The Military Might of Egypt – Chronicles of Ancient Egypt | Episode 7 | Documentary

Documentary: Egypt's long history is also a history of confrontations and bloody wars the Empire's relations to its neighbors are characterized by competition and conflict yet also by diplomacy and cooperation Egypt is the Hub of the world as such it must be defended whoever is for us is a friend whoever is against us must be fought what role do Wars play in the Empire of the [Music] Pharaohs in 1923 archaeologists make a unique discovery not far from luxa in the inhospitable mountains of Dia Al Bahari they hundreds of Bones scattered on the floor of a widely ramified tunnel system archaeologist Sala ikram has long been studying the puzzling find who were these people what had caused their death and what's behind the way they were buried when this tomb was found they went in and discovered that it was filled with body bodies and when they started to examine these mummies they found that they actually had lots of injuries as if they had died in battle so the conclusion was that this was a mass grave of Warriors that had been gathered up from the battlefield and then buried here the grave is more than 4,000 years old after analyzing the bones Sala ikram concludes that there are about 60 dead buried in the tunnel all of them male and between 20 and 40 years old at the time of their death the wounds that these people had suffered were extraordinary you could see that there were examples of you know blunt force trauma as if they had been hit with a mace these people had been stabbed with the knives with swords and suffered a great deal and maybe even axes and what was really quite horrible was that some of them were found and it looked as if they had been lying on the battlefield and Birds of Prey had come and pecked at them and ripped at their flesh the bodies were taken to the cave and given an honorable burial they are wrapped in linen cloths a precious item in ancient Egypt later the tomb was looted and the remains were carelessly scattered on the ground yet who were the dead some people think that this tomb was right at the cusp between the New Kingdom and the second intermediate period and therefore these Warriors would have been people who had been fighting against the hickes and making sure that the um Egyptians true Egyptians could rule Egypt again the hixus are Invaders from the East around 1550 BC the Egyptians succeed in driving them out so perhaps the tomb dates from the time of this struggle what is really touching is that this is perhaps one of the first if not the first war grave in history it is really a testament to the Egyptians um their armies and also how they treated their soldiers there's war even at the dawn of Egyptian history under the reign of King Nama he wants to conquer the Nile Delta in the North in the Egyptians view of the world the North is at the bottom since this is where the Nile flows into the sea for us an unusual perspective back then Egypt is divided into two territories n rules over Upper Egypt his goal is to subdue the principalities of the delta in the north not least because of the important trade routes leading from there to Palestine and Syria Nama raises a small army probably only a few hundred men and attacks Lower [Applause] Egypt relics such as the so-called Hunter's pallet give a detailed picture of what the Warriors looked like in n's time and what weapons they used the overall image is quite different from our perception of ancient Egypt in modern times Egypt is often portrayed as inherently peaceful but if we take a closer look at texts pictorial evidence and archaeological finds we have to acknowledge that war and violence played a significant role in ancient Egypt in battle soldiers fight with clubs daggers and Spears or their bare hands bound prisoners are LED away the Fallen enemies are left to the [Music] vultures most combat weapons show the evolution of Egyptian Warcraft during the early period the mace is the weapon of choice until it's replaced by various types of battle axes during the old and the Middle Kingdom during the New Kingdom swords become ever more present the most famous variant is the sickle-like keesh yet for a long time the most effective weapon is the bow Nama groups several archers into units and thus concentrates their fighting Power he's considered one of the first commanders to create an organized Army and his new tactics win him battles as is testified by a unique object the narma pallet it shows the King as a triumphant warlord narma is shown about a play a prisoner with a club or is there another message underneath this image on the Nama pet King Nama is represented holding the maze from the middle of the shaft in this position he would not be able to give a deadly blow to his Foe and we may not forget that the prisoner in front of him was a compatriot so this was a gesture that uh should threaten and uh it was not intended for the kill it's a demonstration of power that goes down in Egyptian history as the ritualistic slaying of the enemies over time variations emerge in his raised hand the Pharaoh holds a club or sometimes a sword or a spear while with this other hand he grabs one or even an entire bundle of vanquished enemies by the Scruff of the neck it's a gesture of absolute dominance that becomes a tra Mark of the ruler with a clear message don't mess with the [Music] Pharaoh King nama's show of force finally leads to success around 3,000 BC he succeeds in uniting Upper and Lower Egypt it's the first nation state in history Egypt's