By the 15th century BC, Egypt’s Pharaohs
conquered a mighty empire whose frontiers stretched from Nubia to Syria. However, In
1457 BC, a coalition of Canaanite states led by the king of Kadesh rebelled
against their Egyptian overlords and declared themselves to be independent.
The response from Egypt’s pharaoh Thutmose III was swift and culminated in what has become known
to us today as the Battle of Megiddo. Welcome to our video on the first battle in history for
which there is any sort of detailed record. Thutmose the third is actually making a rare
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round trip ticket to Egypt, so go give it a shot! For much of human history, the ancient land known
as Canaan was at the crossroads of continents and civilizations. Since the earliest days of a united
Egypt around 3000 BC, trade between the kingdom of the Nile and areas of the Levant has been recorded
in ancient texts and inscriptions, with plenty of archaeological evidence uncovered in modern
times to support this. All sorts of goods, from pottery, tools, wheat, wine and cedarwood
were exchanged between the peoples of both lands. Unlike Egypt, which was a large country and had
been politically unified for most of its Bronze Age history, Canaan had always been fractured
into a patchwork of petty city-states and small kingdoms. An entrepreneurial people, many
Canaanites, or those of Canaanite ancestry, had also settled in Egypt and lived amongst
the country’s native inhabitants for centuries, especially between the years 2000 to 1650 BC.
Perhaps for these reasons, Egyptian rulers didn’t see their Canaanite neighbors as a threat.
This all changed in the 17th century BC when a people known as the Hyksos came
to power in the Nile Delta region. Though many scholars today contend that they may
have arrived and settled in the country peacefully over several generations, the inscriptions of
later Egyptian pharaohs as well as the chronicles compiled by scribes and historians such as Manetho
many centuries later tell a very different story; according to these sources, the Hyksos were
invaders from Canaan who burned cities and razed temples to the ground while cruelly
oppressing Egypt’s native inhabitants. Regardless of the truth of their arrival, the
kings of the Hyksos, who constituted Egypt’s 15th Dynasty, eventually went on to rule a large
part of the country for well over a century from their capital at Avaris in the northeastern
Delta region. While their grip on northern Egypt was secure, the Hyksos kings could not effectively
control the southern portion of the country, and eventually, rival dynasties arose to
challenge them. One of these, which became Egypt’s 17th Dynasty, was from the city of Thebes,
and its last two kings, Seqenenre Tao and his son and successor, Kamose, led a war of liberation
against the Hyksos. Kamose’s younger brother, Ahmose, decisively defeated and chased the last
Hyksos ruler out of Egypt, reunifying the country in the process. Perhaps due to such significant
events, Ahmose is recorded by later chroniclers and historians as the first king of Egypt’s 18th
Dynasty and his reign, which began around 1550 BC, as being the start of the era in Egyptian
history known as the New Kingdom. Until that time, Egypt’s rulers had been
mostly content to simply rule their own country while establishing trade relations with their
neighbors, and the few military campaigns that had extended far beyond the Nile’s first
cataract in the south or the frontiers of Canaan to the east were more punitive raids
than attempts to permanently seize territory. By the mid-16th century BC, this policy had
changed. The Hyksos’ takeover had taught the Egyptians that they were vulnerable to attack,
especially from western Asia. What also must have been alarming to them is that unlike in the past,
there were now several large expansionist states competing for hegemony of that region, including
the Mitanni, the Hittites and the Babylonians, all of whom, should their rulers decide to one day
invade Egypt, would almost certainly march their troops through Canaan. Therefore, the pharaohs
of the New Kingdom, starting with Ahmose I, launched a policy of eastern expansion
and conquest to control the petty states of Canaan and use them as a buffer
against the larger empires to the north. The third pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, the
warrior-king Thutmose I who arguably ruled between 1506–1493 BC, expanded Egyptian control into Nubia
and deep into Syria up to the Euphrates River, obtaining the allegiance of many Canaanite
and Syrian princes along the way. However, once Thutmose left, many of them refused to send
tribute to Egypt. Though rebellions in the Levant were put down under the relatively short reign of
his successor, Thutmose II, Egypt’s grip on its farthest imperial possessions was quickly slipping
away. It would fall to his son Thutmose III, to reverse the tide and solidify Egyptian control of
Canaan and the lands up to the Euphrates in Syria. Most scholars today believe that the pharaoh who
would become Thutmose III technically became the ruler of Egypt around 1479 BC at the age of
10. Since he was just a child, his stepmother, Hatshepsut, who was also his aunt, was designated
to rule as regent in his stead until the young Thutmose III came of age. Hatshepsut was an
extremely powerful woman, for not only was she the daughter of the great Thutmose I, but
also the widow of her half-brother, Thutmose II. By the seventh year of her regency, she
had assumed the title of pharaoh of Egypt and although Thutmose III was co-ruler, the true
power in Egypt was in the hands of Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut commissioned the construction
of many new buildings and expanded others all over Egypt and parts of Nubia, including the
great Temple of Karnak and her mortuary temple at the site of Deir el-Bahri. She also sponsored
