classic example comes from ancient Sumer, where warriors
used stone clubs to bash in heads, so people made metal hel-
mets to absorb the blows, so weapons makers created metal
axes to cut through metal helmets, so armorers styled larger,
thicker, and more resilient metal helmets, so weapons makers
developed new casting techniques that allowed them to make
stronger, larger axes with curved blades that could smash
through metal helmets, and so on. Many of the technologi-
cal advances of ancient peoples were put to use in war, and
many advances came from people trying to fi nd better ways
to fi ght wars.
Th is race in technology was paralleled by changes in
military organization and strategy. Whereas the technol-
ogy of the composite bow made Sargon I ruler of most of
the Near East, the strategy of the phalanx helped make the
Hittites the military masters of their era. Th e Neo-Assyr-
ian Empire (1050–609 b.c.e.) combined its weapons and ar-
mor technologies with sophisticated deployment of highly
trained units devoted to one kind of warfare, such as sap-
pers for bringing down enemy walls, archers for long-range
attacks, light infantry for responding quickly to events on
the battlefi eld, heavy infantry to push massed enemy troops
out of the way, and chariots for shock attacks to break up
enemy formations.
Some historians argue that every great empire of ancient
times was built through war. Th is may be too much of a gener-
alization. For instance, there are the trade empires of ancient
southern India to consider, but even those required some mil-
itary power to keep trade routes free of bandits. What may
be noteworthy is that war had its limits. Ancient Rome pros-
pered while its armies looted newly conquered territories, but
it declined when it did not continue to do so. During the Han
Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.) of China, there was a period in
the 100s b.c.e. when its army crushed opponents to the south,
the west, and the north but at such a high cost of lives and
wealth that its economy nearly collapsed. Even the Neo-As-
syrians ended up fi ghting wars mostly using mercenaries and
vassals because it was running out of its own men to fi ll its
armed forces.
Perhaps it is most important in studying the wars of
ancient peoples to note how people struggled to meet each
day, to feed themselves and their families, and to endure
the pain and sorrow that war infl icted on them. For most
people most of the time war was something to be survived.
Some cultures developed strict rules of warfare that mini-
mized bloodshed, allowing for glory for the leaders and for
victories while also allowing most warriors or soldiers to
return home unharmed. Still, such cultures eventually ei-
ther adopted the waging of war as massive bloodshed or
were overwhelmed by the armies of cultures that made war
a matter of slaughtering enemy troops. Th ose who failed to
learn the lessons of advancing technology and improving
military strategy tended to perish. Survival seems to have
depended on v igi la nce, sacrifi ce, discipline, and sound mil-
itary doctrine.AFRICA
BY KIRK H. BEETZ
Rock paintings in southern Africa and in the Sahara show
people fi ghting with bows and spears. Th e identifi cation of
these early people is not clear, but the depictions of confl ict
continue for thousands of years. By 9000 b.c.e. the people
in southern Africa were probably the San, oft en known as
Bushmen. It is not clear what the Bushmen fought over. As
hunter-gatherers, they probably did not have much property
to defend or covet, but they may have had territories they
considered their own. In the oft en dry plains that many
Bushmen inhabited, even a small family group of hunter-
gatherers would have needed a wide territory in which to
fi nd food. Raids for marriageable women might have been
another purpose for confl ict. Th e combat probably involved
no more than a dozen fi ghters at a time. At no time did the
Bushmen number as many as 300,000 people, which meant
they were so thinly spread over their lands that it would have
been very unlikely that they could have gathered together
enough people to form anything resembling an army. Th e
same would be true for the small-statured peoples oft en re-
ferred to as Pygmies, who inhabited most of central Africa
and much of the east and south.
For the ancient peoples of the Sahara the issue of war and
conquest is more complex than for southern Africa. Th eir
rock paintings hint at an evolution of warfare not found
elsewhere in Africa. Most depictions of confl ict prior to the
Herdsmen Period (ca. 5095–ca. 2780 b.c.e.) show naked men
in small skirmishes. During the Herdsmen Period some men
in battle seem to wear robes, and there may even have been
a hierarchy, indicated by a single fi gure wearing robes that
were colored or tailored diff erently from those of others in
his command. It seems that for the cultures depicted, the
wearing of clothes may have been reserved for war or other
offi cial functions.
During the Herdsmen Period the rock paintings show a
diverse ethnic population, with pale fi gures mixing with dark
ones. Th e primary occupation of people seems to have been
herding cattle. It is probable that confl icts focused on stealing
cattle. Prestige could be won in a village or group by success-
fully stealing cattle from another village or group. Wars in
which cattle were considered important booty continued into
the medieval era. In any case, as time passed, the paintings of
battles became increasingly common.
What happened to the ancient warriors of the Sahara
grasslands is not entirely known. Some of the pale people and
the dark people seem to have mixed, perhaps becoming the
Berbers. Others retreated to Egypt. Some retreated to oases
as the Sahara slowly dried and created farming communities.
Around them developed nomadic groups who created their
own culture of war in which they mastered horses and the
use of weapons. Th ese groups preyed on the farmers at the oa-
ses, forcing them to pay tribute or die. Sometime late during
the Horse Period (ca. 2780–ca. 600 b.c.e.) the attacks on the1122 war and conquest: Africa0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1122 1122 10/10/07 2:31:09 PM