Ancient Egyptian Navy - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Ancient Egyptian Navy has a very extensive history almost as old as the nation itself. Our best sources over the type of ships they used and their purposes come from the reliefs from the various religious temples that spread throughout the land. While the early ships that were used to sail the Nile were often made out of reeds, the ocean and seagoing ships were then made out of cedar wood, most probably from the woods of Byblos in present day Lebanon. While the use of navy was not as important to the Egyptians as it may have been to the Greeks or Romans, it still proved its worth during the Thutmoside campaigns and even in defending Egypt under Ramisis III. Thutmoses III understood the importance in maintaining a fast and efficient communications and supply line

Military Supply Chain Management

Military supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services. The broad management scope includes sub-suppliers, suppliers, internal information and funds flow.-Supply:...

that would connect his bases in the Levantine region with Egypt. For this reason, he constructed his famous dockyard for the royal fleet near Memphis, whose sole purpose was to constantly supply the campaigning Egyptian army

Egyptian Army

The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong. The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the...

with additional troops as well as communication with Egypt and general supplies .

During the Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley .The term itself was...

all the way until the beginning of the New Kingdom

New Kingdom

The New Kingdom of Egypt, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt....

, the ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

ian Navy was almost nonexistent other than to perform communication and transportation duties. However, through the massive reorganization of the Egyptian military in the New Kingdom and the aggressive foreign policy pursued by the Kings, the navy began to become ever more crucial in maintaining Egyptian power and influence abroad.

Construction of Ships

Ships were first constructed in a very basic manner in which they used reeds. These ships were in no way able to travel in the Red or Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

, and so their purpose was only to navigate through the Nile. Whenever ships were required to endure longer travels, Egypt often imported cedar wood from Byblos, whom they had good trade relations with . At the same time, they would ask other states that they traded with to supply them with a certain amount of ships. This is exemplified in the Amarna letters

Amarna letters

The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...

where we find a request to the King of Cyprus

Kingdom of Cyprus

The Kingdom of Cyprus was a Crusader kingdom on the island of Cyprus in the high and late Middle Ages, between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan.-History:...

to construct ships for the Egyptian navy . By the time of the Battle of the Sea Peoples

Sea Peoples

The Sea Peoples were a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty and especially during year 8 of Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty...

, the Egyptian had become experts in constructing ships. Their ships had a single mast with a horizontal square sail

Square rig

Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called yards and their tips, beyond the last stay, are called the yardarms...

on it. On bow was usually decorated with a human skull

Human skull

The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...

being crushed by a lion’s head . These ships often had two rudder oars, since built in rudders were not invented at the time. At the same time, they could have been as heavy as 70 or 80 tonnes with around 50 rowers.

Purpose of the Navy

The Egyptian Navy had three main purposes;
1. The transportation of troops and supplies to certain areas that required them
2. To use them as a platform in which archers would fire their arrows upon the enemy that were land or sea based
3. To use them to destroy other enemy ships whether through boarding them or ramming

Transportation

The Egyptian landscape is often considered harsh and very difficult to travel through save for the few miles that surround the Nile Valley. For this reason, using ships as a means of communication and transportation proved to be very effective. The Egyptians had used their navy for the first and most important purpose in this manner. They would send soldiers to areas throughout Egypt whose jobs it was to quell rebellions or to repel attackers . This is very evident in the use of the ships to transport food and supplies to the forts that were stationed in the south near Nubia. These forts often were placed in difficult areas and so in order to feed themselves they relied heavily upon the rations that they received from cities such as Thebes and Karnak. This purpose was always used by the Egyptian from the very start of their civilization to the time of the New Kingdom where they would resupply their troops based in the Levantine region via the sea .

Platforms

This is especially noticeable in the temple reliefs in Medinat Habu that show the great attempted invasion of Egypt by the Sea Peoples. This relief shows us the Egyptian small yet maneuverable ships fighting against the larger yet slower ships of the Sea People . It portrays the ships as platforms from which archers and slingers can pepper down the enemy from. Having such fast and maneuverable ships enabled the Egyptians to constantly harass the enemy at a range while at the same time withdraw to safety and attack from a different side. At this stage, this purpose existed mostly in the New Kingdom era, although we are led to believe that it was used during the Second Intermediate Period during the siege of Avaris by Ahmose.

