The First Armies

226 Pages·2009·4.73 MB·English

THE FIRST ARMIES

THE FIRST ARMIES
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Doyne Dawson
General Editor: John Keegan
CASSEL 0
To Bae Dong-lyong
Cassell & Co
Wellington House, 125 Strand
London WC2R OBB
First published2001
Text copyright © Doyne Dawson 2001
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BritishLibrary Cataloguing-in-PublicationData
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Librar~
ISBN0-304-35288-8
Cartography: ArcadiaEditions
Pictureresearch: ElaineWillis
Specialphotography: Martin Norris
Design: MartinHendry
TypesetinMonotypeSabon
Printed and boundinItaly byPrinterTrentoS.r.l.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The present volume has profited enormously from the counsel of Robert Drews,
who read an early draft of the manuscript and offered invaluable comments and
suggestions. I am solely responsible for the conclusions advanced in the final
version, and for all errors it may contain. I am grateful to Sir John I(eegan, the
general editor of the Cassell History of Warfare series, for giving me the
opportunityto write this book; and to Penny Gardiner, the project manager, and
the rest of the staff at Cassell,for seeingitinto print.
DOYNEDAWSON
Seoul, Korea
TheAssyrianvictoryovertheElamitesattheUlaiRiver,653Be.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5
MAPLIST 9
CHRONOLOGY 10
INTRODUCTION
THE EVOLUTION OF WARFARE
TO THE SIXTH CENTURY BC
I THE ROOTS OF WAR
Thenatureoftheproblem;Antsandapes;Becoming
human;Theculturalexplosion 21
2 THE WARS OF THE TRIBES
35,000-3200 BC
Theroleofwarfareinculturalevolution;Bands,
tribesandchiefdoms;Thearbiterofhistory 47
3 THE WARS OF THE CITIES
3200-1700 BC
Thebirthofpolitics;EarlyDynasticSumer;TheGreat
DynastiesofMesopotamia:Akkad,Ur,Babylon;
BeyondMesopotamia:TheNileandtheIndus 75
4
THE WARS OF THE GREAT
KINGDOMS 1700-1100 BC
ThecomingoftheIndo-Europeans;Warandpolitics
intheHighBronzeAge;ThebattlesofMegiddo
andKadesh;Thefall oftheChariotKingdoms 119
5 THE WARS OF THE EMPIRES
1100-539 BC
ThedawnoftheIronAge;TheriseofAssyria;Thefall
ofAssyria;Theaftermath:JerusalemandBabylon;
Conclusion 159
ApPENDIX 212
BIOGRAPHIES 214
FURTHERREADING 217
INDEX 220
PICTURECREDITS 224
KEY TO MAPS
Generalsymbols
X
siteofbattle
... fortorfortifiedsettlement
movement
Geographicalsymbols
urbanarea
':'1.
urbanarea(3Dmaps)
river
seasonalriver
canal
• town/city
internalborder
internationalborder
maintraderoute
possibletraderoute
MAP LIST
I. THE RISE OF CIVILIZATIONS,THIRD MILLENNIUM BC 16-17
2. EARLY MESOPOTAMIA AND SYRIA 4300-2300BC 78
3· THE AKKADIAN EMPIRE 2350-2230BC 91
4· BABYLON UNDERTHE DYNASTY OF HAMMURABI 98-9
5· THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION 2600-2500 BC 104
6. THE MIDDLE EAST 2000BC 113
7· THE EMPIRE OF HAMMURABI 1750BC 116
8. THE MIDDLE EAST 1500-1100BC 124
9· THE DEFENCES OFEGYPT 1500BC 129
10. BATTLE OFMEGIDDO 1457BC 134-5
II. BATTLE OF I(ADESH 1275 BC 140-41
12. THE COLLAPSE OF MYCENAE 1200BC 152
13· THE MIDDLE EAST900BC 161
14· KINGDOM OF DAVID AND SOLOMON 1000BC 163
15· PHOENICIANTRADE AND COLONIZATION
ELEVENTH-SIXTH CENTURIES BC 164-5
16. THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE 824-625 BC 172
17· EMPIRESAND KINGDOMS OFTHE MIDDLE EAST 560 BC 205
18. THE EMPIRE OF CYPRUSTHE GREAT 530 BC 206-7