first capital is built of the intersection of the two halves of the Empire Memphis called the scales of the two countries it's the most important strategical point in Egypt it's also the headquarters of the army the guarantor of Egypt's strength and unity from now on the world Beyond Egypt is divided into friend and foe n's politics are successful over the next 3,000 years the Empire endures unification is followed by recovery during the Old Kingdom Egypt experiences a period of economic power and culture flourishes his most visible expression the mighty Pyramids of Giza the most famous pyramid is built by Pharaoh kufu also known as kops yet he's not just a great Builder [Music] kufu also sends expeditions to neighboring areas his men are to procure rare pigments which the Pharaoh intends to use for the decoration of his new buildings local Scouts help find the way through the endless Libyan Desert for this important task kufu uses his best men his soldiers for the Egyptians the Army was not used only for Warfare in fact it is like modern Egypt where you will have armies building roads digging canals making Bridges going on Expeditions so for ancient Egypt you know the Army might go to get gold or it might go to get stone or it might go to explore for geological things or where people are so all of these Expeditions were also things that the Army did in addition to providing useful Services the Egyptians develop sophisticated Logistics to provision such Expeditions however camels that can go for weeks without water do not yet exist in Egypt instead donkey Caravans are sent ahead they deposit Water Supplies every 70 km thus an expedition will have water without being slowed down by the heavily loaded donkeys the remains of these water Depot can still be found in Egypt today one of the destinations of the kufu Expeditions is the dla Oasis in the Libyan Desert more than 350 km from the Nile it serves as a base camp for surveys into the surrounding [Music] Countryside the region around dla is Rich with deposits of red Sandstone containing iron oxide from which color pigments can be extracted [Music] impatiently kufu awaits the raw material he needs for his architectural Visions his soldiers have completed their task they bring back the precious color pigments by the basket full trade Expeditions remain of high importance to the fonic Empire the egytian ex these Expeditions are a very important part of the Egyptian economy the logistics must have been enormous there were often hundreds or thousands of men sent out into inhospitable regions into the desert or across the Red Sea to P alas where punt was located is no longer known Temple reliefs record an expedition to the legendary land of incense on oceangoing ships the Egyptians set out on the long journey their Merchants load live animals onto the ships and even myr bushes in pots the precious cargo is protected by [Music] soldiers Expeditions are sent in all directions deep into the Western deserts and to the shores of the Red Sea they also regularly go to Sinai where copper and turquoise are extracted most often however the pharaoh's Men Travel up the Nile to the South where they suspect great riches in fabled nuia near the southern border of the Empire close to the city of azwan Lies the island of elephantine it's the starting point for expeditions to the na nebor in country however relations between Egypt and Nubia are checkered yet Egyptians regularly head south in search of rare Goods their curiosity about the mysterious land from which the Nal flows to them is boundless and Nubians are highly esteemed as trading partners in times of Peace the Egyptians had constant trade relations with their neighbors and interaction was certainly on an equal footing the Egyptians were particularly interested in luxury products and exotic objects from neighboring societies and they even imitated them Nubia is important to the Egyptians because it's a hub for Trans shipping goods from all over Africa from here rare oils Ivory Ebony and strange animals reached the Egyptian Homeland but above all gold the element of the Gods Egypt itself has no large gold deposits nuia on the other hand has Rich mines it's also called the gold land of the Pharaohs the Pharaohs acquire the precious metal either by trade or by sending their soldiers to mine it directly in the Nubian deposits it's probably gold from nuia with which k has the top of his Great Pyramid covered 500 years after the founding of the Egyptian Empire the kerma culture emerges in Nubia it develops into a major military power the Nubian Warriors eventually become a threat to Egypt the King as a warrior was basically keeping the foreigners at Bay and keeping Egypt's boundaries safe and the foreigners are representative of chaos they're not Egyptian and they want Egypt that is a chaotic thing to do and therefore they have to be controlled the Nubians are one of the Three Arch enemies threatening the Egyptian Empire in the South Nubian attackers can use the Nile as an advanced route for invasion [Music] in the west the libyans pose a constant threat from the desert they threaten the Nile Delta Northeastern Egypt on the other hand is a gateway for Invaders from Asia for hixus Hittites Assyrians and Persians yet it's not foreign Invaders but Throne disputes and civil wars that lead to the fall of the Old Kingdom around 2170 BC the first intermediate period begins it lasts 150 years until the era of the Middle Kingdom begins Egypt regains its old strength pharaohs like senos III pay special attention to the defenses of