Boarding

This purose probably took place more during the New Kingdom when the situation arose for the Egyptians to disable any threats to their sea. It is also most invisible to us from the temple relief of Medinat Habu in which it portrays the Egyptian Marines on board the ships attempting to board the vessels of the Sea Peoples. Upon boarding them, most of the poo on the Egyptian ships would arm themselves and fight in close quarter combat through the use of spears, shields, and battle axes. The Egyptian never had a specific Marine unit, more common anyone on board is equally capable of both maintaining the ship and fighting at the same time. The Egyptians would board other ships using the most common method of using grappling hooks to pull in a ship after peppering them with arrows and sling shots.

Famous Naval Battles

While naval battle

Naval battle

A naval battle is a battle fought using boats, ships or other waterborne vessels. Most naval battles have occurred at sea, but a few have taken place on lakes or rivers. The earliest recorded naval battle took place in 1210 BC near Cyprus...

s are not often recounted since there was no distinction between the navy and the army in ancient Egypt, we do gather some information every now and then of battles that were fought through the use of ships.

The Siege of Avaris

One such example is when Ahmose led a siege against the Hyksos city of Avaris at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th dynasty

Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...

. One account of the siege comes from a soldier and sailor that fought in the siege named Ahmose son of Ibana. In his accounts, he states how he was stationed on a ship called the Northern in which he sailed with the Egyptian army towards Avaris. After fighting a battle, they laid siege to the city and surrounded it. The siege of Avaris must have been a combined naval and land based attack since Ahmose son of Ibana claimed to have “fought in the canal against Pezedku of Avaris,”

The Battle Against the Sea Peoples

This battle is perhaps the most famous Egyptian naval battle and it is the first to ever be well documented. During the reign of Ramises III which was in 1182 BCE to 1151 BCE, a new threat arose to challenge the Egyptians in a different way than what they were used to . A new people called the Sea People were arriving in the Levantine region and destroying its cities. Already the once mighty Hittites were destroyed by these people of mysterious origin and it soon became obvious that Egypt with all of its wealth would be next. Ramises III prepared a mighty fleet and planned to repulse the Sea Peoples in the Nile. In the account from the temple relief of Medinat Habu Ramises states, “I prepared the river-mouth like a strong wall with warships, galleys, and light craft. They were completely equipped both fore and aft with brave fighters carrying their weapons, and infantry of all the pick of Egypt,” .

In that relief, it portrays the enemy with their tall ship

Tall ship

A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall Ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a race or festival....

s all falling into the Nile and pierced by the arrows that were being fired from the Egyptian ships. At the same time, Ramses claims that he lured the enemy close to Nile shore where he unleashed upon them hundreds of thousands of arrows. The Sea People with their immobile and large ships were not able to fighting in the confined spaces of the Nile. The Egyptians on the other hand were well prepared to fight this enemy since they had faster and more maneuverable ships. The Sea People only had sails to navigate their ships and not rowers as did the Egyptians. This type of tactic succeeded also in the 16th century when the British mobile fleet defeated the famous Spanish armada

Spanish Armada

This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...

with its heavy ships. This famous naval battle enabled the Egyptians to repulse the enemy that had mysteriously destroyed other nations in the Middle East.

Conclusion

While the Egyptians were often a land based population, they quickly proved to master the art of seafaring as they learned its benefits. The Egyptian Navy continued to serve the military as a transportation mechanism, an amphibious force, and at the same time an aggressive force in which to wage war with. It can be said that without the successful efficiency of the Egyptian navy, the Egyptian army would not have been able to campaign as long as it wished, and therefore, Egypt's influence over the Levantine region would have been drastically reduced. The Egyptian Navy enabled Egyptian civilization to continue with its way of life until its ultimate slow decline.