The History of Egypt Podcast Dominic Perry

Before the fall (c.2600 - 2200 BCE). Early Egyptians were fierce and active warriors. Our evidence for the Old Kingdom “army,” however, is scattered and fragmentary. Sifting through the pieces, we can reconstruct some elements of the early armed forces. In this episode, we explore royal texts that describe campaigns; pyramid art showing battles and soldiers training; and even images of siege warfare…
The History of Egypt Podcast:

Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.

Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.

Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.

Intro music by Stephen Rippy from Age of Empires (1997).

Outro music and interludes by Keith Zizza.

Music and interludes by Luke Chaos.


Episode Chapters:

Introduction 00:00

Dynasty IV Raids and Warriors 02:40

Army Organisation and Weapons 16:07

Battle Scenes of Unas and Ka-em-heset 25:58

Siege Scene of Inti 38:00


Notable artefacts (see Bibliography for full titles):

Archers from the reign of Khufu, MMA. See Goedicke 1971, MMA Open Access.

Sahura training scenes: Published in El Awady 2009.

Unas battle scene: First published by Selim Hassan 1938 (Archive.org).

Siege scene of Khaemheset: First published in Quibell and Hayter 1927. Archive.org.

Siege scene of Inti: See Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Warfare, 2019 (Pen & Sword). First published Petrie 1894. See also Kanawati and McFarlane 1993.


Examples of pre-New Kingdom Egyptian weapons in museum collections:

Wooden bows: Louvre, MMA (FIP or early MK).

Arrows: MMA (FIP or early MK), Louvre (Pre-Dynastic), MFA (FIP or early MK), ROM (FIP).

Maces: ROM (4th Dyn., Khafra), ROM (Pre-Dynastic), MMA (FIP or MK).

Spearheads: Louvre (FIP), Louvre (12th Dyn.), MMA (MK).

Axes: Louvre, (OK), Louvre (FIP), Louvre (MK).


Select Bibliography (see website for full details):

L. Bestock, Violence and Power in Ancient Egypt: Image and Ideology Before the New Kingdom (2018).

T. El Awady, Sahure: The Pyramid Causeway: History and Decoration Program in the Old Kingdom (2009).

H. Goedicke, Re-Used Blocks from the Pyramid of Amenemhat I at Lisht (1971). MMA Open Access.

S. Hassan, ‘Excavations at Saqqara 1937--1938’, Annales du Services des Antiquités de l’Egypte 38 (1938), 503—514. Archive.org.

N. Kanawati and A. McFarlane, Deshasha: The Tombs of Inti, Shedu and Others (1993).

A. Labrousse and A. Moussa, La chaussée du complexe funéraire du roi Ounas, I (2002).

F. Monnier, ‘Les techniques de siège décrites dans la documentation pharaonique’, Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne 15 (2022), 51—73. ENIM.fr.

A.-L. Mourad, ‘Siege Scenes of the Old Kingdom’, Bulletin of the Australian Centre of Egyptology 22 (2011), 135—158. Academia.edu.

J. E. Quibell and A. G. K. Hayter, Excavations at Saqqara: Teti Pyramid, North Side (1927). Archive.org.

I. Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Warfare (2019).

N. Strudwick, Texts from the Pyramid Age (2005).


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new tour for February 2025 is now ready to announce and book. The tour includes a return to Amarna (Akhet-Aten), to explore the city of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. We visit some new sites, not seen on previous tours. And we have special permits for the tomb of Senuseret III at Abydos, and the tombs of Thutmose III and Horemheb in the Valley of the Kings. It's a great itinerary with a mix of famous favourites and new adventures. If you'd like to visit Egypt, come along in 2025!
Website with itinerary and cost breakdown: The History of Egypt Podcast 2025 — Ancient World Tours.
Questions about history/sites - egyptpodcast@gmail.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A tomb revisited. In 1923 CE, excavations at Luxor revealed the graves of ancient Egyptian soldiers. They bore scars of battle on their bones and flesh; and their story may belong to one of several major conflicts within the Nile Valley, around 2000—1900 BCE. In this episode, we revisit an old topic, and describe the tale anew…
Note: This episode has an extended version on Patreon (link below).

Dates: 1923—1926 CE (excavation); c. 2000—1900 BCE (ancient burial).

Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.

Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.

Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.

Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.

Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.

Select Bibliography:

H. E. Winlock, The Slain Soldiers of Neb-Hepet-Re Mentu-Hotpe (1945). Available in Open Access via MMA.

C. Vogel, ‘Fallen Heroes? Winlock’s “Slain Soldiers” Reconsidered’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 89 (2003), 239—245. Access via Academia.edu and JSTOR.org.

P. Chudzik, ‘Middle Kingdom tombs in the North Asasif Necropolis: Field Seasons 2018/2019 and 2020’, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (2020), 177—202. Open Access via Academia.edu.

Wikipedia, ‘MMA 507,’ https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MMA_507&oldid=1151562120.

