Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Hommel.
The army charged to carry out the will of the god had not yet acquired the homogeneity and efficiency which it afterwards attained, yet it had been for some time one of the most formidable in the world, and even the Egyptians themselves, in spite of their long experience in military matters, could not put into the field such a proud array of effective troops. We do not know how this army was recruited, but the bulk of it was made up of native levies, to which foreign auxiliaries were added in numbers varying with the times.* A permanent nucleus of troops was always in garrison in the capital under the “tartan,” or placed in the principal towns at the disposal of the governors.**
* We have no bas-relief representing the armies of Tiglath-
pileser I. Everything in the description which follows is
taken from the monuments of Assurnazirpal and Shalmaneser
II., revised as far as possible by the inscriptions of
Tiglath-pileser; the armament of both infantry and chariotry
must have been practically the same in the two periods.
** This is based on the account given in the Obelisk of
Shalmaneser, where the king, for example, after having
gathered his soldiers together at Kalakh [Calah], put at
their head Dainassur the artan, “the master of his
innumerable troops.”
Drawn by Faucher-Gudin.
The contingents which came to be enrolled at these centres on the first rumour of war may have been taken from among the feudal militia, as was the custom in the Nile valley, or the whole population may have had to render personal military service, each receiving while with the colours a certain daily pay. The nobles and feudal lords were accustomed to call their own people together, and either placed themselves at their head or commissioned an officer to act in their behalf.*
* The assembling of foot-soldiers and chariots is often
described at the beginning of each campaign; the Donation
of Bittimerodach brings before us a great feudal lord, who
leads his contingent to the King of Chaldæa, and anything
which took place among the Babylonians had its counterpart
among the Assyrians. Sometimes the king had need of all the
contingents, and then it was said he “assembled the
country.” Auxiliaries are mentioned, for example, in the
Annals of Assurnazirpal, col. iii. 11. 58-77, where the
king, in his passage, rallies one after the other the troops
of Bît-Bakhiâni, of Azalli, of Bît-Adini, of Garganish, and
of the Patinu.