Tutankhamun's Armies: Battle and Conquest During Ancient Egypt's Late Eighteenth Dynasty

300 Pages·2007·298.7 MB·English

by  John Coleman Darnell

Artist's reconstruction of Akhenaten's year 12 reception of foreign tribute, based on scenes from the
tombs of Meryre II and Huya at Amarna. After Clara Siemens, Koenig Echnaton in EI-Amama.
TUTANKHAMUN'S

ARMIES

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BATTLE AND CONQ!)EST

DURING ANCIENT EGYPT'S

LATE EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY

JOHN COLEMAN DARNELL

COLLEEN MANASSA

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~1807~
~ ~WlLEY ~
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~ 2007 ~
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-.ICENTENNIALI'"
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CONTENTS

Atlas xi

Acknowledgments xix

Note to the Reader xxi

Chronology xxiii

1 Land of Desert and N He 1

2 The Amama Interlude 12

The Founding of the New Kingdom 13

Eighteenth-Dynasty Kingship 16

Amunhotep III: The King as Solar Disk 19

Akhenaten: The Solar Disk as King 24

Four Features of Atenism 27

Aket-aten: A New Capital 28

The "Amarna" Style of Art 30

Proscription of Other Deities 32

The Importance of Women at Amarna 34

Atenism: Re-creation of Creation 36

The Location of Akhet-aten: The Home of the Ogdoad 37

Akhenaten as Creator Deity 40

The Gods Have Not Yet Been Born 42

The Female Light Powers 43

Ankh(et)kheperure Nefemeferuaten and Smenkhkare:

The Ephemeral Kings 44

Tutankhamun: The Boy King 47

After Tutankhamun: Aye 51

Horemhab: The General 54

3 Trampling the Nine Bows: Military Forces and Weaponry 58

Branches of the Egyptian Military 60

Weapons and Armor 70

Horses and Chariots 77

ix
x CONTENTS
War Dogs 80
ATLAS
Clothing, Annor, and Defensive Weapons 81
Signaling Equipment 83
Fortifications, Camps, and Siege Technology 85
4 Land of Gold: The Southern Empire 91
Egyptian Fortifications in Nubia 93
The Southern Border of the New Kingdom 102
The Viceroys of Nubia 106
1. The Nile Valley and its desert hinterlands.
Amarna Cities in Nubia 110
2. The important sites of New Kingdom Thebes.
The Tutankhamun Stela from Kurkur Oasis 113
Nubian Wars of the Amarna Period 117 3. The City of Akhet-aten.
The Spoils of Battle: Durbars of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun 125
4. The Nubian Nile Valley.
The Nubian Experience of Colonization 131
S. The great powers of the ancient Near East.
S Wretched Asiatics: The Northern Empire 137
6. Syria-Palestine in the late Eighteenth Dynasty.
Prelude to Atnarna: Early Eighteenth-Dynasty Wars
with Mitanni 139
The Egyptian Empire in Syria-Palestine 142
The Atnarna Letters 147
"The Vile Dog of Amurru" 156
The Fall of Sumur and the Great Syrian Campaign 161
The Realpolitik of Akhenaten 170
Akhenaten's Attack on Kadesh 172
The Asiatic War of Tutankhamun 178
The Affair of the Egyptian Queen 184
6 Uniting the Two Lands: Domestic Security
and the Army in Peacetime 187
Akhenaten's Domestic Policy 189
Police and Military Installations at Akhet-aten 191
The Western Frontier 196
Corps of Engineers 200
Naval and Port Security 201
Religious Functions of the Military 204
Epilogue 211
NOles 1
7
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xiii
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The important sites of New Kingdom Thebes.
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The great powers of the ancient Near East. After Cohen and Westbrook, eds., Amama Diplomacy, xii {with additions}.