Warfare In Egypt's Archaic period

During the archaic period (3100 BC – 2686 BC), soldiers were equipped with stone maces, copper-tipped spears and bows with flint or obsidian arrows. Soldiers were protected by large wooden shields and didn’t wear armor due to the desert heat. Forces were raised by conscription when needed to fend off small-scale raids form groups like the Libyans. In battle, a signature tactic of Egyptian warfare was used; enemy forces were attacked by the Egyptian’s perpetual main weapon of choice, the bow and arrow. The old horn bows and simple long bows were replaced by a more compact and simpler to pullback recurve bow. Once an enemy was weekend and in disarray from the volleys of arrows the Egyptian infantry assaulted with their main melee weapons, the stone mace and spears. Infantry soldiers also carried throwing sticks as secondary weapons, a largely ineffective but extremely inexpensive short ranged missile weapon.

The Hornbow Ancient Egyptians used in combat around this time period

The early throwing sticks soldiers used

The stone mace soldiers used

All credit and souces from: http://www.ancientmilitary.com/ancient-egypt-military.htm