Commonwealth of Kemet, Kush, and Retjenu

The Commonwealth of Kemet, Kush, and Retjenu is currently the most powerful and populous country in the known world. It was formed as a result of a union between the Kingdom of Egypt, the Kingdom of Kush, Phoenicia, and the remaining Egyptian holdings in the Levant in 76 AEE. Along with the Mycenaean Confederation, the Commonwealth is the only federal country in the known world, giving the regions quite a lot of autonomy compared to other, centralized states. The Commonwealth is the unofficial leader of the Organization of Free Kingdoms and is the main opponent of the Eastern Coalition.

## **History**

### **Great Powers' War**

**Spoiler warning: this section contains spoilers for the novel The Rise of Kemet.**

In 71 AEE, the Egyptian king Ramesses X was assassinated during the Fifth Great Powers' Conference in Ugarit, along with the other three kings of the Great Powers' Club. News of this quickly reached Egypt and the king's son Ramesses XI was enthroned as the new monarch of the country. Wanting to use the ensuing chaos to his opportunity, Muwatalli III, the new ruler of Hatti, declared war on Egypt, after being urged to do so by his advisor Hakkarpili. At the same time, the Assyrian king declared war on Karduniash, and so the Great Powers' War began, with both members of the Triple Alliance and the Hattusa-Babylon Axis participating in it. Egypt also called on the Mycenaean Confederation to join, and it did, as well as the Kingdom of Elam, which also agreed to do so. Thus, with the faction now having four members, the Pact of Civilizations was formed, as suggested by the Egyptian royal envoy Amenemheb, in order to replace the Triple Alliance.

The Levantine front saw the most action in the whole war. Right at the start of the war, Hittite forces, under the combined command of Muwatalli III and generals Huhhaziti and Lihsuman, pushed south and in just a month overran the Egyptian puppet state of Amurru after the Second Battle of Kadesh, by way of their own puppet state of Ugarit, which was put under military rule after the disappearance of Harharran. The Hittite advance continued for a while, but it was soon stopped once more Egyptian troops arrived under the command of Egyptian general Nechtarhebi. In 72 AEE the frontline stabilized around the Byblos-Baalbek axis, as the Hittites could not advance past it. Baalbek was captured by Hatti in 72 AEE, but recovered by Egypt in 73 AEE, while the Siege of Byblos put the Phoenician city at risk of falling, but the Hittites never managed to capture it and abandoned the siege in 73 AEE.

Some naval battles took place in the Eastern Mediterranean at the start of the war in 71-72 AEE. They were mostly confined to the Aegean Sea, where the Mycenaean ships were battling Hittite ones, and the coastline of the Levant, where the Hittites fought the Egyptians on the sea alongside fighting on land. The Pact of Civilizations had more victories, as they had more and better quality ships and were more experienced in naval combat.

While the Kushite Rebellions had begun years ago, they intensified everywhere after the start of the war. They were funded by the ascendant Kingdom of Kush, led by Taharqa, who in turn was funded by Karduniash and, secretly, Elam. Kush was technically part of the Hattusa-Babylon Axis, but not officially part of the alliance due to lack of any treaties. As the rebellions disrupted Egyptian supply lines and bogged down the army of the Egyptian general Ranubkheper, Taharqa managed to advance with not much opposition and massive support from local population. This allowed him to win many battles early in the war and build a larger army. Already in 71 AEE the Kushites crossed the Fourth Cataract of the Nile, and by 73 AEE they reached the Third Cataract, after taking the major Kushite cities of Napata, Kawa, and Kerma, the last of which was made a new capital of the Kingdom of Kush. Taharqa's forces also secured most Egyptian held gold mines in the region, and the gold from them was used to repay Elam for its weapon shipments. The frontline stabilized in 73 AEE around the Third Cataract, as it had significant fortifications, yet Taharqa continued assaulting them, resulting in massive casualties on both sides. Along with the Kushite rebels, some other rebel factions were also funded through them in Egypt by Elam, thought that was only discovered years later. The most notable ones were the Women's Rebellion in Iunet and the Tax Rebellion in Khemenu, which threatened Egyptian supply lines and revenue, but both situations were resolved by Amenemheb and his crew before too much damage was caused.

