WarShorts

World War I - Western Front

Egypt-The Empire in Decline

Egypt — The Empire in Decline
This series follows Egypt’s long slide from the late New Kingdom’s aftershocks into foreign domination — roughly the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1077–664 BC) through the Late Period up to the Achaemenid conquest (525 BC). Instead of a single collapse, the story is a patchwork of weakened kings, powerful regional governors, foreign dynasts, and dramatic reversals: priest-kings and nomarchs carving out local power, Libyan and Kushite rulers claiming the throne, Assyrian and Babylonian interventions, a short Saite revival, and finally Persia’s takeover. What you’ll find in the videos The cultural and political texture behind decline: how nomarchs and priesthoods eroded central authority.
Egypt as a chessboard for neighbors: Shoshenq, Assyria, Kush/Nubia (Piye, Taharqa), and the tug-of-war for Thebes and the Delta. The Saite comeback and its limits: reunification, trade with Greeks, energetic campaigns (Psamtik II, Amasis), and how foreign advisers both helped and undermined Egypt. The human drama that closes the arc: Apries’s overthrow, Amasis’s diplomacy and tricks, Psamtik III’s Last Stand at Pelusium, and the end of native pharaonic rule. Why watch or read this playlist These episodes mix politics, battlefield moments, diplomatic intrigue, and vivid primary-source anecdotes (Herodotus, stelae, court letters).
If you like stories about state failure and revival, the messy realities of empire, or the cultural resilience that outlived political collapse, this sequence gives a compact—yet textured—tour from imperial fragmentation to foreign rule. Read it if you prefer tight summaries and source notes; watch it if you want maps, monuments, and the drama of events brought to life.
References:
Third Intermediate Period of Egypt - Wikipedia
Third Intermediate Period - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Late Period - Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Egypt)
Achaemenid Dynasty in Egypt - Encyclopaedia Britannica
Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt - Wikipedia
Piye - Wikipedia

The Age of Egyptian Empire

The Age of Egyptian Empire
This series traces Egypt’s recovery from fragmentation into its greatest imperial age — from the twilight of the Middle Kingdom through the Second Intermediate Period into the full expansion and eventual stresses of the New Kingdom (c. 1650–1077 BC). It follows the political rebound, territorial expansion from Nubia to the Euphrates, and the military, diplomatic, and administrative innovations that made Egypt the dominant power of the eastern Mediterranean — then the strains that began the long slide toward decentralization. What the videos cover
Collapse and comeback: How the breakdown of central Middle Kingdom authority gave way to new power centers, the Hyksos interlude, and the drive to expel foreign rulers and reunify Egypt.
Statebuilding and empire: The formation of a militarized, bureaucratic New Kingdom — professional armies, standing fortresses in Nubia, diplomacy and vassalage in Canaan and Syria, Egyptian expeditions to Punt and the Aegean.
Iconic rulers and campaigns: The rise of warrior-pharaohs (Ahmose I, Thutmose I–III, Amenhotep III, Ramesses II) who pushed borders from the Fourth Cataract to the Euphrates, led famous battles (Megiddo, Kadesh), and combined monumental building with frontier management.
Religion, administration, and logistics: How temples, royal titulary, the military, and logistics (ships, forts, garrisons) sustained empire — and how ideological moves (Akhenaten’s religious revolution) and court intrigue destabilized the political order.
Signs of strain: The late New Kingdom troubles — overextended borders, rising priestly power, foreign pressures (Sea Peoples, Mitanni, Hittites), and internal conspiracies that culminate in the weakening of centralized control (ending with Ramesses XI and the loss of Nubia).
These episodes balance battlefield drama with the practical nuts-and-bolts of empire: how armies were raised and supplied, why diplomacy mattered as much as force, and how religion and propaganda underpinned rule. If you want a compact narrative of military triumphs (Megiddo, Kadesh), diplomatic balancing acts (Mitanni, Hittite treaties), and the administrative backbone that made long-distance control possible — this playlist gives you a clear, source-aware tour of Egypt at its imperial peak and the early cracks that presaged decline. Read the summaries for quick context and primary-source references; watch the videos for maps, monuments, and the visual sweep of imperial ambition.
References:
“The New Kingdom - Encyclopaedia Britannica
Second Intermediate Period - University College London
Second Intermediate Period - UCLA eScholarship
Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period - The Oxford Handbook of Egyptology
Egyptian civilization and military rule - Encyclopaedia Britannica
The New Kingdom – Discover Egypt - Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

