As part of Consolidated Pop Culture’s ongoing efforts to keep you apprised of the best stuff out there, pay attention. The latest issue of Ancient Warfare has hit the shelves. The theme of this issue (every issue of this fantastic magazine has one) is ancient Egypt. The centerpiece article is about the Battle of Kadesh, which is as it should be. This battle, fought about 1274 B.C. between the Egyptians under Pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittites commanded by their king, Muwatalli II, was arguably the greatest of the Bronze Age. It was an enormous clash of chariots in the heyday of that weapon system. It is also a rarity for the period in that we possess a substantial description of the battle, because Ramesses left inscriptions of the event in two forms all over Egypt: the Bulletin and the Poem became his letters to posterity concerning this important fight.
Be sure also to read editor Josho Brouwers’ introductory piece about ancient Egypt’s military situation. This will help place Egypt’s strategic setting in its proper context. The accompanying map is a great addition too. It is impossible to do history justice without a decent map.
One other treat must be mentioned. The War of the Heavenly Horses article describes a campaign fought around the turn of the 2nd-1st centuries B.C. between a Chinese military expedition to Central Asia and Ferghana, a kingdom descended from Alexander the Great’s settled Macedonian troops. The Chinese were seeking to acquire as many “heavenly horses” as they could. These were bigger than normal steeds that could carry much more weight than other horses and would be superior in battle. A battle was fought at Yucheng, which may be at or near the modern Uzgen which is itself close to the mouth of the Ferghana Valley. The Chinese also besieged the Greeks in Alexandria Eschate, which was considered the furthest of all cities founded by Alexander during his trek across Asia. I had heard of the story of the expedition, but had not previously seen it pieced together with specific names and places that could be correlated to those that I knew from my own reading of the Alexander histories. This was very well done.

Marc DeSantis