Armies of Ancient and Medieval Africa

Inspired by Keenasbro's Wars & Battles Throughout History www.abovetopsecret.com...
I have decided to make a thread on Armies of Ancient and and Medieval Africa,It is no means a comprehensive view on the matter just an over view keeping it lite,with pics of their armor ,weapons ,organizations.

There is a tendency to regard ancient or medieval African military men or women as spear wielding warriors dressed in simple line cloth with an egg shaped shield drawn-up for battle for an impending raid or defense from being raided while that view is certainly true some especially of the East African Savannah,the fact is much of Africa with states had huge formidable armies and Navies although most of these navies were riverine or for use on lakes ,not so on the coast the Swahili and the Somali took to the high seas although these were usually traders,Swahili seamen protected the seas between India and the East African coast,along side Axumite "Habsha" and Zanj mercenaries ,matter of fact the Axumite or better known today as Ethiopian/Eritreans made claims that they had land holding as far away as India a profusion of Axumite coins found in India hints that such a boast might have some truth to it,what is certain is that East African mercenaries did took over some states in India vying for power with the Moguls an off shoot of the Mongols.

Map of African states missing is the very important state of Adal in Somalia that was part of the trade network of the Indian ocean.
Now understand that a number of these states was hugh Mali for example was larger than all the states of Western Europe put together while Songhay approach the territory of today's continental Unite States, the empire of Kenem Bornu touches the Niger and approached the Nile at it's height,ruling over other kingdoms so they needed a standing army these were no mere collection of tribal villages.

A king from the Kingdom of Ta-Seti the first or one of the first state on the Nile in what is popularly known as Nubia although I take issue with the name as a catch all for different polities of the south.

I won't spend much time on ancient Kmt known to most as Egypt ,but from before there was even a state called Kmt other polities up river had rivine navies

Ancient egypt and Nubia

illustration of angus mcbride showing the egyptian Pharaoh Kamose showing a battle plan map to a group of Ku#es (nubian) nobleman during a war against the Hyksos in 1500 BC
Note the illustrator called the allies of Kamose Kushi.tes is incorrect these would be the Madjay as Kush was a deadly enemy to Kmt at this era, that held Kmt in a pincer movement with it's Hyksos allies.

egyptian warriors

illustration of angus mcbride showing warriors of the ancient egyptian army


Kemite spearmen and their southern allies who were archers,of note the southerns were the most skilled at archery so much so that their lands and first kingdom was known as Land Of The Bow when Islamic Arabs and other Africans tried to invade their lands they were met with archers so deadly they were called pupil smiters as they had the habit of taking out the eyes of their foes.

Bowman of Kush,Kmt's rival on the Nile note the sash across the body and the feather

They swept over the mountains, over the Nile, without limit
The text takes the form of an address to the living by Sobeknakht: "Listen you, who are alive upon earth . . . Kush came . . . aroused along his length, he having stirred up the tribes of Wawat . . . the land of Punt and the Medjaw . . ." It describes the decisive role played by "the might of the great one, Nekhbet", the vulture-goddess of El Kab, as "strong of heart against the Nubians, who were burnt through fire", while the "chief of the nomads fell through the blast of her flame

weekly.ahram.org.eg...
More to come.

a reply to: Spider879

you're not giving them enough credit, particularly the egyptians/kemites.
remember when the "Lord" visited Abe's tent? i'm guessing that wasn't god, that was pharaoh with his entourage.
cause i dont think god would have to come down to the earth to see whether or not the "rumors" were true about
sodom and gomorrah. that the guy had to physically visit the site to see first hand, i mean.....oh and how did sodom
get destroyed or how were the gay men who wanted to rape the Lord's guards, dispatched?

things that make you go hmmm.

a reply to: undo
As far as I know the Kemites played no roll in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,and who dispatched they Gays of Sodom ,perhaps Lot's tribe??

The ATS censor strikes again... could "Kus.h" be removed from the wordlist, since it is the name of an ancient kingdom? Kus.h and Egypt have a very intertwined history, and thank you for the post - very interesting imagery of our ancient past.

originally posted by: Spider879
a reply to: undo
As far as I know the Kemites played no roll in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,and who dispatched they Gays of Sodom ,perhaps Lot's tribe??

i know the kemites didn't. i just was saying pharaoh and his guards visited abe's tent. didn't abe give sarah to pharaoh at one point, pretending she was his sister? oh there's something interesting there for sure. "oh by the way, sarah will be pregnant". if that was really god visiting and saying that she was going to give birth, no way would sarah have laughed about it. no, lot's tribe didn't dispatch the sodomites. sodom was nuked with a very strange nuke.

have you come across the diary of seti the first? that is really quite astounding to read.

no MAN has seen GOD and lived. pray tell how then did abe see god and live? easy! the translators assumed that anytime words used to represent kings, gods, pharaohs, judges and officials, that meant it was a supernatural being. however, the original words reveal that they are applicable to many different states of authority, one of which is god, and another which is various earthly authority figures of one kind or another.

a reply to: Spider879

The sad reality was there way of life was totally destroyed when the Imperialist European Powers came into Africa during the Scramble for Africa. There were incidents when African Warriors used Medieval Weaponry and lost due to advanced European technology . (Examples, Anglo-Zulu War or the Imperial Germany's of various African Tribes)

originally posted by: undo
have you come across the diary of seti the first? that is really quite astounding to read.