their [Music] empire along the border with Nubia their new strategy becomes apparent giant fortresses signal to any stranger from here on not one step further with the construction of each new Fortress the Egyptian Empire pushes further south in the end it's a chain of 17 massive bullworks they're meant to keep the southern Neighbors at Bay and secure access to the Nubian gold mines we know an entire chain of fortresses in the Nubian area and we assume that they were built mainly to control the Nubian gold deposits in the Eastern desert at the same time these fortresses were a suitable base for armies intended to advance further south after the fall of ancient Egypt the of the forts along the Nile remain for Millennia yet following the construction of the Awan dam in the 1960s the former fortifications disappear forever flooded by the artificial Reservoir but not before they're examined in detail by archaeologists thus it's possible to reconstruct the the appearance and the function of these structures all Egyptian fortresses are built along the same lines yet The Architects of the Pharaohs know how to adapt each structure to conditions on sight the fortresses are surrounded by walls up to 10 m thick and 15 M High there are no blind spots no matter where attackers charge The Archers of the Fortress can shower them with a hail of arrows there are additional fortifications for the gate areas the weak points of any Fortress behind the walls are the quarters for officers and troops as well as administrative buildings temples warehouses and workshops since all fortresses have access to water their garrisons can survive for a long time under siege yet who are the men on duty in these fortifications a wooden model from the Middle Kingdom shows a troop of Egyptian Spearman the Pharaoh's Army mainly relies on professional soldiers yet there's a considerable number of conscripts too basic training is Harsh first the recruit's heads are shaven then the soldiers to be are drilled and trained in the use of their weapons physical training is a must wrestling is supposed to teach the recruits to stand their ground those who don't follow the rules risk a beating a group of Nubian archers enlisting Warriors from the neighboring countries as mercenaries is a common part of Egyptian rule officially foreigners were viewed with condescension to Egyptians especially those at the Royal Court Egypt was the center of the world in practice however things were quite different Recent research shows that ancient Egyptian Society was highly diverse and a good many foreigners even made careers this also applies to the Army yet it's doubtful whether service in a fortress will boost promotion as soldiers report on papy daily life is monotonous at least there's no lack of food off duty board games are a favorite pastime there's no room for toilets in the barracks the men have to make do with s sand filled bowls so many soldiers must be counting the days until they're allowed to go [Music] home Duty in a fortress meant life in a very confined space in a very inhospitable area far from home if you're a simple Soldier you're crammed into 38 to maybe 42 Square met with 8 to 10 comrades that's certainly a hard life if you are a commander or a senior officer then even if your Fortress may be comparatively small you'd still have a large building and all amenities at your disposal archaeological evidence shows there's a huge difference in the Egyptian Army between a small Elite of officers and the enlisted men written sources nearly 4,000 years old tell us what daily life was like in the fortresses the semna dispatches their accounts of egypti Patrols in Nubia from their Fort the soldiers move into the surrounding Countryside of the semna gorge for reconnaissance checking everyone they come across the patrols keep a special eye on Nubian traders who want to enter Egyptian territory only those holding a permit are allowed across the border into the Empire the fortresses on the edge of the Egyptian world are meant to uphold order not just against armed enemies but also against the supposed chaos of the outside world the Egyptians also marked their territory with Steely made of stone for a long time this border system works yet around 1800 BC the Middle Kingdom collapses its defenses crumble Egypt lies open to foreign Invaders and learns its lesson a professional Army really started to arise in the New Kingdom after the Egyptians experienced the hixus people Invaders from the Northeast who took over the Northeast Delta and then basically dominated much of Northern Egypt hixus called the rulers of foreign countries they had chariotry they had special weaponry and uh so in the New Kingdom a CL of specialist Warriors grew up and then you had more of a professional standing army the professionalization of the Army is backed up by a massive buildup in Weaponry the era of the legendary Warrior of pharaohs begins enter thos III of the 18th Dynasty you had pharaohs like thos III the Napoleon of ancient Egypt creating the empire to its greatest extent they did so because they were able to learn that military technology fmos relies heavily on the wonder weapon of his time The Chariot the Egyptians adapted it from the hixus yet even if they didn't invent it they excel at continuously improving its characteristics the Egyptians were never particularly innovative in terms of Technology but they were quick to react the moment they met an enemy with a new weapon such as the near Eastern composite B the Egyptians would immediately copy it the same goes for chariots