The earliest axes used for military purposes in Ancient Egypt were much the same as those used elsewhere in the Middle East at the time. Known as cutting axes, these were two-handed weapons with a long curved blade which was attached to the haft in three places: top, middle and bottom. This type of axe was intended for use against unarmoured opponents, but was unwieldy as a civilian tool.
History of the Battle Axe in Egypt
As armour developed, especially in the use of shields and helmets, and the introduction of scale armour, a new type of axe was needed. The long cutting axe couldn't get through scale armour, or helmets made of bone and horn. The Sumerians wore helmets as early as the Third Millennium BC, but armour didn't take on in Egypt for another 1500 years, until the Middle Kingdom.
Design of the Penetrative Axe
The original cutting axe from the Old Kingdom was retained, but alongside it the Middle Kingdom Egyptians introduced a new Hyksos-originated weapon, the penetrative axe. This was a single handed weapon, with a cast metal head of bronze or copper attached to a short haft of around 20-30 inches.
In other kingdoms of the era, axe-heads were cast with an "eye" through the back of the blade, so that the haft could be fitted into it directly. In Egypt, it was attached by means of a mortice and tenon fitting. In other words, a lug at the rear of the head fitted into a slot on the wooden haft, and the head was then secured more tightly by being tied on by leather thongs.
In some ways this can be seen as a step backwards, towards the way in which stone or flint axe-heads were attached to their hafts in neolithic times, but it also meant that the soldier in the field could maintain or replace the axe-head without any metalworking skills.
The axe head itself weighed a couple of pounds, and was chisel-shaped, much like a modern axe, with a short curve to the edge. This curve gave it the cutting power a straight edge wouldn't have, but the mass of the head meant that it didn't need a long curve like a cutting axe or a khopesh.
The Penetrative Axe in battle
As the khopesh had evolved from a cutting axe into a single-handed weapon by adding a handgrip to the long curved blade, so the penetrative axe became a single-handed weapon by having the blade compressed and attached to a much shorter haft. This meant that the soldier was free to use a shield in his other hand, or indeed to dual-wield two axes.
The axe was usually deployed against an enemy force that was broken or fleeing after taking casualties from archery or spears. In this, and in the execution of prisoners, it replaced the mace. An excellent close-combat weapon, the axe could also be used to foul or pull away an enemy's shield, and could easily split a helmet or shield of the era.
As the Middle Kingdom moved into the New Kingdom, so the penetrative axe head grew longer, narrower, and sharper, yet retained the mortice-and-tenon construction. Despite this effectiveness as a weapon, the axe eventually fell into disuse as the khopesh and its straight-bladed successors took over as the infantry's close-combat weapon of choice. Eventually, after the 18th Dynasty, the battle axe was almost entirely reduced to being a ceremonial weapon.
The Pharoah's Axe
As well as being an excellent weapon for engaging armoured enemies, the penetrative axe could be used for non-combat purposes such as felling trees, or butchery. As with all things Egyptian, ritual and ceremonial versions were developed for Royal wear, with extensive artwork on the head. There was even an openwork version used in funerary rites.
There are many bas-reliefs of Pharoahs preparing to smite prisoners with this type of axe, although for some reason the artistic form of the time always has the edge turned away from the victim, as if he is about to be struck with the back or haft rather than the edge.
Although the penetrative axe did eventually fall out of favour as an infantry weapon, its legacy remains to this day, in its similarity to modern axes used as tools and rescue implements.
Sources:
Egyptian Warfare And Weapons, Ian Shaw, Shire, 1991
Fighting Pharoahs Bob Partridge, Peartree, 2002
Royal Armouries, Leeds.
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