The nautical
| About the organization of the Egyptian war fleet there
is very few information. Up to the tinita epoch the Egyptians had commercial relations with the Phoenix in Byblos, relations of which the peaceful character was guaranteed by the constant presence of loading vessels docked in the harbor of the city. It’s known about Cheope’s fleet under the command of Merib, but Sahure’s reign must be attended before seeing on the walls of his funeral temple, in Abusir, the representation of a naval expedition in the Red Sea. Under the following dynasty, Unas, in one of his campaigns against the Beduins in Sinai, used his landing fleet, but it’s not known if they were equipped to face maritime battles. There are only a few pieces of information about the naval situation during the Middle Reign and it seems that the boats sent in the Punt country were not war ships. So the real fighting units appeared only in the New Reign: they were the monshu, built differently from the pleasur craft, that were instead called bari. Right at the beginning of the New Reign goes back Ahmes’s autobiography, who was Abana’s son, who served the marine under Amhose. Of written, it’s known that in that period, on the Nile, there were fights between the Egyptians and the Hyksos. The real organizer of the pharaohnic navy seemed to be Thutmosi III, who, for his continuous Asian campaigns, had to possess a fleet that assured him protection along the coasts and the transport of the troops. In the year of the conquer of Quadesh, he disembarked with his army in Simyra, the phoenix harbor nearest to the city, and the following year, he was always at the head of his fleet that submitted all the phoenix harbors. Moreover it seems that it was Ramses III who gave a more steady trim to the Egyptian navy, certainly because it foresaw the possibility of attacks by those skillful sailors who were “The people of the sea”. It’s thanks to the relief he engraved in his temple in Medinet Habu that we know about a navy battle in ancient Egypt: the Egyptian fleet was on the mouths of the Nile, the vessels had loaded their sails, their archers and their slingers; they were already in their place on the dock and on the cage, while on the bow there were the warriors armed with batons and shields. The Egyptian boats had the bow decorated with the head of a lion. The Egyptians used all their arrows before they passed to the boarding armed only swords. Some vessels were knocked over, but it’s clear that the ram was unknown. Practically a ship battle was almost not different from a battle on land. The soldiers of the navy were called ueu as infantrymen of the land army, the ships were commanded by an officer the “commander of the army of the shipès”. There was also the title “the superior of the sails of the pharaoh’s fleet”, that corresponded more or less to our admiral. Anyway it was the visir that had to care about the maintenance of the fleet and it was to him that the officers of the navy gave their reports. About the Tolomeo fleet, that had a new and extraordinary importance in the history of Egypt, they were conceived according to a Greek project and were managed by the Greek in the Greek way. |
