So, since seeing skallagrims review/ playing about with bronze swords, its made me want one, and while my money supplies are kinda short for now so a bronze sword, or any new sword might not be on the cards for a while, it's still gotten me thinking about what id be using as an ancient Egyptian foot-soldier i'd be inclined to either go for the time of ramses the great (the time of egypt at it's hieght or the late period around the time of tutnkhamn (since neil burridges sword is from said tomb)

so it makes me think, what would i need in terms of clothing weapons and protective gear?

my list so far goes

shield (shaped either like an arch, or almost like a kite that's been cut in half...

sword, either a khopesh

or some kindof bronze double edged sword which is depicted in art on occasion

spear for sure, i think with a tanged spearhead in this case

an axe, i knew a variety of axeheads were used but by the later periods the more narrow 'piercing axeheads' were used more commonly.

possibly a stone mace, although maybe not since those you need a permit to have one

and a dagger, most likely copper or bronze.

as for clothing, it seems basic equptian fashion was a basic tunic

the kilt

the classic egyptian headdress

and woven straw sandles...


Have i missed anything, and does anyone have any other insights as to what weapons/ clothing/ armour and defensive gear didancient egyptian men use

theres also the suggestion of some odd, stiff cloth groin shield thing in some illustrations online..

There is a summary on pp137-138 of my book and more details in the relevant chapters. Their equipment changes over time from Old Kingdom to Middle Kingdom to New Kingdom.

Just FYI, Ramses the Great lived AFTER Tutankhamun.

Get thee to the Bronze Age Center!

http://z8.invisionfree.com/Bronze_Age_Center/index.php?

("William P" is fine for your username.) It's got a whole section for Egyptian stuff, and there are folks there (including Dan!) who know a lot more about it than I do. I've just never studied Egyptian stuff! I *do* know that the different eras tend to get lumped together--Egyptian military gear changes and evolves over time like any other culture, but the popular image is filled with anachronisms!

Egypt does have the advantage of better documentation than any other Bronze Age culture, including ridiculous numbers of frescoes and reliefs, 3-D scale models, and of course great archeological finds. Kinda like American Civil War, it's practically no challenge! All you have to do is narrow down from two millenia of history...

And yes, GET DAN'S BOOK.

Reshwet en'k!

Matthew

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Egypt-Everyday-...1454909072 and this is, so far, my main source regarding other things like, mindset, clothing, food, accessories and makeup etc

it seems reasonable, but i suspect it might have a few flaws, ill hopefully be able to cross reference with dans book and the bronze age centre website

(i'll also probably, against strict historiocity, wear a simple linen shirt aat events when im not in armour/ military gear simply because it tends to get a touch nippy in our autumn and winter, and i suspect some event organisers might not appreciate topless males especially 'suitably well fed' ones.. walking around the event site

although with my girth i could maybe pass for a well to do (read here, fat) scribe or government bureaucrat than a soldier of common stock...

I will third Dan's book. For this it really helped me get a better grasp on what was going on at this period in arms and armour over some of the more unbalanced ideas out there. If you are not primarily focused on this period but perhaps better than average knowledge on the period it is hard to sift through some of the ideas.

RPM

I'm not planning to be thrilled by the new Sea People Osprey book. For starters, I strongly suspect the entire "Sea Peoples" thing is a 19th century dramatization of a rather more local event. (Though obviously the Egyptians tried to make it as dramatic as possible, too!) There certainly WERE many raids and invasions and a few migrations in that era, but there has been some very thoughtful analysis of the tribes mentioned, etc., that give a very different view of the whole thing.

PLUS, as always, D'Amato and Salimbeti are obsessed with leather and articulated linen armor, and with as much of the bizarre and extremely rare as they can cram in or imply as common. That "trident" may not even be a weapon. Not to mention they'll draw the wildest conclusions from the most vague and fragmentary pictoral evidence.

Oh, and the chronology problem...

Have fun, though! If more people did Egyptian right, even *I* would have a better idea of what it should all look like.

Matthew

Out of curiosity, who are these so-called "sea people"?

The short answer is we are not sure. The long one is that during the last hundred and another or so years of the first century there is a great deal of movements of people around the eastern half of the Med. These groups caused some pressure on groups already in decline by raids and attacks helping to contribute to the fall of some and further decline of others. Then they disappear. The truth is some people have made them a very cohesive group but our evidence is very light. I suspect they are sort of really many very fluid groups or a group that incorporates many different group as they move around but once again not much evidence. Maybe Dan or Matt have some more info. I have a few notes here and there but nothing really that will clarify much.

RPM