there and conquered before them (Freeman, p. 14). For centuries, the Egyptians had maintained a position of power through the trade they represented to the rest of the world, but that changed as other nation-states became focused on acquiring Egypt's wealth and natural resources rather than its trade significance (Freeman, p. 14). For more than twenty centuries of its history, ancient Egypt was able to ward off conquest, but in its latter history it succumbed to the strength of foreign invasion bent on acquiring its wealth (Freeman, p. 14).

Warfare in Ancient Egypt

There is evidence to suggest that Egypt had a profound influence on the societies that would eventually conquer it. In Roman society, archaeological evidence suggests that trade with Egypt allowed Rome to become firmly entrenched in its own power base, as Romans were able to feed their citizens on Egyptian grain (Freeman, p. 14). Egypt's status as a trading partner changed decisively in the second millennium, when invading nations shifted their focus toward wealth and expansionism (Freeman, p. 16).

The earliest signs of warfare in Egypt are found in the artwork of the Hunter's Palette and the Battlefield Palette (Freeman, p. 18). These palettes show that there was warfare in Egypt among its own people — scattered throughout the country and not yet organized in a way conducive to supporting a unified nation-state (Freeman, pp. 16–18).

"The story of Horus and Seth seems to represent an actual struggle between Hieraconpolis, a cult centre for Horus, and Naqada, whose cult god was Seth. It was from this disorder about 3100 BC that a king named Narmer finally achieved unification. On the so-called Narmer Palette the king is apparently shown as a southerner conquering the north, the Delta, though his enemies may well have included neighbouring peoples such as the Libyans. At some point, perhaps soon after unification, Narmer's successors established their capital at Memphis, strategically placed at the junction between the Delta and the valley" (Freeman, p. 18).

By the Fifth Dynasty, the Egyptian civilization was giving way to the forces of dissension and invasion (Freeman, p. 25). It was no longer unified, and independent areas of leadership and control had emerged as cracks in the foundation of the ancient state (Freeman, p. 25). The Sixth Dynasty, around 2180 BC, represents a spiraling downfall of the Egyptian dynasty — brought about as much by the forces of nature as by the forces of war (Freeman, p. 26). A lack of rainfall, poor crop production, and the devolution of the empire into regional power centers all contributed to the demise of Egyptian prosperity and unification, leaving the civilization susceptible to the invading forces that would follow the breakdown of central authority (Freeman, p. 26).

"There seems to have been a major power struggle between rulers at Heracleopolis in Middle Egypt, who claimed to be the heirs of the Memphite kings, and the rulers in the provincial capital of Thebes in Upper Egypt who managed to extend their rule as far as Nubia in the south. Some texts record a major breakdown of the social order. One document talks of a world turned upside-down, with a resulting famine, and rich and poor in upheaval. 'Gold and lapis lazuli, silver and turquoise, carnelian and bronze are hung about the necks of slave girls while noble ladies walk in despair through the land . . . Little children say [to their fathers] he should never have caused me to live.' (Translation: Rosalie David.) However, nothing in the archaeological record suggests social or political upheaval on this scale. The Egyptians always had a tendency to exaggerate disorder and this may have been the case here" (Freeman, p. 26).

As the Middle Kingdom rose to once again unite Egypt, the nation experienced another stable period of some 200 years before it again succumbed to chaos and a breakdown in internal leadership (Freeman, p. 27). In the Second Intermediate Period, the nation experienced invasion by the Palestinian Hyksos, whom Egyptian hieroglyphics describe using the word for "barbarians," portraying them as ruthless and unrelenting in their destruction (Freeman, p. 31).

What we see, even before the ancient civilizations of Persia, Greece, and Rome invaded Egypt, is that it was a land that suffered numerous periods of internal warfare and conflict before it was finally conquered by a foreign state. It was the periods of decentralized control that appear to have made Egypt most vulnerable to invading forces.

Conclusion: Humanity's Warring Nature

The Mayan records indicate that they were a defensive society, and that even after they broke into social groups they did not tolerate territorial encroachment (Spinden, p. 150). It was no different in the other regions of Mesoamerica: there was a pressing need to protect vital resources — crops and other natural assets upon which their civilizations depended. The Mesoamerican groups were no less influenced in their warring by their gods, goddesses, and pagan beliefs. "Warriors killed in battle go to the House of the Sun" (Spinden, p. 234). This is a common theme found in Mayan and Aztec artwork (Spinden, p. 234), suggesting that battles were fought in part to satisfy the gods and to demonstrate the strength and virility required to secure a place in eternity — the House of the Sun.