large trade expeditions to faraway countries, the most well-known being one sent to the land of
Punt for the acquisition of myrrh, ivory and gold. By nearly all accounts, Egypt during
Hatshepsut’s rule was a very prosperous country. However, her apparent lack of attention to
military matters had led to many of Egypt’s vassals, including its client-kings in Canaan,
to gradually obtain more autonomy for themselves. In the far corners of the empire around the
Syrian frontier, resentment towards Egypt had been growing amongst the rulers of several
of its client-states who saw no reason why they should be forced to swear allegiance and
pay tribute to the pharaoh in a faraway land. It’s also likely that many of them had been
persuaded into becoming allies of the rising northern Mesopotamian power known as the Kingdom
of the Mitanni that at the time had been expanding westward towards the Mediterranean and
also sought to control northern Canaan. Upon the death of Hatshepsut in January of 1458
BC, Thutmose III immediately assumed his position as the sole ruler of Egypt. Believing that the
new, young and untested pharaoh would be weak, the king of the city of Kadesh led a coalition of
Canaanite kings to revolt against their Egyptian overlords. To make matters even worse,
he had also gathered together his allies and assembled a large army at the fortress city
of Megiddo, seemingly with the intention of moving further south and closer to Egypt. Megiddo was
important because it controlled Egypt’s access to the main trade route between Egypt, Anatolia
and Mesopotamia, now known as the Via Maris. The exact size of the Canaanite army that
the king of Kadesh had organized isn’t known, but it’s estimated to have numbered at least
ten to fifteen thousand men. The bulk of the forces consisted of infantry armed with swears,
short swords and axes, but there also would have been archers and perhaps as many as 1000 chariot
units amongst them. They were not just fighting men from Canaan, but also from northern
Syria, Mesopotamia, and southern Anatolia. Though Thutmose III had gained some military
experience commanding the armed forces during Hatshepsut’s reign, he had not been tested
in such a dangerous and volatile situation, but he welcomed the opportunity to prove himself
as the protector of Egypt. During what was probably the Spring of 1457 BC, he assembled a
large army at the fortress of Sile in the eastern delta along the Egyptian border. Though estimates
vary, most scholars put the number of soldiers at between ten to twenty thousand men. Most of
these would have been infantry armed with swords, axes and carrying shields. There were also chariot
units that would have been manned by nobles with archers. Though the specific number of chariots
isn’t given, it’s estimated to have been anywhere from one to two thousand units. Traveling
with the army was Thutmose’s personal scribe, Tjaneni, who would keep a journal of events
during the actual campaign. Tjaneni’s journal of this and other campaigns would later be the
basis of the detailed annals of Thutmose III that were inscribed on the walls of the Temple
of Amon at Karnak. It’s these, along with other supplementary inscriptions found on various stelae
that have helped scholars to piece together the events of the battle of Megiddo and other military
campaigns during the reign of Thutmose III. From Sile, the Egyptian army quickly marched to
Gaza, covering 240 kilometers in just 10 days. Given the size of the army and the logistical
challenges of transporting so many men, horses, food and supplies, this was
extremely impressive. From there, they marched another 10 days to the town of
Yehem, where they rested and waited for reports from scouts for any new and useful information
that would aid them in the battle to come. Thutmose was presented with three possible
options for advancing towards Megiddo. One was through a curvy northern route that led
to a plain several kilometers north of the city. Another was a windy route through the Valley
of Dothan that ended up southeast of Megiddo near the town of Taanach. Though longer, both of
these routes were considered to have been safer because they gave a large
army more room to maneuver. Finally, there was the third and most direct
route – through the central pass of Aruna, also known as the Musmus Pass, that led to a
plain in front of Megiddo itself. The danger here though was that the pass was rather narrow and his
soldiers would be more susceptible to an ambush. Thutmose met with his council of war, most
of whom suggested that they take either the northern or southern route, but not
the direct and more dangerous one. According to inscriptions on the walls of
the Temple of Amon of Karnak, his military advisors told him the following: “How will it
be to go on this road which becomes narrow, when it is reported that the enemies are
waiting out there and they are numerous? Will not horse go behind horse and soldiers and
people too? Will our vanguard be fighting while our rearguard is waiting here in Aruna, and
unable to fight?” They then pleaded with him not to take this more difficult and dangerous
route. Thutmose rejected their recommendation, telling his council, “I…shall proceed on this
Aruna road!” The reason for this wasn’t because he didn’t respect the advice of his advisors or
was himself reckless, but Thutmose believed that the King of Kadesh and his Canaanite allies would
come to the same conclusion as his war council and expect the Egyptians to take
either the northern or southern passes. Two days later, Thutmose and his army
left Yehem and marched to the ‘Aruna pass, where they camped for the night. Leaving
early the next morning, the Egyptian army marched further along the pass towards the city
of Megiddo. Scholars have estimated the entire convoy to have reached a length of nearly 20
kilometers long as the soldiers, horses and chariots traversed through the narrow Aruna pass.
