EKWESH. One of the ethnic groups listed in the inscription of Merneptah as allied with the Libyans, and often listed by historians as one of the “Sea Peoples,” although in this case clearly a mercenary force. The name Ekwesh was equated by some earlier scholars with the “Achaeans” and hence placed around Troy. However, Ahhiyawa, a western neighbor of the Hittite Empire, is currently thought to equate with the “Achaeans” (i.e., Mycenaeans of mainland Greece and Ionia). The Ekwesh are probably to be located on the western coast of Anatolia, perhaps including some of the islands that had Mycenaean settlement.
ELEPHANT. The use of elephants in warfare was introduced to Ptolemaic Egypt from India through the Seleukid kingdom of Syria. Elephants had first been encountered by the army of Alexander the Great in the battle against Poros at the River Hydaspes (Jhelum). The Seleukid kings received elephants from the far eastern parts of their empire, and the Ptolemies tried to emulate them, bringing elephants from Eastern Africa. These were transported from Ptolemais of the elephant hunts, along the Red Sea. There is also evidence for the hunting of elephants in the Sudanese kingdom of Meroe. Ptolemy IV deployed elephants at the battle of Raphia (217 BC). There has been controversy over which type of elephant was available to the Ptolemies, and it is now generally accepted, on the descriptions of ancient writers, that it was the smaller forest, rather than the bush, elephant. The use of elephants in war spread among the Hellenistic armies, and to Carthage, where Hannibal famously used them in his march on Rome.
ELEPHANTINE. See ABU.
ELTEKEH. Battle in 701 BC between the Egyptian-Kushite and Assyrian armies. It is documented by the Annals of Sennacherib and the biblical record of 2 Kings 20. Eltekeh (Assyrian: Altaqu) is probably to be identified with Tell esh-Shallaf, 15 kilometers south of Joppa. The Assyrian army was marching south toward Ekron, having captured Joppa, when they encountered the Egyptian army sent by Shabaqo advancing from Gaza. The biblical record states that Taharqo led the Egyptian army, although he was not reigning as pharaoh and was probably too young to have participated. The Egyptians were defeated and withdrew to Gaza to recoup. The battle was one engagement during the campaign of Sennacherib against Judah, which also included the sieges of Lachish and Jerusalem.
ENVOYS. In the New Kingdom, the royal envoys were an important element in the diplomatic service, maintaining contact between the pharaoh and his officials, such as the viceroy of Kush. Numerous inscriptions document their tours. They also conveyed the letters and gift exchange between Egypt and the western Asiatic rulers documented by the Amarna Letters.
ESARHADDON (reigned 680–669 BC). Assyrian emperor who invaded Egypt in the reign of the Kushite pharaoh Taharqo, who had been supporting anti-Assyrian rulers in western Asia. In 679 BC, Esarhaddon marched to the Brook-of-Egypt and captured its ruler, taking him to Assyria. In 677 BC, the army captured Sidon and reasserted Assyrian control along the coast. In 674 BC, the annalistic text known as the Babylonian Chronicle reports the defeat of the Assyrian army in Egypt. This is not reported in the other sources. It seems that the Assyrians spent 672 BC in making preparations for the Egyptian campaign. There are oracle requests to the god Shamash about the likely outcome. Two stelae from Til Barsip (in Aleppo Museum) and one from Zenjirli (in Berlin, Pergamon-Museum) record the campaign. The army headed for Gaza, then pushed on to Raphia, where there was a battle. The Egyptian-Kushite army was forced back, and three battles over 15 days are reported. The last, on 11 July 671 BC, was outside Memphis. The city was captured and Taharqo fled. There was a deportation of the Kushite elite from the city to Assyria. Esarhaddon’s control of Egypt was short-lived: the Libyan dynasts quickly changed sides and Taharqo returned. Esarhaddon launched a new campaign, but died en route, in Palestine.
ETHOS. The changes in military technology in the early New Kingdom, with the introduction of the horse and chariot, and the composite bow, resulted in a new image of the pharaoh as a chariot warrior and sportsman. In earlier scholarly literature, this was associated with the idea of the mariyannu as a warrior aristocracy, a view now discredited.
The considerable skills required to become proficient in chariotry radically changed elite education. This resulted in a new ethos reflected most clearly in the text of the Sphinx Stela of Amenhotep II. This narrates the prince’s great abilities as a rower and particularly as an archer shooting from a chariot. He is said to have shot through four targets of copper placed about 10 meters apart. This incident is also depicted on a relief block. During these activities, the pharaoh or prince was under the guidance and protection of Monthu and the Asiatic deities, Reshep, Astarte, and Anath. A similar scene depicting the pharaoh Ay of the late 18th Dynasty occurs on a piece of gold foil from chariotry equipment.