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Frontiers
Protecting the frontiers of Egypt was considered
to be one of the Pharaoh’s greatest duties, undertaken as an act of
reverence for the chief state god. The king was not only the ruler
of Upper and Lower Egypt; he was also overlord of the Nine Bows, a
confederation of peoples and lands whom the Egyptians mention from
earliest times. This amalgamation included the people who inhabited
the region just south of Aswan as well as those who dwelt in the
west and in the oases of the Western Desert; those who occupied the
“empty land” to the east; and the sailors driven by storms toward
Egypt’s Mediterranean coast. In effect, this confederation included
the Nile Valley and all the tribes and peoples with whom the
Egyptians came into contact on all their borders. In the Old Kingdom
when Egypt first became a powerful state, the country was relatively
secure from outside attack, but later the reality changed.
The natural barriers and boundaries defined the extent of the country during the Old Kingdom, and in later periods when the Egyptians lived through difficult times, they were again reduced to these confines. The natural barriers were the First Cataract on the Nile at Aswan, the deserts to the east and west of the Nile Valley, and the Mediterranean coast to the north. At times these frontiers were under attack from many peoples. When the Egyptians tried to cross the Eastern Desert into the Isthmus of Suez they met various “Asiatic” tribes. Some, such as the Mentiu, were desert dwellers in Sinai who had spread into southern Palestine. They were closely associated with the ‘Aamu who had originated in Syria. The Egyptians through their encounters differentiated between the ‘Aamu, the desert dwellers, the nomads, and the city dwellers who lived beyond this eastern frontier.
To the west of the Nile Valley there were the
inhabitants of the oases that stretched out along the edge of the
desert; these were controlled by the Egyptians who also recruited
soldiers there. Beyond the oases lay the land of Tjehenu (Libya),
which had always had close associations with Egypt and supplied them
with donkeys, oxen, sheep, and goats. They were occasionally enemies
(as when the people of Tjehenu joined the cause of the Sea Peoples
in the late New Kingdom) but more often acted as allies of the
Egyptians. Egypt extended its boundaries to the south from the
natural frontier at the First Cataract, annexing and colonizing the
land and controlling the people by building a string of fortresses.
In the north the Mediterranean at first provided Egypt with a
formidable protective barrier, but later the Egyptians established
trade with lands beyond the sea. By the New Kingdom the Egyptians
sent campaigns to Syria/Palestine accompanied by ships carrying
troops and baggage, which sailed along the coast of Syria/Palestine.
Also, the onslaught of the Sea Peoples against Egypt during the time
of Ramesses III was launched from the sea. The Egyptians used
various means of patrolling and controlling these frontiers,
including military fortifications in Nubia, across the northeastern
approaches, and in the region of Mareotis in the western Delta.
Deserts and the frontier posts were patrolled by special police
forces. The police, who were not connected to the army, patrolled
the east and west desert highways accompanied by their dogs to hunt
lurking enemies or criminals. These forces sought out those who were
escaping justice, protected caravans from raiders, and monitored the
movements and actions of the nomadic tribes.
Customs posts at the frontiers recorded movements
of people and reasons for their journeys as well as detailing the
number of letters that envoys carried. At these posts customs were
levied on goods, and travelers were required to complete border
formalities. This was a slow procedure. Those seeking entry to Egypt
included people, driven out by famine in their own countries, who
wished to resettle or to buy grain; those seeking asylum; and those
wishing to return from exile. There were also ordinary travelers. As
well as these fixed geographical boundaries there were the more
fluid frontiers of the Egyptian Empire, which at its peak stretched
from Nubia to the Euphrates River. Military campaigns, followed by
construction of fortresses or by local diplomacy to bring vassal
states under Egyptian influence, were the prime measures undertaken
to establish and maintain these frontiers.
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Frontiers
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