Although the Persians and Egyptians would meet on the battlefield of Pelusium again 182 years later, the Battle of Pelusium in 525 BC is considered the first significant battle between the expanding Achaemenid Empire and Ancient Egypt. But there’s more to it – it’s one of the earliest and most absurd accounts of psychological warfare on record. The Battle of Pelusium gives a more literal form of the idiom “to fight tooth and nail.”
The Battle of Pelusium – https://t.co/FnXrX1VuBH pic.twitter.com/AJVdFoe8u4
— World History Encyclopedia (@whencyclopedia) April 28, 2021
The battle pitted the Persian commander Cambyses II against the pharaoh Amasis II near Pelusium, an important Egyptian city on the eastern slopes of the Nile Delta (also known as Psammenitis).
Despite the importance of the war, much information about it is available only from the texts of Herodotus and Polyene.
The catalyst
The Persians were going to invade Egypt anyway, but the battle between the Egyptian pharaoh Amasis II and the Persian king Cambyses II broke out due to two terrible decisions by Amasis II.
Cambyses II asked Amasis II to send him an Egyptian physician on favorable terms, and the pharaoh agreed. However, the doctor resented the forced labor imposed by Amasis.
According to Herodotus, in the battle of Pelusium (525 BCE), the Persians used cats as shields because Egyptians were forbidden to kill cats. pic.twitter.com/O5HKG5mCDK
— Weird History (@weird_hist) September 1, 2020
Knowing how much it would displease his master to have to give his daughter to a Persian, the doctor decided to take revenge. He instructed Cambyses II to ask Amasis for his daughter as his wife, and he did so.
The Egyptian pharaoh did not want to start a conflict with the Persians, but he also did not like the idea of giving away his daughter. So he made a plan. Terrible, terrible plan.
A disastrously stupid plan
Amasis decided to send the daughter of his predecessor Apries, who according to Herodotus was called Nithetis. Technically she was the daughter of a pharaoh, just not the current one.
We may never know exactly how Amasis II imagined this plan to work without anyone noticing, but according to Herodotus, “Amasis took this woman and decked her in gold and expensive clothes and sent her to Persia as if she were his own kid.”
In case you missed it… The Battle of Pelusium: A Victory Decided by Cats https://t.co/VyJkIIhMoA pic.twitter.com/QF7TK5wYPq
— World History Encyclopedia (@whencyclopedia) June 28, 2017
For someone trying to avoid conflict, Amasis II seems to have raced headlong not just into bad relations but into war.
You know what they say: “The road to the Duat (underworld in Egyptian mythology) is paved with good intentions.”
What could go wrong?
This situation Nithetis found extremely offensive, not only because she did not give her consent or approval, but also because the giving of Egyptian wives to foreign kings was traditionally unacceptable.
Did Amasis II really hope that Nithetis would play this role?
Here is how Herodotus reports that Nithetis revealed the treachery: “I see, O king, you do not know how you have been deceived by Amasis, who took me and, deceiving me with charms, sent me to you as his daughter. But I am actually the child of Apries, who was his master and master of Egypt until he rebelled against him with the rest of the Egyptians and killed him.’
The Battle of Pelusium: A Victory Decided by #Cats. https://t.co/ln3bIP9Ph8 #History pic.twitter.com/44fL2t4OWz
— World History Encyclopedia (@whencyclopedia) September 19, 2016
The deceived Cambyses II accused the pharaoh of sending him a “false wife”. Technically, he wasn’t wrong.
Cambyses responded to this meanness with an attack on Egypt that would break the internet by today’s cat-loving standards.
The ancient Egyptians adored cats, and the goddess Bastet was closely associated with them. She predominates in Egyptian art and usually appears with a cat’s head and a female body. The Egyptians revered Bastet as the protector of the home, women and children.
In his text, Herodotus does not mention the use of cats or other animals in the Battle of Pelusium, but he points out the following interesting fact: “If a cat dies in a private house of natural causes, all the inhabitants of the house shave their eyebrows.”
Opponent change
Sometime between the discovery of the deception and the start of the battle, Amasis II died, leaving Egypt under the rule of his son Psammetichus III. Despite this event, the consequences of Amasis’ terrible decision fell on his son.
Psammeticus III was not prepared to defend his country in the event of an attack, but did his best to repel the attack. He relied heavily on his Greek allies, but they abandoned him. Phanes of Halicarnassus – his father’s military adviser, defected to the Persian side, leaving the new pharaoh without a military adviser.
At the Battle of Pelusium, Persians used Cats as shields. The Egyptians didn’t shoot their arrows for fear of wounding the sacred animals. pic.twitter.com/FncnMYu4wa
— Historyland (@HistoryIand) February 16, 2021
Psammeticus III was left alone to clean up the mess his father had made. Unfortunately, however, he failed to anticipate the ingenuity of his opponent.
Fight like cats and dogs
According to Polyaene’s Stratagems, the Egyptians successfully held off the Persian attack when Cambyses II abruptly changed his strategy.
Taking into account the Egyptians’ reverence for cats and the goddess Bastet, he ordered his soldiers to paint her image on their shields.
Seeing that this tactic worked to avoid a prolonged siege, Cambyses II’s next order to his soldiers was even more insidious.
But also effective.
At the Battle of Pelusium, Persians used Cats as shields. The Egyptians didn’t shoot their arrows for fear of wounding the sacred animals. pic.twitter.com/FncnMYu4wa
— Historyland (@HistoryIand) February 16, 2021
Polyneus wrote: “Cambyses ordered that dogs, sheep, cats, ibises, and any other animals which their opponents considered sacred should be placed in the first line. The Egyptians immediately stopped their attack for fear of injuring the animals they so revered.
Cambyses II’s plan worked and thus stopped the Egyptian troops. The Egyptians chose to retreat rather than offend their gods, and their armies were devastated. Thus Egypt fell under Persian rule.
The cat that ate the canary
Cambyses II defeated the Egyptians and they fell under Persian rule for the next 100 years.
Herodotus’ account makes no mention of the use of any animals, but even without them, there was plenty of room for Cambyses to win the war.
Psamtikus III ruled for only six months and was young and inexperienced as a military leader. The Persians in turn had better weapons and strategy, even excluding cats from the game.
Cambyses II had extensive military experience and was well versed in Egyptian customs and culture.
Looking at combat through a modern, pragmatic perspective, it is quite likely that the use of animals in combat is just a legend.
This is not at all to say that Cambyses II did not employ an ancient form of psychological warfare. But most likely the culmination was the painting of Bastet on the shields of the soldiers.
One thing is certain – while this battle changed Egypt for years to come, it did not change Egyptians’ attitude towards cats.
Source: History of yesterday
2023-08-27 06:45:00
#Ancient #War #Tactics #Cats #Battle