In 72 AEE, the king of Alashiya Huzaru, thinking that the Hattusa-Babylon Axis will lose the war, defected and aligned himself and his kingdom with the Pact after contacting the Egyptian envoy Amenemheb. With the help of Egyptian navy and army led by general Horminuter, as well as loyal personal forces, he defeated all Hittite forces in the island and declared independence, joining the Pact as its fifth member. The loss of Alashiya hurt Hatti immensely, as they lost a large source of copper, wood, and most of their navy, either by ships being seized by Alashiya or destroyed by Egypt during the invasion of the island. After this, the Pact quickly secured control of most of Eastern Mediterranean and established naval supremacy over it, with the Hittites barely being only able to defend their coasts with their remaining ships.

Meanwhile the Levantine campaign continued and featured barbarians playing a part as well. The Hittites funded the Hebrew rebels in Egyptian Canaan, who in 72 AEE founded the Kingdom of Yahweh, led by the leader of the monotheist movement Zeror. The kingdom took over much of Canaan, due to Hittite supplies transferred over the Arabian Desert by the Arameans, but it was disestablished in the same year. The Egyptians, as suggested by Amenemheb, hired the warring Edomite and Moabite mercenaries, the former of who defeated the followers of Zeror, while the latter harassed and disrupted Aramean supply lines. Later, Ramesses himself marched through the region with his army and defeated the remnant of the kingdom. At the end of the war, in 73 AEE, the Egyptians, now led by the pharaoh Ramesses XI himself, managed to push the Hittites back, going as far north as Kadesh and reconquering most of the lost territories of Egypt and the former puppet state of Amurru.

However, the campaign was cut short by Shilhak-Inshushinak, who invaded the region after defeating Assyria and inflicted significant damage to both Egyptian and Hittite forces at the Battle of Qatna in 73 AEE. The Egyptian forces, along with the retreating Assyrians who joined them, moved south, while Muwatalli and his remaining troops tried retreating back to Hatti, but were blocked at Kizzuwatna by Hakkarpili's loyalists and so had to turn back. Hakkarpili and Shilhak hoped they would be trapped in the Levant, but instead Muwatalli's force boarded ships stationed in Ugarit and headed for Egypt, landing near Per-Amun. After a short confrontation with the Egyptians, they were eventually calmed down and let into Egypt and agreed to work with their former enemies. After the First OFK Conference in Men-nefer, taking place a few weeks after the fall of Assyria, Egypt, the Mycenaean Confederation, Alashiya, and the Assyrian and Hittite exiles, under Tiglath-Pileser and Muwatalli III respectively, formed the Organization of Free Kingdoms, replacing the Pact of Civilizations. The military alliance united the remnants of the two previous warring factions against a now much greater threat in the east.

### **OFK-EC War and the formation of the Commonwealth**

**Spoiler warning: this section contains spoilers for the novel The Rise of Kemet.**

Seeing that Egypt was still resisting, Shilhak began funding the Sons of Montu in late 73 AEE, as they had become resurgent during the war, by way of Kush, with Kush itself becoming an informal ally of the EC. The revolt was quite successful at first and attracted many members, mostly united by their hate of the Hittites and Assyrians staying in Egyptian territory and the fact that Ramesses XI signed a decree allowing women to join the armed forces in 74 AEE. In the same year the Sons of Montu attempted to storm the Royal Palace in Men-nefer, and while they managed to get inside the royal quarter, they were stopped by a united force of the pharaoh and his royal guards, the Men-nefer medjay force, and the women's division of the Army of Horus. Later the main hideout of the organization was raided and taken over and the organization disestablished. The leader of the organization Montuherkhepeshef - Ramesses XI's uncle - was publicly executed before the crows of Men-nefer by being burned alive. In 75 AEE the Hittites finally departed Egypt to reclaim Hatti from Hakkarpili, which ended this crisis for good.

