THE MEDJAY (KEMET'S ELITE PARAMILITARY FORCE)
- Heru
- Aug 1, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 2
The Medjay were originally a semi-nomadic people whose homeland was in the eastern desert in Nubia, ranging from Kemet (Egypt) to the Red Sea. They are mentioned as early as 2400 BC, when Kemetic texts recorded them as warriors serving within the Kemetic military, the police force as well as administrators within the Government. Later ancient texts also document their presence as soldiers at fortresses built along the Iteru (Nile) in Ta-Nehesy (Land of the Nubians). Their role serving as forces of authority was so enduring that by the time of the New Kingdom the name Medjay had become synonymous with the word for police. The Medjay's closet living ancestors are the Beja and live in the Sudanese states of Red Sea around Port Sudan, River Nile, Al Qadarif and Kassala, as well as in Northern Red Sea, Gash-Barka, and Anseba Regions in Eritrea, and southeastern Egypt.
The first mention of the Medjay in written records dates back to the Old Kingdom, when they were listed among other Nubian peoples in the Autobiography of Weni, who was at the time a general serving under Pepi I Meryre (reigned 2332–2287 BC). During this time the term "Medjay" referred to people from the land of Medjay, a district thought to be located just east of the Second Cataract in Nubia. Nubia was referred to as Ta-Seti, meaning "Land of the bow", by the Kemetyu (ancient Egyptians) and the people there were renowned for their military skills, particularly as archers. Ta-Seti was both the name for Nubia and the name of the first nome of Kemet which was a Nubian province often called Yebu or Elephantine to the Greeks (modern day Aswan).
The Inscription of Weni: Weni the Elder was a court official of the 6th dynasty (Old Kingdom ca. 2332–2283 BC). Part of the inscription is carved on a monolithic slab of limestone which formed one wall of his single-room tomb-chapel. It reads:
"When his majesty took action against the Asiatic Sand-dwellers, his majesty made an army of many tens of thousands from all of Upper Egypt: from Yebu (Aswan) in the south to Medenyt in the north; from Lower Egypt: from all of the Two-Sides-of-the-House, and from Sedjer and Khen-sedjru; and from Irtjet-Nehesy, Medja-Nehesy, Yam-Nehesy, Wawat-Nehesy, Kaau-Nehesy; and from Tiemeh-land. "
His majesty sent me at the head of this army, there being counts, royal seal-bearers, sole companions of the palace, chieftains and mayors of towns of Upper and Lower Kemet, companions, scout leaders, chief priests of Upper and Lower Kemet, and chief district officials at the head of the troops of Upper and Lower Kemet, from the villages and towns that they governed and from the Nehesy (Nubians) of those southernly lands.
I was the one who commanded them while my rank was that of overseer of 'royal tenants' because of my rectitude, so that no one attacked his fellow, so that no one seized a loaf or sandals from a traveler, so that no one took a cloth from any town, so that no one took a goat from anyone. This army returned in safety, It had ravaged the Sand dwellers' land."
As the historian Manetho noted, "The Nubians were the shield of Egypt in times of turmoil." The Nubian people historically acted as a protective force for Egypt, particularly during periods of instability or external threats, essentially serving as a military barrier to defend the Egyptian borders; their strategic location along the Nile River allowed them to safeguard Egypt from potential invaders. Nubian defense was particularly important during times of war or political instability.
During the Second Intermediate Period (1650–1550 BC), Kemet was weakened by the immigration of the Heqa Khaseshet, an Asiatic people known to the Greeks as "Hyksos" or the "shepherd kings", from the near east who invaded and established a dynasty in Lower Kemet and the Delta, keeping the nation divided for several centuries. Both the First and Second Intermediate Periods were known as dark ages within Nile Valley history. It was Ahmose I who was finally able to expel the foreigners in the Delta, unite the country and establish the 18th Dynasty which ruled over all of Kemet, beginning the New Kingdom period in 1550 BC. The Medjay were instrumental in his campaign as well as future campaigns which would solidify the divine authority of the Wa-Setian Kings of the south over Lower Kemet and the Delta region and expelling the foreigners.
"I sailed north to my victory to drive back the ASIATICS, my courageous Army in front of me like a flame of fire, with the Bowmen of the Medjay upland of our encampment ready to seek out the Asiatics."
- Stela of King Kamose, 17th Dynasty.
By the Eighteenth Dynasty during the New Kingdom, the Medjay were an elite paramilitary police force. Archers formed the core of Nehesy (Nubian) armies that vied with Kemet for control over parts of the Nile valley, conquered Kemet in the 8th century BCE and expelled the Libyan usurpers.. Nearly a century later they would ally with the Kushites and Upper Kemites to confront the troops of the Assyrian empire. The skill of Medjay archers made them valued members in the military forces of other lands. Kemetic texts as early as 2400 BC note Nehesy in Kemetyu armies having military alliances. Representations of Medjay warriors appear in Kemetic tomb models, reliefs, and paintings in all periods of ancient Egyptian history. Nubian archers also served as warriors in the imperial army of Persia in the first millennium BCE and their presence in Persia was documented on a relief from the Apadana palace (c. 500 BC) where it shows a Kushite delegation into Persia during the ruled of Xerxes I.
The Medjay were known for their long bows. Assyrians nicknamed them the “pupil smiters” not only were they known for shooting out the eyes of their target from a distance but they also mastered the "Double" tap where they would fire off two arrows in rapid succession. Kushite arrows were also often poisoned-tipped. One historical source notes:
"So from the battlements as though on the walls of a citadel, the archers kept up with a continual discharge of well aimed shafts, so dense that the Persians had the sensation of a cloud descending upon them, especially when the Kushites made their enemies’ eyes the targets…so unerring was their aim that those who they pierced with their shafts rushed about wildly in the throngs with the arrows projecting from their eyes like double flutes."
- Jim Hamm. 2000. The Traditional Bowyer's Bible, Volume 3, pp. 138-152.
After they defeated the Assyrians apparently the Assyrians began to hire regiments of Kushite Soldiers on contingency and the legend of the Medjay's was known globally. When the Arabs invaded Nubia around 7 century AD they gave the Nubian army the nickname “archers of the eyes” and they too also feel victim to the pupil smiters. The Nubians constituted an "African front" that barred Islam's spread, along with others in Central Asia, India and the Anatolian/Mediterranean zone. Whereas the Islamic military expansion began with swift conquests across Byzantium, Central Asia, the Maghreb and Spain, such quick triumphs were stopped dead in their tracks at the Sudanic border.
New Insight into Nubian Archers:
Black African Origins of Ancient Egypt | Documentary
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