The
Battle of Megiddo (
15th century BCThe 15th century BC is a century which lasted from 1500 BC to 1401 BC.- Events :* 1504 BC – 1492 BC: Egypt conquers Nubia and the Levant.* 1500 BC – 1400 BC: The Rigveda was composed around this time....
) was fought between
EgyptianAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
forces under the command of
PharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt. This was true only during the New Kingdom, specifically during the middle of...
Thutmose IIIThutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his aunt, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh...
and a large
CanaanCanaan is an ancient term for a region encompassing modern-day Israel and Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Jordan, Syria and northeastern Egypt...
ite coalition under Durusha, the King of
KadeshThis article is about Kadesh in the lands of the Amurru, bordering on Damascus Syria up to Hammath; see also Kadesh or Kedesh Kadesh was an ancient city of the Levant, located on or near the headwaters or ford of the Orontes River It is surmised by Kenneth Kitchen to be the ruins at Tell Nebi...
. It is the first
battleGenerally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, wherein each group will seek to defeat the others within the scope of a military campaign, and are well defined in duration, area and force commitment.Wars and military campaigns...
to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail. Megiddo is also the first recorded use of the
composite bowA composite bow is a bow made from disparate materials laminated together, usually applied under tension. Different materials are used in order to take advantage of the properties of each material....
and the first
body countBody count refers to the total number of people killed in a particular event. In combat, the body count is often based on the number of confirmed kills, but occasionally only an estimate.-Military use:...
. All details of the battle come from Egyptian sources—primarily the hieroglyphic writings on the Hall of Annals in the Temple of Amun at
KarnakThe very old Karnak Temple Complex — usually called simply Karnak — comprises a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amen and a massive structure begun by Pharoah Amenhotep III . It is located near Luxor, some 500 km south of Cairo,...
,
ThebesThebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile . It was inhabited beginning in around 3200 BC. It was the eponymous capital of Waset, the fourth Upper Egyptian nome...
(now
LuxorLuxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 376,022 , with an area of approximately...
), by the military scribe Tjaneni.
The ancient Egyptian account gives the date of the battle as the 21st day of the first month of the third season, of Year 23 of the reign of Thutmose III. It has been claimed that this was April 16,
1457 BC-Events and trends:* May 9, 1457 BC—Battle of Megiddo between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh. It is the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail....
according to the Middle Chronology, although other publications place the battle in
1482 BC-Events and trends:* 1487 BC—Amphictyon, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha and legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 10 years and is succeeded by Erichthonius I of Athens, a grandson of Cranaus.* 1481 BC—August 27—Lunar Saros 43 begins....
or
1479 BC-Events:* c. 1478 BC–1390 BC—Hand mirror, Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, is made. It is now at The Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York.* c. 1473 BC—Hatshepsut started to rule. She is a daughter of Thutmose I. Married to her half brother Thutmose II....
. The Battle of Megiddo was an Egyptian victory and resulted in a rout of the Canaanite forces, which fled to safety in the city of
MegiddoMegiddo is a hill in modern Israel near the Kibbutz of Megiddo, known for its historical, geographical, and theological importance.In ancient times Megiddo was an important city state...
. Their action resulted in the subsequent lengthy
Siege of Megiddo.
By reestablishing Egyptian dominance in the
LevantThe Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by...
, Pharaoh Thutmose III began a reign in which Egyptian Empire reached its greatest expanse.
Campaign against the rebels in Canaan
Pharaoh Thutmose III began a reign in which Egyptian Empire reached its greatest expanse by reinforcing the long standing Egyptian presence in the
LevantThe Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by...
. After waiting impatiently for the end of his regency by the female Egyptian Pharaoh
HatshepsutHatshepsut , meaning Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt...
, he immediately responded to a revolt of local rulers near Kadesh in the vicinity of modern-day
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
. As Egyptians buffer provinces in the land of the Amurru along the border with the Hittites attempted to change their vassalage, Thutmose III, dealt with the threat personally. The Canaanites are thought to have been allied with the
MitanniMitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria from ca. 1500 BC-1300 BC...
and Amurru from the region of the two rivers between the headwaters of the Orantes and the Jordan. The driving and main force behind this revolt was Durusha, the King of
KadeshThis article is about Kadesh in the lands of the Amurru, bordering on Damascus Syria up to Hammath; see also Kadesh or Kedesh Kadesh was an ancient city of the Levant, located on or near the headwaters or ford of the Orontes River It is surmised by Kenneth Kitchen to be the ruins at Tell Nebi...
. The powerful fortress of Kadesh offered protection to him and the city. The King of Megiddo, with an equally strong fortress, joined the alliance. The importance of Megiddo was its geographical location along the southwestern edge of the
Jezreel ValleyThe Jezreel Valley is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the south of the Lower Galilee region of Israel...
just beyond the Mount Carmel ridge and the Mediterranean. From this location, Megiddo controlled the main trade route between Egypt and
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
.