However, the Kushite advance in the Egyptian Kush and the EC advance in the Levant continued, with Shilhak still winning major battles such as the Fourth Battle of Kadesh in 74 AEE, where the Egyptian Army of Montu was defeated and general Horminuter captured. By 75 AEE most of the Levant was captured, excluding Phoenicia, which had become a neutral independent confederation, as both the OFK and EC tried to sway it to its side. However, in 75 AEE Egypt and the OFK also had some large gains, as the Kushite qore Taharqa was assassinated by the Egyptian assassin known as the Silver Serpent. Egyptian army captains Rashaken and Sutenhi were also instrumental in carrying out this mission and they soon became the first officers of the newly founded Kemet Intelligence Agency - the main foreign intelligence agency of Egypt. Taharqa was replaced by his pro-Egyptian brother Harsiotef, who had made a deal with Amenemheb and Ramesses XI to unite Kush and Egypt into an equal union. He stopped fighting the Egyptians and so freed up more of their troops, while he secured Kush for himself and proclaimed to the people that the Egyptians were not the real enemies.

Yet, even after Kush turned and Hatti was reclaimed by Muwatalli III, Shilhak chose to still focus on the Levant, in late 75 AEE reaching Ashkelon and hoping that after taking it the EC could conquer Egypt itself easily and then refocus on Hatti. However, these plans came to an end when Shilhak was assassinated right before the battle by Horminuter, who had poisoned Shilhak's drink with the same poison used during the Fifth Conference of the Great Powers' Club to assassinate the four kings. Horminuter had been a prisoner in Ugarit in 74 - 75 AEE but later appeared to defect to the EC and asked to come with Shilhak to the front and serve him there. The king accepted the offer and had the former Egyptian general under supervision, but ultimately was outsmarted and killed by him. Horminuter himself was killed by the Elamite general Eparti, who also wanted to kill Shilhak, hoping to become the new king of Elam and the supreme commander of the EC, but his attempt was unsuccessful and he was arrested. Still, after Shilhak's death, the EC army was in disarray and the OFK army under general Nechtarhebi used this opportunity to attack. The EC suffered a disastrous defeat near Ashkelon, retreating north afterwards.

The Egyptian forces, along with other OFK troops, quickly secured most of the Levant and put Ugarit under siege, eventually taking it in 76 AEE. Egypt reclaimed its lost lands, as well as those of its former puppet state Amurru, while the northern Levant, formerly the Hittite puppet Kingdom of Ugarit, was transformed into the OFK Mandate of Amurru, under joint ruler of all OFK members. Phoenicia, now seeing that Levant was under the OFK control, agreed to rejoin Egypt and become part of Retjenu - a third part of the proposed union, having the same rights as Egypt, now known as Kemet, and Kush. Before the end of the war, Egyptian representatives visited Mycenae to attend Eteweokles' funeral and show their support for Tirynthius, one of the two potential Mycenaean successors, and Ramesses personally guaranteed to help Tirynthius reach the throne. However, Egyptians also Tiglath-Pileser as an ally during the Second OFK Conference in Enkomi, as Egypt, along with the rest of the OFK, refused to support Assyrian efforts to reclaim their kingdom and so Tiglath left the coalition in the middle of the meeting.

Negotiations for the unification of Egypt, Kush, and the Levant, mostly carried out by Amenemheb, had been going on for years during the OFK-EC War between Egypt and Kush, and Egypt and Phoenicia, but now that the war was over, the final documents and treaties were signed and the Commonwealth was in theory finally formed. However, the official proclamation was made after the Damascus Peace Conference and the Treaty of Euphrates signed there, which officially ended the war between the OFK and the EC. After that, Ramesses toured all regions in his realm and eventually proclaimed the creation of the Commonwealth in Men-nefer in 76 AEE. Thus, Egypt, Egyptian Kush, Egyptian Levant, Kush, and Phoenicia stopped existing as separate entities and all became part of the Commonwealth of Kemet, Kush, and Retjenu.

## Geography

The Commonwealth is divided geographically in two parts - the Afrikan part, containing Kemet and Kush, and the Asian part, containing Retjenu. The Afrikan part is centered on the Nile river, as almost everyone in Kemet and Kush lives in a settlement along the river. It is surrounded by deserts from the east and west, and while the Commonwealth technically owns them as well, they do not exert much control over the deserts, except a few mines and Red Sea ports and the passage to them. The Mediterranean Sea is located to the north of Kemet and Kush to the south of it, while to the south of Kush are yet unexplored wildlands. The Kingdom of Punt is located to the southeast of Kush, but does not have a border with it. Retjenu is located in Asia and is connected by the Sinai peninsula to Kemet. Retjenu includes all of former Egyptian Levant and the former Kingdom of Amurru. Its eastern border is the river Jordan in the south, but in other parts is less defined as it does not border any recognized states. To the north Retjenu borders the OFK Mandate of Amurru and to the west the Mediterranean Sea. Unlike Kemet or Kush, Retjenu is mostly completely inhabitable, with the exception of the deserts in Sinai and southern Canaan, and so the population is more spread out around the area. It also has a more varied terrain than just a river valley, as Retjenu also contains some forests, mountains, and small plains.

