Battle of Megiddo 15th century BC: Encyclopedia II - Battle of Megiddo 15th century BC - Egyptian campaign

Battle of Megiddo 15th century BC - Egyptian campaign

Thutmose III gathered an army chariots and infantry that numbered as much as 10,000 men. This high number is consistent with the length of the line-of-march described, which was apparently several kilometers long.

The army assembled at its border fortress Tjaru (called Sile in Greek) and arrived 10 days later into the Egyptian-loyal city of Gaza. After one day's rest it left for the far city of Yehem, which was reached after 11 days. Here the Pharaoh sent scouts to investigate the area. To continue north, they must pass the Mount Carmel ridge. Behind it the city and fortress of Megiddo lay, where the revolting forces had assembled.

There were three possible routes from Yehem to Megiddo. Both the northern route, via Zefti, and southern route, via Taanach, gave safe access to the Jezreel Valley. The middle route, via Aruna, was risky; it followed a narrow ravine, and the troops could only travel single-file. If the enemy waited at the end of the ravine, the Pharaoh's soldiers would be cut-down piecemeal. The army leaders pleaded therefore to take either of the two easier roads around the steeper area. Instead, with information from the scouts, Thutmose III decided to take the direct path to Megiddo.

Thutmose himself led his men on a forced-march to Aruna. The city was lightly guarded by the enemy; the Pharaoh led a quick assault that scattered the rebels. His army then continued and entered the valley unopposed. The rebels had left large infantry detachments guarding the two more likely paths, and all but ignored the middle path. Now the Egyptian army had a clear path to Megiddo, and large parts of rebel army were far away to the north and south.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Egyptian campaign", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki