t number of chariots of war, thirty thousand
Karian and Ionian mercenaries, and the corps of the Mazai, two
hundred and fifty thousand Kalasirians, one hundred and sixty thousand
Hermotybians, twenty thousand horsemen, and auxiliary troops, amounting
to more than fifty thousand, were assembled under Psamtik's banner;
amongst these last the Libyan Maschawascha were remarkable for their
military deeds, and the Ethiopians for their numerical superiority.
The infantry were divided into regiments and companies, under different
standards, and variously equipped.
[In these and the descriptions immediately following, we have drawn
our information, either from the drawings made from Egyptian
monuments in Champollion, Wilkinson, Rosellini and Lepsius, or from
the monuments themselves. There is a dagger in the Berlin Museum,
the blade of which is of bronze, the hilt of ivory and the sheath of
leather. Large swords are only to be seen in the hands of the
foreign auxiliaries, but the native Egyptians are armed with small
ones, like daggers. The largest one of which we have any knowledge
is in the possession of Herr E. Brugsch at Cairo. It is more than
two feet long.]
The heavy-armed soldiers carried large shields, lances, and daggers; the
swordsmen and those who fought with battle-axes had smaller shields and
light clubs; beside these, there were slingers, but the main body of the
army was composed of archers, whose bows unbent were nearly the height
of a man. The only clothing of the horse-soldiers was the apron, and
their weapon a light club in the form of a mace or battle-axe. Those
warriors, on the contrary, who fought in chariots belonged to the
highest rank of the military caste, spent large sums on the decoration
of their two-wheeled chariots and the harness of their magnificent
horses, and went to battle in their most costly ornaments. They were
armed with bows and lances, and a charioteer stood beside each, so that
their undivided attention could be bestowed upon the battle.
The Persian foot was not much more numerous than the Egyptian, but they
had six times the number of horse-soldiers.
As soon as the armies stood face to face, Cambyses caused the great
Pelusian plain to be cleared of trees and brushwood, and had the
sand-hills removed which were to be found here and there, in order to
give his cavalry and scythe-chariots a fair field of action. Phanes'
knowledge of the country was
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