## Government

### Administration

The Commonwealth is a federation of 3 entities: the Kingdom of Kemet (also often referred to as Egypt), the Kingdom of Kush, and the State of Retjenu. The pharaoh has power over the whole commonwealth, but the three regions also have quite a lot of autonomy and can decide on some matters for themselves. The federal matters include foreign policy, warfare, trade, and basic human rights, while the regions have the power to decide on local taxes (federal taxes are still the same for all regions), religious laws which do not interfere with the federal laws, punishments for local crimes (federal crimes include treason, sedition, conspiracy against the court, terrorism, and more), local administration and succession, recruitment for the Commonwealth army, and other similar matters. The regional capital of Kemet is Men-nefer (same as the federal capital), the capital of Kush is Kerma, and while Retjenu does not have a single capital, the current council convenes in Byblos, which is in effect the current capital of Retjenu.

Kemet is ruled by the pharaoh, the same person who rules the Commonwealth. The administration has not changed since before the merger and most things remain the same. The vizier is the pharaoh's right hand man and is in charge of the country while the ruler is away. The court also contains the offices of the highest ranking officials of both Kemet and the federal level, though these positions are held by different people, with the exception of the royal envoy to every foreign land, as foreign policy is a federal matter. Kemet is divided into 42 nomes (20 nomes of Lower Egypt and 22 nomes of Upper Egypt) and each is ruled by a nomarch, most of whom are male, but some women also hold this office. The nomes are further divided into into cities (for urban areas) and municipalities (for rural areas), which are ruled by mayors, who answer to their respective nomarch. Each nomarch and mayor has their own court, which includes a local treasurer and chief of the guard. Each city also has a garrison commander, the highest military authority there, and a high priest for the local deity, both answering to the mayor.

Kush and Retjenu function similarly for the most part. Kush has its own royal court which is mostly the same but only has power in the region of Kush (up to the First Cataract of the Nile), which is further subdivided into 16 nomes, acting the same as Egyptian nomes. Retjenu meanwhile has no king or court at the highest level, but is ruled by a council of 13 most influential rulers - 6 Phoenician kings, 5 Canaanite elders, and 2 Amorite chiefs, with a speaker of the council being the representative for dealings with the pharaoh and the position rotates every year. Thus Retjenu is divided into 13 provinces, each ruled by the respective council member, and so in effect Retjenu is itself a federation within a federation as the provinces have some more autonomy than the nomes in Kemet and Kush, and the policies of Phoenician, Canaanite, and Amorite rulers can be quite different.

### Economy

The Commonwealth has the largest GDP of any country, having recently surpassed 1 billion shematy. The GDP per capita is also among the highest, though it is brought down by Kush and raised by Kemet, with Kemet's GDP per capita being almost double that of Kush. Retjenu' GDP per capita is around the federal average, but also has differences within, as Phoenicia is much wealthier than the Canaanite or Amorite provinces. However, all regions are quickly growing and new technologies are spreading, which further grows the economy.

The pharaoh has also banned slavery in 76 AEE on a federal level, which meant the release of the remaining hundreds of thousands of slaves, but the process was not instantaneous and some slave holders are still trying to find loopholes to retain slaves and so not to have to hire paid workers. Most of the people still work in agriculture, though other sectors are growing as well, especially in Retjenu, where the agricultural sector cannot really compete with Kemet or even Kush. The Commonwealth mostly trades with fellow OFK members, but conducts some trade with the EC members as well. Its main exports are agricultural produce, luxury goods, wood, and gold, while its main imports are tin, copper, and silver. Hatti, now a loyal ally despite for a long time having been the greatest enemy, is the Commonwealth's biggest trading partner and imports the most agricultural produce while in turn supplying the Commonwealth with most copper and tin.

