Differences and similarities between Ancient Egypt And China

Differences and similarities between Ancient Egypt And China in Wars

Ancient Egypt

Ancient China

SIMILARITIES

Both were mass produces of weaponry arming thousands of troops. Both were heavily involved in strategy and tactics.And both advanced these things throughout, learning.Both fought at close range and and long range and both eventually used horses that were ridden into battle.both were protected by natural features and used them to their advantage.

To have decent insights into ancient Chinese wars, one should definitely have a close look at the Warring States Period in Chinese history, commonly referring to the era from 475 BC - 221 BC. This period was marked with endless brutal wars among warlords in an effort to annex smaller states around them and consolidate their rule.

By the 3rd century, seven major regional powers had risen to prominence, who competed each other toward the end of this period when the state of Qin became an unparallel power compared to the other six. Qin finally defeated them all and established the first unified empire in China in 221 BC.

In fact, the vicious struggles against barbarian threats and the many internal wars that China faced had contributed to the advancement of Chinese military techonology and strategy, of which Warring States Period was one notable example.

Ancient Egypt was one of the very first civilisations and also one of the first to adopt a hierarchal society. What is interesting about Ancient Egypt is the fact that the time line ran between 3150 BC an 31 BC but the Ancient Egyptian wars did not occur until half way through their existence.

Ancient Egyptian Warfare

The reason why the Egyptians could live in harmony for so long lends itself to the geographical boundaries such as the Nile that were difficult for potential attackers to overcome.While it is known that the early Ancient Egyptians did send out raiding parties to nearby countries for the looting of precious metals, animals and people to keep as slaves these did not turn into full blown wars.

Hyksos Invasion

It is said that around the year 1650 BC the Hyksos of the northern Nile Delta made an invasion into Egypt and with little confrontation was able to take control of the northern Egyptian lands. This invasion led to the Hyksos holding the Egyptian lands for around a century. While many see this as a negative for Egypt it seems the Hyksos were part of the reason why the Egyptians grew in stature as a military nation as they took the war to the Hyksos Empire. The Ancient Egyptians under Seqenenre Tao (II) and Apophis waged war with the Hyksos in northern Egypt and Apophis was able to rout the Hyksos forcing them north out of Egypt forever.

Egypt and the Canaanite

Ancient Egyptian warfare started around 1500 BC and were mainly caused by the Egyptians wish to expand their lands and political control in the region. The first known war was one with the Canaanite coalition that occurred along the coastal lands Israel, Lebanon and Syria and into Turkey.The most well known battle of this war was the Battle of Megiddo where Pharaoh Thutmose III sent 10,000 to 20,000 men to face an army of 10,000 to 15,000 led by the King of Kadesh and the King of Megiddo. This battle happened in 1457 BC.The Egyptians camped close to the Canaanite forces and as morning broke the Egyptians surprised the Canaanite in attack, the overwhelming strength of the Egyptians broke the will of the Canaanite and they fell into full retreat. The Egyptians killed 83 Canaanite and captured just fewer than 400 as prisoners, the outcome of the battle meant that the Egyptians needed to lay siege to the city, which they did for 7 months before the city fell in surrender. Egypt won the war and its lands grew to encompass the region within its boundaries.

An advance in military technology in this period was the casting of individual weapons that allowed the arming of infantry soldiers. Previously, Chinese ancient wars were realised by aristocrats in chariots which then could not be produced on a mass production basis. Therefore, only a limited proportion of the population was to participate in the battles. With such development, states with economic resources could produce weapons and population to build large armies.

Consequently, complex logistical systems were needed to supply, train and control these large forces: the size of armies ranged something between tens of thousands to several hundreds of thousands of men. Military tactics thus changed: kingdoms fought by thowing masses of soldiers into each other, using a combination of calvatry and infantry while charriots gradually fell in disfavor. Siege warfare became more sophisticated.

Egypt and the Hittites

The next well known Ancient Egyptian War was against the Hittites in the famous Battle of Kadesh in 1288 BC. Here the Egyptians under Ramesses II faced the Hittite’s led by Muwatalli II at the plains outside the city of Kadesh (present day Syria). History says that the Egyptians had 20,000 men with only 10,000 engaged in the battle while the Hittites had a massive 50,000 men. This battle was the largest Chariot battle in history with just fewer than 6,000 chariots between the two armies. The battle in its placement outside Kadesh came as a surprise to the Egyptians as Nomad travellers had told them that the Hittites were some 200 kilometres north from where they actually were. This meant Ramesses thought that he had the chance to take Kadesh unopposed and rushed towards the city, unfortunately this meant his four divisions got scattered as they all moved at different paces.

The Hittites took the initiative and started a massive chariot attack on the Egyptian division named Ri, annihilating them as they went. The Hittites chariot attack then moved onto a second Egyptian division called Anum which was decimated, although some managed to flee. The Hittites thought they had won the battle and started looting whatever they could from the dead Egyptians, this was their big mistake.The remaining two Egyptian divisions made a counterattack and the two combined divisions routed the Hittite chariot force killing almost all Hittites other than the few who managed to swim over the river back to the rest of the Hittite army.The final part of battle happened the next day when the Hittite army attacked once more, this attack turned into bloodshed on both sides with many men lost. In the end the Hittite army had to retreat back across the river to where they were positioned the previous day.Both sides claimed victory in the battle, although it looks to have ended in a stalemate. The true result was that Egypt didn’t claim more ground but the Hittites could not continue the battle because of logistical problems with supplies thus it turned into a Pyrrhic victory to Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian Weaponry

The Ancient Egyptians were known to use siege warfare weapons such as battering rams and siege towers. General warfare weapons were a mix of ranged and melee weapons. Melee weapons used: clubs and maces, axe, knives, swords and daggers. Ranged weapons used: spears, bows and arrows, and javelins.The Egyptians wore little body armour and had a simple shield to protect them. It is known that the Egyptians used chariots in battle.

Weapons were developed in quantity and quality. Iron was proliferated, replacing bronze in arms production. Most popular weapon among various ones used by infantry mean was the dagger-axe, various in shape, ranging from 9–18 ft in length. Crossbow was preferred as long range arm as mass production and mass training were possible. Battering rams were used to attack siege and shield against bows. Much large siege crossbow which could be fitted in wheeled carriage was developed. One of the models can shoot several large bolts at once, causing tremendous damage to enemy groups in tight formations.

The development in tactics and strategies used in Chinese ancient wars is even more significant. This chaotic and violent period also witnessed the emergence of many military strategists whose writings were about military organization, leadership, and battlefield tactics. Among them was the legendary Sun Tzu, the earliest international theorist and most influential miliary guide. Military strategy, as codified in his book “Art of War”, now shifted emphasis toward deception, intellengence and strategies. Planning was seen not as a to-do list but rather a quick response to the actual situation and physical environment.

A huge importance was placed on non-military means such as diplomatic, economic or political intrigue in the final victory. Until today, his military treatise is probably the most admired work dealing with the philosophy of military but also widely applied in non-military fields.

DIFFERENCE

Some of the difference were that china had wars very early on where as The egyptians were able to live in peace for almost half there history. Ancient China also had a lot more battles and rivalries due to this. Another advantage china had was there man-made structures protecting them.