then it was the pharaoh's job to create the appropriate Logistics expertise and infrastructure to implement these new weapons and combat [Music] techniques how the Egyptians optimized the construction of Chariots is known thanks to Tuton Carmen's treasure a total of six chariots were found in the king's tomb among them the pharaoh's ceremonial Chariot although the Gilded and richly decorated vehicle is unfit for battle it shows the construction of an Egyptian chariot down to the smallest detail the frame is made of curv Timbers its large track width carries the Chariot safely through turns six spokes provide stability for the wheels which are covered with cattle intestines as a kind of ancient Tire the contraption is held together by wooden connectors and leather cords thus it can be easily disassembled and transported the the Egyptian chariot was an absolute high-tech product for its time chariot were of great importance throughout the New Kingdom and revolutionized Warfare Egyptian troops were known to emerge at high speed shoot their arrows and then Retreat to the side or the rear on their chariots fmos has his troops train hard with a new war machine the Egyptian chariot combines High Mobility with a range of bow and arrow making it the most feared weapon on the battlefield for a long time for the Pharaoh his newly established Chariot Corp becomes an instrument of Imperial power politics in 1457 BC he's determined to make the most of his new weapon the Egyptian Empire has extended its borders far to the east but the princes of the Levant want to shake off Foreign Rule and rally against Egypt thos moves against the center of the Revolt the mountain Fortress of [Music] meidu a huge Army rolls 250 km to the east 12,000 Warriors and their retinues it takes them a good two weeks to March through scorching deserts and rugged valleys then they reached their destination meidu a fortified city on a hill and a place of utmost [Music] importance who controls megu controls the jel valley and who controls the jel valley controls the whole region uh that why uh this was crucially important uh for uh the Egyptian Army at the time of to Moses III to get control of the uh city of midu just one obstacle lies between the city and the Egyptian Army the Carmel mountains Pharaoh thmo wants to lead his army through a narrow pass his officers advise against it they think it's too risky and would rather bypass the mountain but THM sticks to his plan why does he take this risk the answer is found here in the sacred Precinct of Thieves in the temple of carac Thutmose III has immortalized his War diary in stone propagating his view of events and even explaining why he dismissed the advice of his officers the day before the battle there his state no I will go through the narrow pathway I will not appear weak or cowardly in front of the enemy Moses theii is giving a clear signal to his enemies uh of strength and boldness at the same time he uh is encouraging his own troops as the army sets out out everyone knows that if they are attacked in the narrow pass they will be lost yet th mos' move pays off no attack develops there's nothing left to protect the rebels from the wroth of the Pharaoh the next day the attack on the camp of the unsuspecting enemy begins at the head of his chariots THM charges against them he strikes quickly and hard 1,000 chariots are said to have been in the inventory of the Egyptian Army the rebels are put to flight but they're not yet defeated since during the first attack only 83 enemies are killed so the war diary records [Music] the rebels entrench themselves in meidu a month-long Siege begins a team of archaeologists tries to find out why the Defenders are able to hold on for so long they dig their way back in time lir by lay to the era of the warrior Pharaoh fmos III with each new discovery excavator Israel finlin can reconstruct the appearance of the former city ever more precisely even the smallest shards of clay help to Solve the Riddle of meidu well so so here we are lower there was a palace in a certain part of the city we know where the gate was uh we know uh where the temple was so the two most important components of a city like this their location is well known and then we know that there was no major fortification surrounding the site but houses built connected to each other and forming some sort of a belt of houses which gave protection to the people [Music] inside so the city was well fortified thanks to a tunnel system even supplies could be maintained 70 M deep it leads through the Rocks Under the city to the fresh water Springs of meidu yet after 7 months thmo succeeds in conquering the city whether meidu is taken by storm or Falls as the result of treason remains an open question the rebels must expect the worst back then there's no Geneva Convention in times of wars the Egyptians were not squeamish in treating their prisoners at best they were deported to Egypt to do forced labor yet thos has other plans for the rebels s uses a new policy towards his enemies that will continue to be used afterwards in ancient Egypt he makes the enemies promise not uh to uh attack or to uh rebel against EG Egypt uh again and uh he uh forces them to uh pay uh taxes and tributes to Egypt so the Pharaoh spares the lives of the subjugated relentlessness in war and moderation in peace with this two-sided strategy the Napoleon of Egypt restores order a balanced policy of War and Peace ensures the stability of the Egyptian Empire yet 200 years after the victory of meidu another phah must again set out to