Original Historical Documents - Click on image for the next Scene

The Egyptians fight, with the assistance of the Peoples of the Sea, against the soldiers of the Pereset. This reflects the situation as it existed when the Greek general Chabrias was in Egyptian mercenary service and the Persians were ejected from Egypt as described by the Greek historian Diodorus. Closer inspection shows Egyptian soldiers holding shields in front of themselves with a stick like weapon attacking retreating `Prst' soldiers holding spears. The Egyptian weapons in this case could be some sort of narrow bladed cutting weapon. Since they are not shown with a ball at the end they probably were not mazes. A comparison with other sections on these reliefs shows the main weapons of the Egyptians were archery, spears and a sort of club in one case. Overall it appears that these reliefs seem to suggest that Ramses is bragging about his victory obtained not so much because of the weapons used but by divine providence perhaps and his own efforts. While the Papyrus Harris contains long lists of perishable items it contains nothing on military hardware. From the walls of the temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu.

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