J. Heath, ‘The Slain Soldiers of Tomb 507: An Egyptological Mystery’, Ancient Egypt: The History, People and Culture of the Nile Valley 118 (2020), 28-33. Note: I became aware of this article after publication of this episode, but I include it here as the author reaches similar conclusions to mine.

Artefacts from the tomb at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Archers’ wrist guard.

Folded linen with hieratic text of Sobekhotep Son-of-Imeny. Additional pieces at MMA Collections (objects dated .1961 – 1917 BC).

Skull fragment with arrow in eye (images restricted).

Model weapons of the early Middle Kingdom: shield, spear, quiver.

The tomb of Queen Neferu at Deir el-Bahari: Wikipedia, photos at Flickr.com.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A name more famous than its owners. The Cleopatras of Egypt (all seven of them) were remarkably influential women and rulers. Frequently taking up power and responsibilities far beyond their more famous husbands (the Ptolemies), the seven Cleopatras of Egypt (and even more in the wider Hellenistic world) are worthy of greater attention and respect. In this interview, Prof. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones of Cardiff University introduces these figures and his new book The Cleopatras: Forgotten Queens of Egypt.
Author details:

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, The Cleopatras, 2024. Available in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audiobook (read by the author). See Headline Publishing and all good retailers.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones at Cardiff University and Academia.edu.

Rulers discussed in this episode:

Cleopatra I Syra: Wikipedia.

Cleopatra III: Wikipedia.

Cleopatra Thea of the Seleukid Empire: Wikipedia.

Cleopatra VI Tryphaena: Wikipedia.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator: Wikipedia.

The History of Egypt Podcast:

Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.

Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.

Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.

Music by Michael Levy www.ancientlyre.com.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s the deal? We explore the Pyramid Texts’ meaning, as well as their origins and scholarship.
The Osiris achieves his apotheosis. Having awakened from death and received his offerings (or taken them by force), Unas now prepares to enter the sky at last. We add more protections and defeat more enemies (including a dramatic appearance from the fearsome Mafdet). Then, Unas meets the oldest of primeval gods, sails the milky way, and hears the lamentations of his enemies’ women…
Episode topics:

Meaning 01:15.

Rituals 03:54

Afterlife geography 17:05.

Origins 20:16.

Arrangement / Structure 29:00.

Conclusion 37:25

Includes passages in English translation and ancient Egyptian.

Date: c.2320 BCE.

The History of Egypt Podcast Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.

Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.

Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. 

Intro music by Jeffrey Goodman, “Lament of Isis and Nephthys,” Ancient Egyptian Music II.

Interludes by Keith Zizza, Children of the Nile.


Select Bibliography:

Pyramid Texts in translation: https://pyramidtextsonline.com/translation.html.

J. P. Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (2nd edn, 2015). First edition (2005) available in Open Access via Archive.org.

J. P. Allen, A Grammar of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts Volume I: Unis (2017). Available via the publisher, and major online retailers.

R. Bertrand, Las Textes de la Pyramid d’Ounas (2004). Available via the publisher.

W. M. Davis, ‘The Ascension-Myth in the Pyramid Texts’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 36 (1977), 161—179. JSTOR.

J. Hellum, ‘The Presence of Myth in the Pyramid Texts’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Toronto (2001). Online.

J. Hellum, ‘Toward an Understanding of the Use of Myth in the Pyramid Texts’, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 43 (2014), 123—142. Academia.edu.

H.-J. Klimkeit, ‘Spatial Orientation in Mythical Thinking as Exemplified in Ancient Egypt: Considerations toward a Geography of Religions’, History of Religions 14 (1975), 266—281. JSTOR.

A. J. Morales, ‘The Transmission of the Pyramid Texts into the Middle Kingdom: Philological Aspects of a Continuous Tradition in Egyptian Mortuary Literature’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Pennsylvania (2013). Academia.edu.

D. Stewart, ‘The Myth of Osiris in the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Monash University (2014). Online.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Osiris achieves his apotheosis. Having awakened from death and received his offerings (or taken them by force), Unas now prepares to enter the sky at last. We add more protections and defeat more enemies (including a dramatic appearance from the fearsome Mafdet). Then, Unas meets the oldest of primeval gods, sails the milky way, and hears the lamentations of his enemies’ women…
Includes passages in English translation and ancient Egyptian.

Date: c.2320 BCE.

The History of Egypt Podcast Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.

Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.

Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. 

Pyramid Texts in translation: https://pyramidtextsonline.com/translation.html.

Intro music by Jeffrey Goodman, “Lament of Isis and Nephthys,” Ancient Egyptian Music II.

Interludes by Keith Zizza, Children of the Nile.

The Pyramid Texts publications:

J. P. Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (2nd edn, 2015). First edition (2005) available in Open Access via Archive.org.

J. P. Allen, A Grammar of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts Volume I: Unis (2017). Available via the publisher, and major online retailers.

R. Bertrand, Las Textes de la Pyramid d’Ounas (2004). Available via the publisher.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices