Faction Overview: Egypt

Hail, all-powerful Pharaoh, son of Amun-Ra, the all-knowing all-king! We are your people, illustrious Pharaoh, born from the floods of the Nile, from Sobek’s glorious will, nourished by Ra’s golden orb, and taught to be pure Egyptian by the all-knowing Thoth. We have survived through the worst of times, Pharaoh. Our ancestors heightened our blood tides through their own slaughter and enslavement, at the hands of the barbarous Hittites, Sea Peoples, and Persians. The Makedonians liberated us, but they too became the beasts that lie within every man’s heart. Their minds grow turgid with wealth and power over fellow man, they, like the all-powerful Ptah, speak and their wish is commanded!

Such power is not fit for mere humans, not even the purest Egyptian soul, only does it suit the illustrious Pharaoh, or the gods- they weep as they see our lands desecrated, the sands hiding the skeletons of our mortal armies, the Nile running red with its people’s blood. But the time of our enemies is running thin. Their treasuries cry for nourishment, their swords are rusted and cracked, their minds heavy with wealth, their forms fat and bloated, scourged of any god-given purity. We have broken free of our Makedonian masters, Pharaoh, and have planted our own purest of Egyptian dynasties upon Alexandria Rhacotis.

And, Pharaoh, what more a reason to strike now! The vile Seleukids are melting; the Greeks are stuck in their own putrid melting-pot of lies and betrayal. The mothers of our arch-enemies give birth to mere husks of men, puppets that gorge on silver and gold; all are betrothed to life-long madness and horrid death, blood adorns the streets and nobody can be trusted. We have captured Judea and Phoenicia from those vile Jewish and Pagans, oh Pharaoh, and we have stolen Cyprus from the Seleukids. We have pacified Nubia, and the shores of the Mediterranean beckon us, Pharaoh. The gods have decreed it, you, our greatest of Pharaohs, have decreed it, and thus, it shall come to pass.

The Lands

Our capital, illustrious Pharaoh, is situated most-high at Alexandria Rhacotis, which has only recently been purged of any putrid Greek influence. Our powerful and rich cities line the Nile. Alexandria Rhacotis at its mouth, Memphis, Hormos, Abydos and Thebes rest along the Nile’s banks. We are ready to bring the war outside our lands, Pharaoh, but first, you must look inside our lands to make the best of our potentials, by Sekhmet.

At the mouth of the Nile, Alexandria Rhacotis is situated, as is your loyal bodyguard of charioteer-archers, great Hekhemmut, along with an able garrison of two squadrons of charioteer-archers, two units of Nubian Spearmen, two of Bowmen and one of Peasants. Alexandria starts as a large town, with a Pallisade, Port, Trader, Roads, and Land Clearance to exploit the Nile. South of Alexandria is our faction diplomat, Nakhti, and north of Alexandria is our faction navy of two Bireme warships, under Admiral Wah. In the Alexandria harbour is the Pharaos, one of the world’s seven ancient wonders. It is a giant lighthouse, carved by pure Egyptian hand, that will prevent ships from sinking at sea.

South of Alexandria Rhacotis is a city, Memphis, with a garrison of one unit of Nubian Spearmen, one of Bowmen, and one of Peasants. Memphis has a Stone Wall, Barracks, a Practice Range, a Trader, a Shrine to Horus, Roads, and Land Clearance. However, it cannot build a Mediterranean port, but it can build a port onto the Red Sea, where trade with Thebes and, once pacified, the Nabataeans and Arabia Petraeans. Your son Khnumhotep, who aspires to inherit the role of Pharaoh from you, and his bodyguard are situated here. Near Memphis is our second wonder of the ancient world- the Pyramids at Giza, which gives all the indigenous Egyptian settlements a loyalty and law bonus. South of Memphis is the army of Kiya, another of your sons, which contains one unit of Bowmen, Skirmishers, Nubian Spearmen and Peasants. Further south is Thebes, a large town with a garrison of one unit of Bowmen, one of Nubians and one of Peasants, with Barracks, Practice Range, a Shrine to Set, Roads, and Land Clearance. I suggest that walls are built around Thebes soon, Pharaoh.


