Fighting Pharaohs: Weapons and Warfare (None) Review

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(More customer reviews)The "Fighting Pharaohs" text is still striving to compile what little information we have in the archaeological record for the military in ancient Egypt and put it into a comprehensive whole. However, I have serious doubts about the aims of this book. It tries to draw conclusions that are simply not there - who were the 'enemies of Egypt', the khepesh sword as a weapon etc. It concerns me that someone would take this book too literally. So if your interested in warrior pharaohs, I recommend this title but also get Shaw's 'Egyptain Weapons and Warfare', Healy's "armies of the pharaohs", and read the 'military' section in Redford's Oxford Encyclopedia of ancient Egypt - this will give a better rounded view of the material and what can be drawn from it.

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The image of a Pharaoh smiting the enemies of Egypt is a recurring one throughout the Dynastic Period of Ancient Civilisation. Fighting Pharaohs looks in some detail at the range of weapons used, the training of troops and the tactics for battles and sieges, before looking at the military campaigns of the Pharaohs. Drawing on contemporary evidence, over three thousand years are covered, from Narmer to Cleopatra.

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Bronze Age War Chariots (New Vanguard) Review

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(More customer reviews)Author Nic Fields has covered the subject reasonably well and provides comfortable reading. There is discussion of the domestication and breed development of the horse, speeds of yoked horses, as well as the composite bow. The author has provided a good bibliography.
Brian Delf's plates are good, but not exceptional. The poses are well chosen and the proportions are excellent (compared to McBride's sometimes stocky figures.) However, the colors are not as lifelike as McBride's work and consequently the plates are not as crisp. Plates include Sumerian battlewagons, Egyptian chariots, Hittite chariots, and both box and rail types of Mycenaean chariots. The discussion of the progression of Mycenaean and Hittite chariots definitely adds value to this inexpensive work.
As with most Osprey works there are a few things that might have been covered more fully. One thing that could have been added is some sort of depiction of Mitanni or Canaanite chariotry of the period. Mitanni was the initial master of Bronze Age two-wheel chariotry and training.
While I recommend this book to those interested specifically in Bronze Age chariots, I should also note that much of the same information is available in several other Osprey works, though not all in the same place or to the same depth. For example, "The Mycenaeans" covers their chariotry well; while "New Kingdom Egypt" discusses Egyptian, Hittite, and Mitannian chariotry, and "Ancient Armies of the Middle East" has Egyptian chariots and Sumerian battlewagons. I guess the main complaint about the work is that I've read too many studies of the battle of Quadesh already, so I was hoping for even broader coverage of chariots in this.


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Chariots, the first mobile fighting vehicle, seem to have originated in Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. The highly mobile two-wheeled war chariot, carrying a driver and an archer armed with a short composite bow, revolutionized military tactics after 1700 BC. This expensive weapon spread throughout the Middle East and is thought to have reached Egypt with the conquering Hyksos. It spread into Asia Minor, Greece, and was known in Northern Europe by 1500 BC. This book covers the evolution of the war chariot throughout the Bronze Age, detailing its design, development and combat history - in particular its fundamental involvement at the battle of Qadesh.

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The Ancient Assyrians (Elite) Review

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(More customer reviews)Healy's book gives a quick review of the Assyria Empire from start to finish in a mere 64 pages. However its shortness is made up by the wonderful photos (12 in color) and diagrams presented in the book. One unusaul aspect of this book is there is no table of contents, index, or biblography. It's almost written like a research paper that was converted into a published book. Nevertheless the purchase price is well worth the money.

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For the greater part of the period from the end of the 10th century to the 7th century BC, the Ancient Near East was dominated by the dynamic military power of Assyria. At the zenith of its rule Assyria could lay claim to an empire that stretched from Egypt in the west to the borders of Iran in the east and encompassed for the first time in history, within the realm of a single imperial domain, the whole of the 'Fertile Crescent'. Mark Healy, covers the history of the Assyrians from their ancient beginnings to the eventual fall of the city of Nineveh.

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Egyptian Warfare and Weapons (Shire Egyptology) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are like me and have read hints in other books referring to the Egyptian military but have always wondered just what the structure of the army was at different points in Pharaonic history and how many men were in each type of unit, this book is for you! Shaw whisks over topics relevant to ancient Egypt's military with chapters on "Egypt's Enemies", "Fortresses and Frontiers", "The Egyptian Army", "Weapons and Military Technology", "Imperial Strategies and International Diplomacy" and "Naval Battles" among others. A well-illustrated (b/w) little work (part of the Shire Egyptology series) that supplies good information without eating up your wallet and your bookshelf.

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Ancient Armies of the Middle East (Men-at-Arms) Review

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(More customer reviews)Covering 2500 years and a fair chunk of real estate in 40 pages, this volume of the normally quite nice Osprey Military books is only recomendable for the Angus McBride art. It concentrates on the better known states, when the limited size would have done well for a study some of the lesser known states and left the Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians and such for their own volumes. However, it does have a nice integrated timeline, and the aforementioned wonderful Angus McBride art.

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This text by Terence Wise explores some of the fascinating peoples who comprised the ancient armies of the Middle East: the Sumerians, who were the first to introduce the use of bronze into warfare, and were centuries ahead of the Egyptians in the use of the wheel – The Akkadians, whose citizen army was composed almost entirely of light troops – The Babylonians, whose people were granted land in return for army service – the horned warriors of the Elamites – the Egyptians, with thier heavy spearmen and archers – the tribal and warlike Libyans – Nubians and Ethiopians – Hyksos – the armies of the Hittite Empire – the Sea People and others.

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