Wars of Early Egypt

Wars of Early Egypt
This series traces Egypt’s first steps from scattered prehistoric communities into a centralized state and then into the pyramid-building Old Kingdom (c. 6200–2181 BC). It moves from regional skirmishes and mythical unifications to real military expeditions, border policing, and the state projects that required coercion, logistics, and manpower — the foundations of later empire. What the videos cover
From bands to kings: How late Neolithic and Predynastic conflicts — raids, fort-building, local chiefs — helped produce the political pressure for unification (Siege of Naqada, Unification of Egypt). Early state warfare and succession crises: The violent and ritualized contests that accompanied early dynastic power struggles (War of Succession, War of the Gods), showing how kings won legitimacy by both force and divine sanction.
Frontiers and expeditions: Egypt’s first military forays — Nubia and Libya raids, Sinai patrols, and expeditions recorded in royal inscriptions (Egyptian expeditions to Nubia, Jebel Sheikh Suleiman, Sneferu in Nubia and Libya, Campaigns of Pepi I). These campaigns secured resources (gold, cattle, timber) and set patterns of fortress-building and garrisoning.
The administrative and technical backbone: How court officials and technocrats — Weni the Elder, Imhotep — organized manpower, logistics, and monumental projects; they show that war was as much about supply, law, and bureaucracy as it was about fighting.
Monuments and memory: Khufu, Khafre, and their monuments: not strictly battlefield biographies, but demonstrations of state capacity, control over labor, and international reputation that grew from earlier martial and administrative foundations.
Why watch or read this playlist
These episodes situate Egypt’s military episodes inside wider social change: state formation, resource control, and ideological legitimation. If you want to understand how early warfare, administration, and ritual fused to produce the pharaonic state — and how those forces enabled the Old Kingdom’s monumental achievements — this playlist offers a tight, source-aware tour. Read the summaries for a quick primer and chronology; watch the videos for site visuals, artifact close-ups, and the narrative that links short campaigns to long-term state development.
References:
“Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods - Encyclopaedia Britannica
Early Dynastic Period (Egypt) - Wikipedia overview
Ancient Egyptian Warfare - World History Encyclopedia
Weni the Elder and His Mortuary Neighborhood - University of Michigan
Old Kingdom of Egypt - Wikipedia

Egypt-From Chaos to Empire

Egypt—From Chaos to Empire
This playlist follows Egypt’s recovery from fragmentation (First Intermediate Period, c. 2181–2055 BC) through the Middle Kingdom’s consolidation and expansion (c. 2055–1650 BC). It traces how regional breakdown gave way to a renewed, more bureaucratic state: local warlords and priestly power were reined in; Thebes rose and forced reunification; and new kings rebuilt administration, frontier defenses, and literary culture that both celebrated and critiqued royal authority. What the videos cover
Collapse and regional power: Why the Old Kingdom’s end produced a patchwork of nomarchs, rival dynasts, and competing capitals — the context for the Thebes vs Heracleopolis struggle.
Reunification and statecraft: How Mentuhotep II restored unity, and how his successors (Mentuhotep III, Amenemhat I, Senusret I, Senusret III) turned reunification into durable governance through co-regency, legal reform, and centralized bureaucracy.
Military and frontier policy: Early Middle Kingdom campaigns into Nubia and Sinai, the building of fortresses and garrisons, and the creation of standing logistics that enabled longer campaigns and large-scale public works.
The Nomarch problem: Why powerful local governors (nomarchs) became both necessary administrators and sources of fragmentation — and how Middle Kingdom rulers tried (with mixed success) to curtail them.
Culture and criticism: Literary works like The Eloquent Peasant that reveal everyday justice, bureaucratic procedure, and the moral expectations placed on kings and officials — valuable windows into Middle Kingdom political life.
These episodes balance political narrative with social and administrative detail. If you want to know how a collapsed state becomes a durable one — not only by winning battles but by reorganizing taxation, law, and temple power — this series gives a compact, source-aware tour. Read the summaries for a quick orientation; watch the videos for maps, monument shots, and the human stories (rebels, reformers, officials) that made early Egyptian statecraft.
These episodes balance battlefield drama with the practical nuts-and-bolts of empire: how armies were raised and supplied, why diplomacy mattered as much as force, and how religion and propaganda underpinned rule. If you want a compact narrative of military triumphs (Megiddo, Kadesh), diplomatic balancing acts (Mitanni, Hittite treaties), and the administrative backbone that made long-distance control possible — this playlist gives you a clear, source-aware tour of Egypt at its imperial peak and the early cracks that presaged decline. Read the summaries for quick context and primary-source references; watch the videos for maps, monuments, and the visual sweep of imperial ambition.
References:
“The Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period – Encyclopaedia Britannica”
“First Intermediate Period of Egypt – World History Encyclopedia”
“First Intermediate Period – Discover Egypt’s Monuments (Ministry of Antiquities)”
“The Middle Kingdom (c. 1980–c. 1760 BCE) and the Second Intermediate Period – Encyclopaedia Britannica”
“Middle Kingdom – Discover Egypt’s Monuments (Ministry of Antiquities)”