What Are The Main Players In The Ancient Near East?

Egypt has one of the longest histories of any nation in the world. Written history of Egypt dates back to about 5,000 years, the commencement of civilization. While there is divergence in relation to Early Egyptian times, it is said that Egypt came to be around 3200 B.C., during the reign of a king by the name of Menes and unified the northern and southern cities of Egypt into one government. In 1675 B.C., Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos, people from the east, bringing along the very first of chariots and horses ever to come across Egyptian soil. Approximately 175 years later in 1500 B.C., the Egyptians had gotten rid of the Hyksos and driven them out. In 1375 B.C., Amenhotep IV had become the king of Egypt.

The Fertile Crescent stretches like a crescent moon from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf, containing Egypt and Mesopotamia. The terms mentioned throughout the essay are different empires and locations. Sumer was the first civilization and is located in the narrowing plain between the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. About 5,000 years ago, Sumerians developed writing, construction of cities, and domestication of animals. The Akkadians took over Sumer around 2350 BCE when Sargon I. became leader and began seizing territories as reward for winning a war. Ancient egypt, laid southwest of the Fertile Crescent alongside the Nile River in Africa. People have lived there since around 5000 BCE and began

At the end of the Middle Kingdom, the Hyksos people invaded Egypt. The Hyksos most likely migrated from Western Asia in Syria-Palestine, but have no clear origin where they are from. The Egyptians called these people hikau-khausut which means "ruler of the foreign countries”. The Hyksos were technologically advanced and because of that they had a strong military. The Egyptians had been isolated from the growing and progressing world by the deserts which surround the country. Because of this isolation, the Egyptians were unprepared for any attack and had a weaker military force. Instead of protecting themself they relied on their natural borders to shelter them from invasion. When the Hyksos invaded Egypt, they left a lasting impact on Egypt’s lifestyle by introducing the Egyptians to different trade methods, diversifying their economy, and exposed exposing them to new military techniques.

While realism is a relatively new theory in the history of human states and warfare, it is still possible to expand it back before its birth. In the 13th century BC there were two major powers in the Middle East, the Egyptians under Pharaoh Ramses II and the Hittites under the guidance of Kings Muwatali II and Hattusili III. They were fighting over a stretch of land in what are now Israel, Palestine, Southern Turkey and Syria, otherwise known as the Levant. Both rulers claimed the territory and fought each other in the Battle of Qadesh in 1274 BC. The resulting peace treaty, the first diplomatic agreement from the Near East, was negotiated in 1259 BC. This peace treaty has been a hotspot of debate to this day over whether the Egyptian or Hittite narrative is more accurate. A few of the questions that this paper will address are: Why did the Hittite and Egyptian empires fight? Who were the main influences on foreign policy in the Ancient Near East? How did the internal characteristics of the two states play a role in the conflict and peace treaty? How did the nascent international system play a role in the war, stalemate, and peace treaty? The lack of any international system at this early stage of human civilization caused the warfare, the fifteen year gap between the battle and the peace treaty, and made it necessary for the two powers to seek peace as an alternative to sustained war. This lack of international system, and its subsequent creation, was compounded by the

The Sumerians created a civilization located in the Fertile Crescent, or Mesopotamia, which is located in the Middle East. The legendary ruler of the Sumerians, Hammurabi, was famous for his set

Mesopotamia is a rich flat plain created by deposits from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At the southern end of this plain developed the first recognizable civilization, in the area known as Sumer. In 3000 B.C. Sumer contained a dozen or more city-states, each ruled by its own king and worshiped its own patron deity. The citizens of these city-states were classified into three classes: nobles and priests, commoners, and slaves. In the center of a

What role does superstition and religion play in war? Explain using evidence from the text.

During the 7th century the Assyrians built a superpower reinforced by their military, political, sociological, and artistic ideologies. The Army consisted of a 100,000-strong active force who trained different divisions to perform certain tactics during wartime. Similar to modern day warfare, some of the personnel wore armor, some were trained for the cavalry, some were foot soldiers, while others were trained to construct equipment used to siege city walls (WeaponsandWarfare.) With each civilization that the Assyrians conquered, they learned and developed new techniques. The Assyrian combined the use of chariots with horses, developed roads, placed forts for security and storage for food along the way. Their logistic strategy allowed for a

This relief displays the impact arrows had in battle alongside other weapons; Winlock comments that, ‘the dead and wounded bristling with arrows in the Deshasheh reliefs give a realistic picture of the battlefields’. Along with sources like that of The Tomb of Amenemhet and its depiction of ranged weapons we can confidently assert that arrows and other ranged weapons played a large role in causing the casualties of Egyptian warfare, the physical evidence unsupportive due to flesh decay and wood’s biodegradability. In all, the pitched battle was quite clearly a dangerous place but if we are to take the Deir el Bahri tomb as an example there appears to be only 60 or so dead out of a force of perhaps hundreds, a reasonably low percentage, it would be reasonable to assume that death and injury trailed the surviving soldier home.

In ancient history, weapons carried more importance than they do today. Ranging from maces, javelins, axes, daggers to more technologically advanced bows and arrows, swords, spears, lances, and even sling-shots and battering rams to break into fortresses, ancient Egyptians too had a diverse portfolio of weaponry. Extending beyond as tools to slay enemies, weapons were means to domesticate wild animals, ways to express social and political status, and items to be used in religious ceremonies. Therefore, looking into the developmental history of weapons and their uses provides a unique perspective into the ancient Egyptian culture and society. Two types of weapons are to be examined as spring boards into the ancient Egyptian culture and society:

The Bible reports numerous cases of violence and war from the beginning of times. In most cases, violence in the Bible is caused by personal differences or tribalism (Niditch). People kill and destroy property due to jealousy, selfishness, vengeance, and attempts to prove their superiority. The evil of humanity in the account of Noah was characterized by violence that led to the destruction of earth. Numerous cases of wars and violence were recorded in the Bible, which showed the cruelty of mankind. Therefore, it is essential to consider a few of these cases, discussing their causes and the outcome.

The Sumerians were the first people to build civilization and attempt empire in the western world. Like Rome, they had a governmental structure, conducted military operations to expand and ensure trade, and build a lasting civic structure. The Sumerians, however, were not as effective as the Romans in most respects. Rome had a strong central government; the Emperor was absolute ruler.

Long before World War II ever began, Britain and Egypt had a rich history. Though they had been linked through trade for some time, it wasn’t really until the eighteenth century that Egypt piqued Britain’s interest as a potential control. The French, lead by Napoleon, landed an army in Egypt in 1798, but were quickly defeated by the British and Turkish in 1801. Though Britain did not gain control of Egypt then, they ended up occupying the country in the late nineteenth century.

The history of the geographical area substituting Israel and Palestine is one of war and bloodshed. For nearly three millennia people have been fighting over the ‘Holy Land’ in wars that were religious in their essence. An understanding of the historic background of the area is important to comprehend the present-day reasons for the complexity of the task of conflict resolution. The simplified timeline provided below is an attempt to summarise the most important events.

Ancient Egyptian civilization is known for its impressive achievements in art, architecture, scripture, medicine and more. In its earliest stages, geographical location and natural boundaries such as the Nile River, desert landscapes and Mediterranean Sea provided vital protection to ancient Egypt from any foreign invasion. Over the years, as threats became more apparent, and the ancient Egyptian civilization went through a series of militaristic restructures in order to become one of the most powerful civilizations in the ancient near east. “Warfare in Ancient Egypt” by Anthony Spalinger analyzes and explains the chronological development of warfare in ancient Egyptian civilization and their significance in the larger context of the ancient near east. Throughout his analysis, he develops the understanding of socio-political effects of the military system while expressing the idea that warfare developed Egypt as a centralized, hierarchical organization. As a result, the development of warfare in ancient Egyptian civilization led to the continuity of the civilization for years to come. In this essay, we will analyze “Warfare in Ancient Egypt” by asking three separate questions: Is the essay easy to understand? Is the essay informative? And finally, would you recommend this essay to another reader?