### Military

The Commonwealth has a fully professional volunteer army, having abandoned conscription centuries ago and not enacted it even during the Great Powers' War or the OFK-EC War. The military allows both men and women to serve in most roles, as per the decree of Ramesses XI signed in 74 AEE. The Commonwealth army has a standard composition, with the highest ranking soldiers riding in three person chariots (driver, shield bearer, and the soldier; the pharaoh's chariot is designed for four people - the pharaoh, driver, shield bearer, and archer) in the front, followed by heavy infantry, light infantry, archers, and support personnel. All three regions are responsible for recruiting people from their territories, but the soldiers are then sent to federal training camps all around the country in order to foster cooperation between the different peoples. Commonwealth soldiers, after completing their training, can also choose to serve in the united OFK armies together with soldiers from other OFK member countries. These units are stationed in more unstable regions and are more likely to engage in combat even during peacetime.

Officers and generals are also recruited from all regions based on their merit, and the positions are not limited to Egyptians only, as was the case previously. Same applies for the navy and its officers and admirals. Currently the Commonwealth has four armies, totaling around 160 000 soldiers, and over 800 warships in three fleets. The supreme commander of the armed forces remains the pharaoh and his authority supersedes that of any general or admiral of any region. The only ones in the OFK equal to the pharaoh in military matters are other rulers of the independent OFK countries - Tirynthius, Huzaru, and Muwatalli III - and the former Egyptian general Nechtarhebi, who is now the Supreme Commander of the OFK Forces.

## Demographics

The Commonwealth has by far the largest population of any known country, nearing 9 million inhabitants. This is more than half of OFK's total population and more than 60% of total EC population. Kemet has around 6 million people (67%), Kush - 1.3 million (15%), and Retjenu - 1.6 million (18%). Around 5.37 million people are ethnic Egyptians (60.3%), 1.34 million Kushites (15.1%), 870 000 non-Phoenician Canaanites (9.8%), 750 000 Phoenicians (8.4%), 250 000 Amorites (2.8%), and the remaining 320 000 (3.6%) belong to other groups, including Libyans, Puntites, Alashiyans, Hittites, Assyrians, Mycenaeans, Ugaritics, Arabs, and others. The urbanization rate is 20.5%, which is brought up by Kemet and Retjenu, with Retjenu and specifically Phoenicia being the most urbanized, and brought down by Kush, as urbanization is still low there. The literacy rate is 17.8%, among the highest in the known world, and also brought up by Kemet and Retjenu and brought down by Kush, though Harsiotef is introducing educational programs to bring his region to the standards of the Commonwealth.

## International relations

The Commonwealth has great relations with its fellow OFK members. Its best allies are Alashiya, which is still grateful to Ramesses and the Egyptians for helping to liberate it from Hatti, and the Mycenaean Confederation, which had been allied to Egypt for centuries. Hatti is a much more recent ally of the Commonwealth, having been the greatest enemy just a few years ago, but Shilhak's invasions brought them closer and so the Commonwealth now considers Hatti a good ally, even if it is wary of it. Hatti also now considers the Commonwealth a good ally, as it helped Muwatalli get the needed resources for his reclamation of the kingdom and the defeat of Hakkarpili. The OFK Mandate of Amurru is the most recent addition to the faction and is in theory a puppet of all states in the OFK but is mostly administered by the Commonwealth and Hatti, and the Commonwealth does not want to grant it independence, fearing that it might once again fall into the Hittite sphere, or, in an even worse scenario, become an EC member.

The Commonwealth is the main enemy of the Eastern Coalition, though it still trades and deals with the faction since the end of the OFK-EC War. Most hostile positions are directed against Elam, which is the leader of the EC and responsible for all the recent conflicts. Dilmun and Magan are viewed more neutrally and the Commonwealth trades with them extensively, despite the protests of the governments in exile in Kemet of the monarchist factions of those countries. Lullubum and Babylonia are also not thought about as much, due to them being further away and never really being involved in Egyptian or the Commonwealth's affairs. Assyria is publicly treated as a rather friendly country, and the Commonwealth has recognized Ninsina's rule there as the legitimate one, but in private the Commonwealth has its Kemet Intelligence Agency conduct operations to support the Assyrian renegades, formerly under Tiglath-Pileser and now under Naram-Eil, in order to destabilize Assyria and have the EC sink more of its resources there.