the east to fight off the enemy Ram sees thei easily Egypt's most famous ruler in 1274 BC he assembles the largest Force yet seen in Egypt and prepares for battle at Kadesh Ramsey spares no effort to increase the striking power of his army as is evident at pamesa the city founded by rames is a center for arms production with a focus on Chariot troops in the city there was a great number of military facilities as our excavations have shown there are stables for the horses of the Chariots but also a kind of drill yard for charioteers as well as workshops which are certainly related to the production of things needed by the military the Royal Stables of pessa are a unique Discovery in the history of Egypt the facilities can accommodate up to 500 horses in large Halls they're groomed and cared for archaeologists find hoofprints more than 3,000 years old the complex shows that Ramsey is making a gigantic effort to preserve the Egyptian Empire PESA Lo the Memphis pessa replaced Memphis as the capital for about 200 years we know for sure that Ramsey is II ruled from here for much of his Reign the Eminence of the military in the new city is shown by a detail on this Temple Steely the Pharaoh rewards a soldier for his faithful service he Awards him the so-called gold of [Music] Honor it's from pessa that ramse II marched to the Battle of cadesh unlike thos III Ramses is not dealing with an alliance of rebellious Petty princes he's up against one of the great powers of antiquity the Empire of the Hittites they dominate large parts of Asia Minor from their capital houia from here they rule over numerous vassel States now the Hittites want to expand their empire to the West at the expense of Egypt the Hittites too used chariots yet unlike the Egyptian version their Chariot is manned by three men in addition to the driver and the Archer there's a fighter for close combat thus equipped the army of the Hittites intends to challenge Egypt's rule over the Levant Ramsey sets out with his entire force to meet the threat in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo a fragment of a relief shows foot soldiers and chariots it was found in the burial chamber of a general serving under Ramsey II in the New Kingdom Egypt will uh reach its largest uh extent uh the borders uh in the area of Sir Palestina and Beyond you can see here a fortress and troops marching towards the Northeast also troops marching towards Kadesh would have uh started marching from this place the Army is shown crossing a body of water where crocodiles lurk it's possibly the easternmost branch of the Nile Beyond which the fertile land ends it's here that Ramsey plans to fight the Invaders some egyptologist described it as the world's first world war where they each had about 20,000 people and the Egyptians had all the different tribes the libyans the Nubians and so on allied with them the Allies reinforced the Egyptian Infantry which is equipped with shields and new weapons such as the sickle [Music] sword 4,000 foot soldiers supplemented by Chariot troops are organized as a coherent combat unit the Egyptian Army consists of four such units each bearing the name of a deity each unit marches separately toward cadesh it's what the Hittites have been waiting for with their chariots they pounce on the flanks of the unit named after the god Rah the Egyptians completely surprised a put to flight then the Hittites charge toward the camp of the Arman unit commanded by Ramses himself a fierce battle begins then the Egyptians face total defeat yet at the last moment reinforcements arrive the Egyptian chariots gain the upper hand now it's the Hittites who flee in panic pursued by ramsy and its troops many are killed before the fighting ends the Egyptian Army has been able to hold its own on the battlefield yet its high losses rule out the conquest of [Music] cadesh Ramsey has clearly failed to achieve what he's set out to do yet defeat or even a draw is no option for a son of the [Music] Gods Ramsey is a past master of propaganda after his return to Egypt he has himself celebrated as the Undisputed Victor depicting the near disaster on the battlefield as a Triumph [Applause] rames has his view of the events chiseled into the walls of six temples leaving a total of 13 versions of the battle of cadesh like his ancestors Ramses presents himself as all triumphant yet there's one more twist to the story The Battle of cadesh is one of the most exciting battles we know from ancient Egypt it is completely different in the way is depicted andlike all other battles not only those of Ramis the great but also those of other kings because it shows the king in a dangerous situation usually the king stands on his Chariot and nothing can touch him he immediately fends off all enemies for the first time we see a pharaoh facing Annihilation with the Chariots of the enemy is appearing behind him according to Ramsey's propaganda his troops have abandoned him he seems lost only thanks to the help of the god Arman does he turn defeat into Victory that's something that we don't know from earlier depictions or any text in ancient Egypt so here's a challenge to the king he's in Mortal danger and yet he overcomes it with the Divine assistance of Ammon yet Ramsey II doesn't leave it at that he enters diplomatic contact with the Hittites 16 years after the battle the Pharaoh makes peace with the former [Music] enemies envoys from husha bring a document to Egypt the first surviving peace treaty in history it stipulates that both sides will not attack each other and will even support each