The annexed capital of Judea, Jerusalem, has a garrison of two units of Nubian Spearmen, and two units of Bowmen; your younger son, Ptahhotep, it also stationed there. Jerusalem is a large town with a Pallisade, a Practice Range, a Shrine to Horus and Roads. The annexed capital of Phoenicia is Sidon, with a garrison of two Nubian Spearmen units and two of Bowmen; it is a large town with a Wooden Wall, Barracks, a Port, Trader, and Roads. Sidon is tactially important, Pharaoh, in that it allows access into the Egyptian realm and out, sir; it will be detrimental in the defeat of the Seleukids and expansion into Anatolia. Our final settlement is Salamis on Cyprus, where two Nubian Speramen units along with two units of Skirmishers and two of Peasant, are situated. The settlement’s antiquity is Greek, but that will soon change. It is a brilliant trading outpost, and is easily defended, once walls are built. The only faction buildings it has currently are a Governer’s House and Barracks, but this can easily change with the profit the town will make.

The Warhost


We are your soldiers, great Pharaoh, prepared to defend the two crowns to the death! From our most humble barracks come the Nubian Spearmen, poorly trained spearmen that fight in the phalanx formation- a valuable assest, but they can do little else. From our Militia Barracks come true Egyptian soldiers, the Nile Spearmen, also trained as phalanx soldiers, but with better morale, weapons and armor than the Nubians. From our City Barracks come our combat troops, the Desert Axemen. Although they are unarmored, this makes them invaluable ambush and desert-fighting troops, from which we derive the name. However, the best soldiers you will command on the field, Pharaoh, are your own personal guards, the Pharaoh’s Guards. They are trained in the phalanx formation, and wear cloaks of scale-mail, or Lorcia Squamata armor, and are the most well-trained and drilled foot soldiers Egypt can produce.

From our humblest our Stables come the Desert Cavarly, large contingents of light, axe-wielding cavalry that are best for attacking skirmishers or exploiting exposted flanks or rears, and Nubian Cavalry, for the same purpose. From our more advanced Stables come the Camel Archer (the smell of a camel is often enough to scare enemy horses away, thus its invaluability as a missile mount), and the Nile Cavalry, Egypt’s signature heavy cavalry force, that wear good armor and are well-trained.

From our Blacksmiths come the Egyptian Chariot, and from the more advanced Blacksmiths come the Egyptian Chariot Archer. From our Practice Ranges come the Slinger and the Skirmisher, a troop that mirrors the Libyan mercenary which can be hired from territories in or surrounding Libya. From our Archery Ranges come the Bowmen, and from our Catapult Ranges come the Onager and the Pharaoh’s Bowmen, arguably the best bowmen in the world, that make a good account of themselves in battle also. They will accompany your soldier guard, Pharaoh. Use them well.

The Gods


Although we Egyptians believe in a spectrum of gods and demigods, we only openly worship five- these are Isis, Osiris, Imhotep, Set, and Horus. Isis is the goddess of motherhood, nature, magic and fertility, and provides our settlements with a growth bonus. Osiris is the god of the afterlife and the dead, and provides our settlements with a double happiness bonus. Imhotep is a deified Chancellor, one of the few mortals to be immortalised. He gives our settlements a health bonus. Finally, the gods Set and Horus- Set the god of deserts, storms, darkness and chaos, and Horus the god of the sky and protection (especially the Pharaoh), and also, to an extent, war- they both provide law bonuses, but their Temple Cities provide different combination bonuses- a Temple City to Set will provide growth and law bonuses whilst a Temple City to Horus will provide armor and weapons bonuses.

As it is written, so it shall be done. Egypt shall rise.

The Mods

Egypt is often changed, even in minor mods, as it is a difficult factor to ignore. Mods like the Expanded Cultures and Amazon Total War expand its roster, whilst Rome Total Realism and Europa Barbarorum make Egypt (for historical accuracy reasons) a Makedonian faction.