Tutankhamun's Armies

Egyptologist John Darnell is a Professor in Yale’s Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, and he has considerable field experience, currently directing expeditions in the Egyptian Western Desert. He is the author of numerous scholarly monographs and articles dealing with many aspects of pharaonic culture, history, and language. Colleen Manassa is an Assistant Professor of Egyptology in the same department. They are both experts in Egyptian military history.

• Atlas xiAcknowledgments xixNote to the Reader xxiChronology xxiii1 Land of Desert and Nile 12 The Amarna Interlude 12The Founding of the New Kingdom 13Eighteenth-Dynasty Kingship 16Amunhotep III: The King as Solar Disk 19Akhenaten: The Solar Disk as King 24Four Features of Atenism 27Aket-aten: A New Capital 28The “Amarna” Style of Art 30Proscription of Other Deities 32The Importance of Women at Amarna 34Atenism: Re-creation of Creation 36The Location of Akhet-aten: The Home of the Ogdoad 37Akhenaten as Creator Deity 40The Gods Have Not Yet Been Born 42The Female Light Powers 43Ankh(et)kheperure Neferneferuaten and Smenkhkare: The Ephemeral Kings 44Tutankhamun: The Boy King 47After Tutankhamun: Aye 51Horemhab: The General 543 Trampling the Nine Bows: Military Forces and Weaponry 58Branches of the Egyptian Military 60Weapons and Armor 70Horses and Chariots 77War Dogs 80Clothing, Armor, and Defensive Weapons 81Signaling Equipment 83Fortifications, Camps, and Siege Technology 854 Land of Gold: The Southern Empire 91Egyptian Fortifications in Nubia 93The Southern Border of the New Kingdom 102The Viceroys of Nubia 106Amarna Cities in Nubia 110The Tutankhamun Stela from Kurkur Oasis 113Nubian Wars of the Amarna Period 117The Spoils of Battle: Durbars of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun 125The Nubian Experience of Colonization 1315 Wretched Asiatics: The Northern Empire 137Prelude to Amarna: Early Eighteenth-Dynasty Wars with Mitanni 139The Egyptian Empire in Syria-Palestine 142The Amarna Letters 147“The Vile Dog of Amurru” 156The Fall of Sumur and the Great Syrian Campaign 161The Realpolitik of Akhenaten 170Akhenaten’s Attack on Kadesh 172The Asiatic War of Tutankhamun 178The Affair of the Egyptian Queen 1846 Uniting the Two Lands: Domestic Security and the Army in Peacetime 187Akhenaten’s Domestic Policy 189Police and Military Installations at Akhet-aten 191The Western Frontier 196Corps of Engineers 200Naval and Port Security 201Religious Functions of the Military 204Epilogue 211Notes 213Further Reading 275Index 277

"... very original little book... to vividly bring to life a particular period which many people are very interested in." (TheBrowser.com, March 2011)