Link?

a reply to: mindseye1609

i can't find it. i've been trying to re-find it, ever since i read it the first time!
i can give you a synopsis, however. he was actually a very thoughtful and moral fellow. he was respectful of his elders, believed in honesty and kindness and so on.

originally posted by: undo
a reply to: mindseye1609

i can't find it. i've been trying to re-find it, ever since i read it the first time!
i can give you a synopsis, however. he was actually a very thoughtful and moral fellow. he was respectful of his elders, believed in honesty and kindness and so on.

who was seti exactly? i actually have no idea what your talking about but ancient times are very interesting to me and africa is an area that has very little written info. HARD dates and times and whatnot.

a reply to: mindseye1609

well this is what wikipedia says

Seti I
Pharaoh

Menmaatre Seti I was a pharaoh of the New Kingdom Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. Wikipedia
Died: 1279 BC
Spouse: Tuya
Children: Ramesses II, Princess Tia, Henutmire, Amennefernebes
Parents: Ramesses I, Sitre

----

he also refurbished abydos, built his monument there, discovered the ancient osirieon while excavating for his own temple. had the book of gates penned for the first time and carved into his alabaster sacrophagus. had a gorgeous tomb in the valley of the kings. let me see if i can find a youtube for ya

Some thing must be said about Queen Amanishekhato vs the Legions of Augustus Caesar this was an era of incredible women leaders within a 250yrs span of each other,the first two were contemporaries Amanishekhato and Cleopatra,While a great effort was made by the Celtic Queen Brodicia of the Iceni 6 decades later she fought the good fight but lost her head literally ,She was followed Zenobia of Palmyra which is Syria today,she mauled Rome took Egypt but could not keep it died sometime in Rome after arriving in chains.
Cleo while wily and able to manipulate strongmen through pillow talk to the point where they divided their home-land Rome in a series of Bloody civil wars,Amani had non of that and preferred the most direct approach..KILL THEM! not Bed them,she lost an eye in battle a son in the conflict but she kept-up the war sacking upper Kmt including Thebes or anciently known as Waset

Roman POWs

his head was once part of a statue of the emperor Augustus (ruled 27 BC-AD 14). It was taken during a Ku#e raid on Roman-occupied Egypt as a symbol of their defiance of Roman might. It was buried in front of the steps of a Ku#e temple of Victory at Meroe in Upper Nubia and was probably placed there so as to be permanently underneath the feet of its captors. Height: 447 mm. - Courtesy the British Museum

The Burning of Waset or Thebes

CRUD, that video is not exactly what i was expecting. sorry. looking for a better one.
i was looking for something to show the temple at abydos and osirieon in detail, but that one is mostly about hathor's temple at dendera.

here's a better one.

a reply to: Spider879

that's nonsense. cleo didn't manipulate men thru sex. she was married to caesar and he was murdered. i'm not entirely sure what the deal was with mark anthony but it probably wasn't quite the way it's presented in the hollywood movies lol

a reply to: undo
But Seti and Abe live about a thousand yrs plus apart,the era of the proto Israelite journey
would be set in the middle kingdom 11th or 12th dynasties .

a reply to: undo

wow you'd think that would of came up with my original cursory goggling. right on thanks

originally posted by: Spider879
a reply to: undo
But Seti and Abe live about a thousand yrs plus apart,the era of the proto Israelite journey
would be set in the middle kingdom 11th or 12th dynasties .

oh i'm not saying seti I was the pharaoh at the time of abe. to determine the pharaoh, we would have to determine abe's timeframe. to do that, we have to accept that the hyksos were the habiru (israelites) and then locate the event of the exodus as the same event as the expulsion of the hyksos.

originally posted by: undo
a reply to: Spider879

that's nonsense. cleo didn't manipulate men thru sex. she was married to caesar and he was murdered. i'm not entirely sure what the deal was with mark anthony but it probably wasn't quite the way it's presented in the hollywood movies lol

Yes she did but how and for what purpose remember marriage in those days wasn't about "THE LOVE: her state was at stake, in any case it was a good diplomatic move on her part,things just didn't work out.

look at this. this is pharaoh ahmose (mose (moses) was named after him)
expelling the hyksos. look at the water. it's full of charioteers and presumably a few hyksos as well