other in case of danger [Music] you know the peace treaty with the Hittites does show you that the Egyptian pharaoh could be practical supposedly he's an incarnation of the sun god he's all powerful there's nobody more powerful than him but when it became necessary he made a treaty he made a compromise with his hittite uh adversaries so yes I mean all this Egyptian IDE ideology had to deal with reality on an international scale at this point the United Nations still refers to Mankind's first known peace treaty a replica of the document hangs at the entrance to the UN Security Council in New York reminding the leaders of the world to maintain peace between their [Music] Nations as Ramsey does after the battle of cadesh he will keep peace for the rest of his Reign 61 years after all he concentrates on grandio building projects instead yet with the reign of Ramsey II the Empire is approaching its senith some 100 years after Ramsey II Ramsey III goes down in Egypt's history as the last great Pharaoh the new ruler wants to link himself to the glory of his pred intercessor alas times have changed Egypt is on the defensive in the South the Nubians are pushing northward against the Nile fortresses in the west Libyan Nomad Warriors attack the border the greatest danger however comes from the sea around 1180 BC the so-called sea peoples appear in the Eastern Mediterranean as if out of nowhere with their Mighty fleets they land on the coasts and ravage one city after another they even destroy the hittite Empire to this day the origin of the sea peoples is one of the greatest mysteries of antiquity the sea peoples were a terrible danger that attacked not just Egypt but large parts of the Mediterranean and we are not entirely sure as to who they were but it seems that they were really an AG glomeration a group of different peoples whether they were from Sardinia or here or there or everywhere but they were seafarers um they were adept at Naval Warfare and they were terrorizing the Mediterranean World Ramsey III must mobilize all his forces if he wants to spare Egypt the fate of the hittite Empire to fight the sea peoples he relies not only on his army but also on Egypt's Fleet [Music] the Pharaoh awaits the ships of the sea peoples in the north of his Empire he intends to use his own Fleet to confront and Destroy them in the Nile Delta for the Egyptian Army navigation has been of the utmost importance since its Beginnings ships are the most important means of transport ation on the Nile troops can be quickly transported from one front to another yet ships can also [Music] fight the classic type has a crescent-shaped hull with raised ends at the bow on the stern as well as a mast for a rectangular sail for travel Upstream the ships have additional Rudders making them fast and maneuverable ramse III gathers everything that floats in the Nile Delta the Pharaoh intends to lure the foreign Invaders into a trap to this end he's ordered Egyptian archers to take up positions along the banks of the river the fleet in the Army intend to overwhelm the ships of the sea peoples in a coordinated operation by killing their Crews it's the greatest mobilization in Egypt Egypt's history the Empire is in danger as never before it's threatened with complete destruction as a monument of the battle Ramsey III has a huge temple built medinet Habu near thieves the war against the sea peoples is immortalized on the Northern wall of the temple with obvious references to a predecessor rames II undoubtedly uses the giant battle paintings of rames II as a model but he implements them differently because it's about a sea Battle other than the Battle of cadesh or similar events what's striking is that he too uses the outer wall of the temple for the narrative on the banks of the Nile the the Army's archers move into position the Warriors of the sea peoples do not seem to have longrange weapons the task of the Egyptian Fleet is to deprive The Invader ships of their maneuverability and push them [Music] landwards there they become easy targets for the Egyptian archers the foreign Warriors are caught in a crossfire from sea and from land with fatal consequences the sea peoples are defeated the invasion is stopped Ram se's can rightly claim to be the savior of Egypt the outer wall of medet Habu is reserved for the official version of Ramsey's battle and his victory over the foreign Invaders yet inside the temple there are other reliefs of the battle which seem to have been intended for the fair Inner Circle if you then go into the temple there are representations similar to those from earlier rulers where generals appear before the king and tell him I have defeated so and so many people then they hand over proof and this could be a cut of hand or a cut of penis in the temple of medinet Habu the perspective of the victors is immortalized in stone the perspective of the opposing side is unknown to this day after his victory Ramsey's the third continues to rule for 25 years the triumph over the sea peoples turns him into a legend however the country has spent itself in the defensive Wars against the Invaders with Ramses III Egypt's last great warrior Pharaoh passes away his death is the Prelude to the slow inexorable decline of the [Music] empire ancient Egypt views itself as the center of the world it endured over three Millennia thanks to a clever strategy of War and Peace for an Egyptian king both fortitude and diplomacy were crucial in war Egypt's armies fight with no holds bar in times of Peace its civilization flourishes [Music] [Music] [Music]