were combined to notify the Egyptians that a human
form of Horus had risen again in THEBESto protect the
nation from all enemies. The BULLwas always a symbol of
strength and tenacity for the Egyptians and was used in
several royal titles.
Miliku(fl. 14th century B.C.E.) Prince of Gaza (Gezer)
and a vassal of Egypt
He held the throne of his city-state in the reign of AKHEN-
ATEN(Amenhotep IV; r. 1353–1335 B.C.E.) and was men-
tioned in the ’AMARNA LETTERS, the correspondence
concerning land disputes among the Egyptian vassal
states and other pertinent topics of the era. Miliku was
accused of land grabbing by other princes, and he wrote
to Akhenaten asking for defenses against another vassal
state. Akhenaten did send troops to Miliku, and slave
women were given to Egypt in return for Egyptian goods.
military An institution that evolved over the centuries
as a result of Egypt’s expansion and contact with outside
elements. Egypt’s military forces had a definitive role in
maintaining the sovereignty of the country from the earli-
est historical periods and in obtaining natural resources
and new lands.
PREDYNASTIC PERIODInternal warfare led to the provisional unification of
Egypt in 3000 B.C.E. and continued during the eras before
the dynastic age. SCORPION, NARMER, and their military
predecessors conducted campaigns in Lower Egypt in
order to establish a unity of independent regions and
provincial clans. The palettes and maceheads that docu-
ment the events of this period portray the legendary uni-
fiers in personal combat, and images of fallen foes and
divine intervention place their military activities in the
context of national unification.
Warfare must have been a continuing process
throughout the Predynastic Period, as conflicting groups
carved out their territories and established the perimeters
of their influence. It is interesting that the totems of
many of the Upper Egyptian nomes, or provinces, were
depicted in documents about Narmer, indicating that
these warrior groups were already established to some
extent and used as military units.
EARLY DYNASTIC PERIODThe early rulers of Egypt did not preside over a united
land in the First Dynasty (2920–2770 B.C.E.). There is
evidence of resistance on the part of various regions. AHA
(Menes) recorded adding territories in the south (proba-
bly the area between GEBEL EL-SILSILEHand ASWAN). DJER
(r. c. 2900 B.C.E.) recorded a campaign against the Asiat-
ics in the eastern desert. PERIBSEN, during the Second
Dynasty (2770–2649 B.C.E.), made raids into Palestine,
probably exploratory expeditions or raids for cattle and
other loot. KHA’SEKHEMWY (r. 2649 B.C.E.), the last
pharaoh of the Second Dynasty, probably secured Egypt’s
unification, indicating continual or at least sporadic war-
fare on the Nile up to that era. It is possible that the first
settlement at BUHEN, in NUBIA(modern Sudan), was made
in his reign, as Kha’sekhemwy and his successors had
started to penetrate the territories below the first cataract
of the Nile.
OLD KINGDOM
The rulers of the Old Kingdom were militarily active. The
Egyptian interest in the SINAIterritory led them to con-
duct punitive expeditions against the local Bedouins, the
Asiatic nomads who roamed the region and resented
Egyptian efforts to set up mines and quarries there. In the
reign of SNEFRU at the start of the Fourth Dynasty
(2575–2465 B.C.E.), Egypt had a rather large fleet of naval
vessels as well, supposedly sent to the Levant on trading
expeditions.
Buhen, at the second cataract of the Nile in Nubia,
became a base for southern trade and was fortified with
stone walls and a dry moat. All of the rulers of Snefru’s
dynasty, including the pyramid builders of GIZA, are rep-
resented at Buhen by seals. Snofru is said to have con-
ducted a massive raid in the vicinity of Buhen, and it is
probable that other Nubian settlements were begun in
this period.
The rulers of the Fifth Dynasty continued the war-
fare. In that period the Egyptian army is recorded as hav-
ing started the campaigns in Palestine and other
Mediterranean coastal regions. UNIS, the last ruler of the
Fifth Dynasty, claimed to have made five expeditions into
Syria. The Canaan reliefs from the Sixth Dynasty depict
assaults on Palestinian walled cities, and a true military
leader other than the pharaoh emerged from the period:
General WENI, in service to PEPI I(r. 2289–2255 B.C.E.).
Weni, as commander of the royal armies, levied
troops from the local nomes when any military campaign
seemed imminent. Nomarchs were responsible for a cer-
tain number of troops, to be supplemented by Nubian
mercenaries under command of caravan leaders or trade
supervisors. Many of these troops were veterans of militia
training or active duty in previous campaigns. The basic
unit of the army at the time was the battalion, although
its exact size and functions are not documented. The
militia-levy system had its obvious drawbacks. Troops
brought from the various nomes held allegiance only to
their own leaders. The extra levies used as support for the
militias were even less nationalistically oriented. For this
reason there must have been some core units of the Egyp-
tian army that were maintained as a regular force. There
is evidence of so-called household units at the time. Weni
commanded a well-trained military force, which suggests
the presence of a regularly maintained core unit responsi-
ble for training the nome recruits. Weni’s position was
that of commander of troops, but he also performed other
tasks for the ruler. Some generals served as caravan lead-244 Miliku