Mere Mortals

Egypt expelled the Hyskos because they had chosen Set as their God and usurped the position the pharohs although they themselves were not descended from gods. The promised land they were “given” or lead to put them in the position of a buffer state between Egypt and the Hittites. and The Hyskos were not left in splendid isolation. Egypt claimed them as a client state and expanded its influence all along the coast of the Eastern Mediterranean. There were no signs that this was expansionist policy. Indeed the history of this period indicates that Egyptian actions were reactionary; they only responded to threats from elsewhere.

Despite this, the first battle in history for which the tactics were recorded, is the battle of Kadesh between  Egyptians and Hittites in 1274 BC. There are records of the battle from both of the combatants. They both claim victory which just goes to show how unreliable even source documents can be. On thing which was recorded was that this was the biggest chariot battle ever fought; it is estimated that over 5000 chariots took part.

selective action

There accord with the reactive policies there was limited external activity over the next five hundred years despite there being significant swings in the balance of power in the area to the north east. Nevertheless Egypt  fought against and was defeated by the Assyrians, then allied with the Assyrians but defeated by the Babylonians.

None of these military adventures seemed to have any territorial ambitions  and for egyptians success was simply to leave the system of priests and Pharaohs undisturbed, free to breed the children of the gods in racial purity.