page_title: List of Egyptian inventions and discoveries
section_title: Warfare
hierarchical_section_title: List of Egyptian inventions and discoveries / Ancient Egypt / Warfare
caption_attribution_description: Reconstitution de la Forteresse de BOUHEN ( moyen empire ) , vue vers le sud
context_page_description: Egyptian inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques which owe their existence either partially or entirely to an Egyptian person. Often, things which are discovered for the first time, are also called "inventions", and in many cases, there is no clear line between the two. Below is a list of such inventions.
context_section_description: Standing Army – Continuous warfare led to the establishment of a Standing Army dating back to at least the Middle Kingdom.
  Military organization - As early as the Old Kingdom (c.2686-2160 BC) Egypt used specific military units, with military hierarchy appearing in the Middle Kingdom (c.2055–1650 BC).
  Military scribe and battle recordeing – The first well documented battle in the history of the world is the Battle of Megiddo.
  Body count – The first battle with recorded body count is the Battle of Megiddo.
  Fortification – The world's first known fort is the fort of Tell El Sakan dating to the late predynastic period.
  Catapult – A Catapult dating to the 19th century b.c. was found on the walls of the fortress of Buhen.
  Draw bridge – The fortress of Buhen contains the oldest known drawbridges.
  Battlements – Another feature of the Buhen fortress the construction of the world's oldest battlements.
  Arrowslit – Loop holes are found for the first time in some Middle kingdom forts.
  Escalade – Escalades appeared as early as the Middle Kingdom.
  Battering rams – The earliest depiction of a possible battering ram is from the tomb of the 11th Dynasty noble Khety, where a pair of soldiers advance towards a fortress under the protection of a mobile roofed structure, carrying a long pole that may represent a simple battering ram.
  Siege towers – Moving siege towers were invented in Egypt during the First Intermediate Period.
  Navy – The Navy of Ancient Egypt existed as the Early dynastic period.
  Naval ram – Naval rams were built on ships since at least the reign of Amenhotep I.
  Dagger – In ancient Egypt, daggers were usually made of copper or bronze, while royalty had gold weapons. At least since pre-dynastic Egypt, (c. 3100 BC) daggers were adorned as ceremonial objects with golden hilts and later even more ornate and varied construction. One early silver dagger was recovered with midrib design.
  Khopesh – A form of swords invented in Egypt.
  Maces – Maces appeared in Egypt around 3600 B.C.
  Police Dogs and War Dogs were used by the Egyptians as early as 4000 B.C.
  Encryption - One of the earliest forms of encryption is symbol replacement, which was first found in the tomb of Khnumhotep II, who lived in 1900 B.C. Egypt. Symbol replacement encryption is “non-standard,” which means that the symbols require a cipher or key to understand.
caption: Reconstruction of Buhen fortress
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