At the head of the army was Thutmose himself. It was a tough journey, with the pass being only
thirty feet wide in some areas, but by nightfall, they were able to make it all the way through,
reportedly without any Canaanite resistance. Thutmose had been right and had
taken the King of Kadesh by surprise. He had not expected the Egyptians
to come through the central pass and instead had concentrated the bulk
of its forces around the other two. Only a small detachment of soldiers guarded the
mouth of the pass by Megiddo, and these were quickly dealt with. Setting up camp by the Qina
Brook, Thutmose and his men rested for the night. Early the next morning, the Egyptians crossed
the Qina Brook and attacked. The precise details of the battle are unclear, though some things
are known to us. The rebel Canaanite army had regrouped and positioned itself on high ground
near the city. To the southwest was the Egyptian army, forming a concave formation that was
divided into three groups. As they spread out, the left flank extended to the northwest of
Megiddo to help cut off the enemy’s escape along one of the roads leading to the city. With the
opposite flank holding back the enemy, Thutmose, who was stationed in the center, personally
led an attack that sliced through the Canaanite left flank, routing the enemy. Of the attack,
Thutmose III’s inscriptions on the walls of Karnak tell us that the Canaanites “saw his majesty
prevailing over them, and they fled headlong to Megiddo with faces of fear. They abandoned their
horses and their chariots of gold and silver….” The surprise attack had not only caught the
Canaanite rebels off guard, but also left them in a poor position to face the Egyptian chariots and
infantrymen that were racing towards them from the south and west. They may have also been shocked
when they learned that it was not a mere general or some other senior officer that was commanding
the Egyptian forces, as had generally been the case during Hatshepsut’s reign, but the pharaoh
himself! In panic, the Canaanite army fled towards the city of Megiddo, hoping to find safety
there behind its towering defensive walls. The battle would have ended there and then
in a decisive victory for the Egyptians had Thutmose’s usually disciplined
troops not made a crucial mistake. Instead of pursuing the remnants of the Canaanite
army as they fled towards the gates of Megiddo, the bulk of his men seemed to have stopped
to plunder the hastily abandoned enemy camp which included horses, chariots, gold,
and the grand tent of the King of Kadesh. Unfortunately for the Egyptians, this distraction
allowed many of the fleeing Canaanite soldiers and their leaders to pass through Megiddo’s gates
and hide behind the safety of the city’s walls; those who couldn’t make it before the gates
closed were pulled over the walls by the city’s inhabitants using ropes made of twisted
clothes. And so, what could have been a decisive victory on the plains of Megiddo turned into
a long siege, the length which scholars debate could have been between three to seven months.
Finally, when the city’s inhabitants had all but run and food, Megiddo surrendered. To their
dismay, the Egyptians discovered that the rebel Canaanite kings, including the king of Kadesh,
had escaped. However, with Megiddo’s fall, other Canaanite cities surrendered and those
that didn’t were quickly conquered and forced to submit to Egyptian authority once again.
Thutmose III’s inscriptions at Karnak also tell that the final spoils obtained from both the enemy
camp and later the city itself were significant, including chariots made of gold belonging to
the prince of Megiddo, 892 regular chariots, bronze armor and coats of mail, 200 leather coats
of mail, 502 bows, over 2000 horses and colts, and over 20,000 cattle. The citizens of Megiddo
were spared, but many of the young princes that remained were sent to Egypt to be trained in the
Egyptian language and culture so that when they returned to their places of origin to become
Egypt’s new client-kings, they would already be predisposed toward Egyptian policies and more
accepting of Egyptian hegemony over their land. Though for the next twenty years Thutmose
III would participate in no less than 14 other military campaigns in the Levant
all the way up to the Euphrates River, his victory at Megiddo was
by far the most significant. It not only crushed the massive rebellion led by
the king of Kadesh and secured many of the cities of Canaan and the Levant as Egypt’s imperial
possessions, but it also marked the resurgence of Egyptian power in western Asia, putting it
on par with the other great empires of the day until the devastating events of the Late Bronze
Age collapse, when many of the civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean world came to an end.
We’ll talk more about the Bronze Age in future videos, so make sure you are subscribed
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