The Egyptian inscriptions of the campaign on the Temple of Karnak come from a daily journal kept by the scribe Tjaneni during the campaign. In the Egyptian account
Thutmose IIIThutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his aunt, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh...
gathered an army of
chariotThe chariot is the earliest and simplest type of carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Chariots were built in Mesopotamia by the Mesopotamians as early as 3000 BC and in China during the 2nd millennium BC. The original chariot was a fast, light, open,...
s and
infantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of the Combat Arms they are the backbone of armies...
that numbered between ten and twenty thousand men. As the Egyptians mustered their forces the king of Kadesh gathered many tribal chieftains from Syria, Aram and Canaan around him, entered Megiddo and set his forces at the waters of Taanach. He expected that his enemy would come by way of Dothaim - Taanach, the main route from the Mediterranean lowlands into the Valley of Kishon, and from Egypt to Mesopotamia. The army assembled at the border fortress
TjaruTjaru was an ancient Egyptian fortress on the Way of Horus, the major road leading out of Egypt into Canaan. It also appeared, though much less commonly, under the names Zaru, Tharu, Djaru and Tjel, and was known to the Greeks as Zele or Sile...
(called
SileŞile is a small holiday town on the Black Sea, 70 km from the city of Istanbul, Turkey. In 2000 the population was 32,923, of which 10,571 lived in the town of Şile, and the remainder lived in surrounding villages, including Ağva...
in Greek) and arrived ten days later at the loyal city of
GazaGaza is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 410,000, making it the largest city under the control of the Palestinian National Authority....
. After one day's rest, it left for the city of Yehem, which was reached after 11 days. Here, Thutmose sent out
scoutsReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
. To continue north, they had to pass the
Mount CarmelMount Carmel is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
ridge. Behind it lay the city and fortress of Megiddo, where the revolting forces had gathered. There were three possible routes from Yehem to Megiddo. Both the northern route, via Zefti, and the southern route, by way of Taanach, gave safe access to the
Jezreel ValleyThe Jezreel Valley is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the south of the Lower Galilee region of Israel...
. The middle route, via
ArunaAruná According to Hindu mythology and Hindu scriptures, Aruná or Arun refers to reddish glow of the rising Sun. Aruná literally means redness of the rising Sun or "rising sun", which is believed to have spiritual powers...
, was more direct but risky; it followed a narrow ravine, and the troops could only travel single-file. If the enemy waited at the end of the ravine, the Egyptians would risk being cut down piecemeal. The army leaders pleaded with him not to take the difficult road but to take either of the two easier roads. Instead, with information from the scouts, Thutmose III decided to take the direct path to Megiddo. He believed that if his generals advise him the easy route, then his enemy would also, so he decided to do the unexpected.
The King of Kadesh had left large infantry detachments guarding the two more likely paths, and virtually ignored a narrow mountain pass coming in from the south. Ignoring the danger of spreading out his army in the mountains where leading elements might be subject to enemy ambush in narrow mountain passes and his main force still far behind at Aruna unable to come to their aid, Thutmose took the direct route through the Vadi Araha. Being able to achieve surprise and rout his opponent from the rear turned out to be worth it, but to reduce the risk, Thutmose himself led his men on a forced march to Aruna. With his infantry and the light cavalry of mounted bowmen known as haibrw or the horsemen going by the side of the mountains to take out any scouts that might be posted and leaving the road to the main force of chariots he moved in quickly. With the city lightly guarded by the enemy; the Pharaoh led a quick assault, scattered the rebels and entered the valley unopposed. Now, the Egyptian army had a clear path to Megiddo, with large parts of the rebel army far away to the north and south.
Battle and siege
Thutmose seized the opportunity. He set up camp and, during the night, arrayed his forces close to the enemy. The next morning, they attacked. It cannot be established if the surprised king of Kadesh had managed to invert his front lines in time, and prepare for battle. Even if he did that, it did not bring him much help. His rebel forces were on high ground adjacent to the fortress. The Egyptian line was arranged in a concave formation, consisting of three wings, that threatened both rebel flanks. The Pharaoh led the attack from the center. The combination of position and numbers, superior maneuverability of their left wing along with an early, bold attack, broke the enemy's will; their line immediately collapsed. Those near the city fled into it, closing the gates behind them.
The Egyptian soldiers fell to plundering the enemy camp. During the plunder they captured 924 chariots and 200 suits of armor. Unfortunately for the Egyptians, during this confusion, the scattered rebel forces, including the kings of Kadesh and Megiddo, were able to rejoin the defenders inside the city. Those inside lowered clothing to the men and chariots and pulled them up over the walls. Thus, the opportunity of a quick capture of the city following the battle was lost.
The city was besieged for seven months and the King of Kadesh escaped.. At Karnak it is recorded that the victorious army took home 340 prisoners, 2,041 mares, 191 foals, 6 stallions, 924 chariots, 200 suits of armor, 502 bows, 1,929 cattle, 22,500 sheep, and the royal armor, chariot and tent-poles of the King of Megiddo. The city and citizens were spared. A number of other cities in the Jezreel Valley were conquered and Egyptian authority in the area was restored.
Results
Egypt's realm was expanded by this campaign. As Paul K. Davis wrote, "By reestablishing Egyptian dominance in Palestine, Thutmose began a reign in which Egypt reached its greatest expanse as an empire."
Thutmose IIIThutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his aunt, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh...
required from the defeated kings that they each send a son to the Egyptian court. There, they received an Egyptian education. When they returned to their homelands, they governed with Egyptian sympathies. Nevertheless, the victory at Megiddo was only the beginning of the pacification of the Levant. Only after several further campaigns, conducted almost annually, was the unrest cooled.
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