Each of the following four presentations will be composed of visual (pictorial) data as well as textual (historical) sources. The ensuing discussion will concentrate upon the role or persona of the Egyptian monarch (pharaoh) in all aspects of his campaigns, but I am emphasizing his leadership role. To be more specific: that aspect of the king will involve me in discussing not merely his combat preparedness and the actual battles that ensued, but also questions of tactics and strategy. Hence, these four topics will cover a study of generalship far beyond any "Mask of Command" (John Keagan’s title) orientation. The importance of the political situation within, and more importantly outside of Egypt needs detailed clarification. Indeed, the economic upkeep of the army in Asia or south into Nubia (the Sudan) has to be emphasized. Owing to this I shall address the issue of leadership beyond that of the inspiration of troops and even the preparations for warfare.
My orientation is thus based upon the structure of Egyptian society at certain times – the New Kingdom and the reign of Pianchy in the later epoch of Dynasty XXV (ca 730 BC). But it also encompasses the use of fortresses and resident troops abroad.
"Do leaders actually 'lead'?" And if so, despite the written and visual evidence (reliefs of warfare), how much can we rely upon the extant data, almost all of which places the pharaoh in the center of activity, often fighting alone or seemingly the great man in combat? Therefore, each of the lectures will cover, historiographically, the given data and evaluations of the texts (literary analyses) and wall reliefs (art historical studies). In other words, none of the sources will speak for themselves. All are provided with an analytic background that covers the embedded material within the contemporary society of ancient Egypt.
Each of the three case presentations will open with a brief summary of what has gone before. And within each the following "sub-topics" will be addressed:
a) A discussion of how to evaluate the ancient Egyptian material.
b) A comparison in the accounts of the leadership role of all three war leaders, the pharaohs.
c) The limitations of a "partial" biographic-psychological study of these royal generals, but the necessity to provide a mature historical study of their role in leadership, one that is mot simplistic and two-dimensional.