142: Wars in the North

In 2025 I did an interview with the AskHistorians podcast, a reddit-based show where specialists discuss history and major questions about their fields. In this interview, we discuss the history of Egyptology, stories from ancient Egypt, the situation of the field today, and why ...  Show more

Siptah, Tausret, Setnakht. Between 1205--1202 BCE, the royal house of Ramesses II crumbled into illegitimacy. After Siptah, the queen Tausret declared herself pharaoh. Her reign leaves tantalising traces. But shortly after, a man named Set-Nakht ("Seth is Victorious") seized the ...  Show more

Ancient Egypt conjures up images of pharaohs, pyramids and hieroglyphics – but what about soldiers, generals and military campaigns? In today's episode, Jon Bauckham talks to Egyptologist Nicky Nielsen about the evolution of ancient Egyptian warfare – from the conquests of Thutmo ...  Show more

One of the luxuries of living in Ancient Egypt was that you were surrounded by massive deserts, protecting you from people who wanted to cut your head off. Well, at some point between 1650 – 1550 BC (who knows really), the Kingdom is invaded by barbarian hill people. The occupati ...  Show more

Pharaoh Thutmose III’s legendary military career kicked off on 16th April, 1457 BC with the Battle of Megiddo, the first recorded battle in history. Facing a rebellion from the Canaanite city-states, who thought they could take advantage of his inexperience, Thutmose assembled a ...  Show more

Nicky Nielsen traces the progress of a brutal 15th-century BC battle that saw supercharged the rise of Egypt's greatest warrior pharaoh Recovering the stories of ancient battles that happened thousands of years ago can be very difficult. But as one of the first battles to have b ...  Show more