Egyptians (Age of Empires)

This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires. For their appearance in Age of Mythology, see Egyptians (Age of Mythology).

Civilization	Technology tree	Strategy	History

“	Sail the Nile River, construct massive pyramids to send your pharaohs to godhood, and lead armies of powerful charioteers as you vie for control of the rich lands of Canaan and the Levant.	”
—Description^[1]

The Egyptians are a playable civilization in Age of Empires. They represent the ancient and sophisticated river valley culture that once controlled the upper and lower Nile regions of the Egyptian Kingdom.

The Egyptians also appear in Age of Mythology.

Characteristics[]

Civilization bonuses[]

Farms cost -20%.*
Gold Miners work 20% faster and carry +2 gold.
Chariot units have +33% hit points.
Priests have +2/+3 range in the Bronze/Iron Age.

Overview[]

They are considered to be one of the best civilizations to play in Age of Empires and The Rise of Rome.

Changelog[]

Age of Empires[]

Gold miners work 44% faster (but stated 20%).
Coinage is not available.
Priests have +3 range and Line of Sight.

Definitive Edition[]

Gold miners work 20% faster.
Coinage is available.
With update 38862, Farms are 20% cheaper to build; they now cost 60 wood instead of 75 wood.

Return of Rome[]

Team bonus added.
With update 99311, the Priest range / Line of Sight bonus is lower in the Bronze Age (+2), but still +3 in the Iron Age.

Campaign appearances[]

Several different tutorials are played as the Egyptians, including the Dawn of Civilization tutorial campaign from the alpha version, Bronze Age Art of War tutorial scenario, and the official Ascent of Egypt campaign in the released version of the game.

The Egyptians appear as AI players in:

Ascent of Egypt[]

This campaign is played as the Egyptians.

3. Exploration
- Libyans - Enemy
5. Skirmish
- Egyptian Raiders - Enemy
6. Farming
- Lower Egypt - Enemy
7. Trade
- Libyans - Enemy (only in the original)
- Libyans - Enemy (since Return of Rome)
8. Religion
- Libyan Raiders - Enemy
9. River Outpost (since the Definitive Edition)
- Nubians - Enemy
10. Naval Battle
- Libyan Raiders - Enemy

Glory of Greece[]

8. Alexander the Great (since Return of Rome)
- Satrapy of Eber-Nari - Enemy

Voices of Babylon[]

Before the Definitive Edition, the fifth and eighth scenario are played as the Egyptians.

1. The Holy Man (only in the original)
- Elam - Enemy
2. The Tigris Valley (only in the original)
- Elam - Enemy
- Akkad - Enemy
6. The Caravan (only in the original)
- Elam - Enemy
- Elam - Enemy
- Elam - Enemy

Reign of the Hittites[]

3. The Battle of Kadesh (both versions)
- Re Division - Enemy
- Ramesses - Enemy

Imperium Romanum[]

1. The Battle of Actium
- Cleopatra - Enemy
- Egyptian Forces - Enemy

AI player names[]

When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Egyptians AI characters.

Ramses - Name of 11 Pharaohs between 1295-1077 BC; Ramses I: Pharaoh 1292-1290 BC
Thutmose (𓅝𓄟𓋴𓀀) - Name of 4 Pharaohs between 1506-1388 BC; Thutmose I: Pharaoh 1506-1493 BC
Amosis (𓇹𓄟𓋴) - Pharaoh 1539-1514 BC
Necho - Pharaoh 672-664 BC (Necho I); 610-595 BC (Necho II)
Seti - Pharaoh 1290-1279 BC (Seti I); 1200-1194 BC (Seti II)
Haremhab - Pharaoh 1319/1306-1292 BC
Amenophis - Hellinized form of Amenhotep; Pharaoh 1526-1506 BC (Amenophis I); 1427-1402 BC (II); 1388-1351 BC (III); 1351-1334 (IV, commonly known as Akhenaten)
Hatshepsut - Half-sister and wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II, then ruled as Pharaoh (Queen Regnant) during 1479-1458 BC, she was one of the most prolific builders of monuments and structures among ancient Egyptian rulers.
Menes - First dynastic Pharaoh, believed to be the same person as Narmer, around 3150 BC

The following AI players are only present before the Definitive Edition:

Ramses II - Usermaatre Setepenre Ramses II "the Great"; Pharaoh 1279-1213 BC, he is considered the greatest and most famous of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs. He led Egypt to victory in all his military campaigns except against the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh which was a stalemate. The English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelly's celebrated work Ozymandias (which is a Greek name for Ramses II) is based on him.
Thutmose II - Pharaoh 1493-1479 BC
Ramses III - Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III was Pharaoh during 1186-1155 BC. He is considered the last great ruler of the ancient New Kingdom of Egypt. He led Egypt in the wars against the "Sea peoples" and successfully defended the kingdom from the invasions which are thought to have toppled most other great powers of the Bronze Age world.
Thutmose III - Pharaoh 1479-1425 BC, he is considered a warrior king and a military genius, and the one to create the world's first combat navy. Egypt reached its largest extent under him.
Ramses IV - Pharaoh 1155-1149 BC

History[]

Main article: /History

“	5000 to 30 BC Egypt survived the catastrophe of 1200 BC by fighting off several major attempted invasions. They went into decline, nevertheless, following the death of Rameses III who was the last of the great warrior pharaohs. Their decline was partly due to trade coming to a virtual halt for several generations. A series of weak kings and civil wars over succession to the throne also eroded their strength. In 728 BC Egypt was conquered by Nubia and held for 60 years. In 665 BC the Assyrians completed a conquest of Egypt by sacking Thebes. A new native Egyptian dynasty arose in 664 BC, eventually throwing out the Nubians and asserting their independence from Assyria by stopping payment of tribute. In 525 BC Egypt was conquered again from the east, this time by Cambryses II of Persia. When the Persians faltered in their war with the Greeks, the Egyptians reclaimed their independence briefly before succumbing once more to Persian invasion by 332 BC. Within a year, however, the Persians themselves were gone, destroyed by Alexander the Great who was accepted by the Egyptians as their pharaoh. Greeks ruled Egypt as overlords from the time of Alexander the Great until 30 BC when Cleopatra VII, the last of the Ptolemaic dynasty, and Mark Antony were defeated by Octavian. Egypt thereafter became part of the Roman Empire.	”
—Excerpt from the Egyptians section in the Age of Empires manual^[2]

Trivia[]

The civilization's icon introduced in Return of Rome portrays the Eye of Ra in the "wedjat" style. The eye is an extension of Ra's power and is considered his feminine counterpart, and is equated with the disk of the sun. It was also sometimes called the right Eye of Horus, which is the solar counterpart to the lunar left Eye of Horus. The eye is etched on a typical common Egyptian infantry shield, which is painted yellow, symbolic for eternity, indestructability, gold, and the sun.
The user interface image in Return of Rome depicts the gods Atum and Ra-Horakhty, from an 11th Century BC papyrus artwork featuring Ramses III before the gods of Heliopolis.
Egyptians reappear in the Age of Empires II scenario An Arabian Knight, where they are depicted by the Saracens, and then reappear in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition as a revolutionary nation.

Gallery[]

References[]

v • d • e Civilizations in Age of Empires categorised by architecture set
East Asian architecture	Choson · Lac Viet · Shang · Yamato
Egyptian architecture	Assyrians · Egyptians · Hittites
Greek architecture	Greeks · Minoans · Phoenicians
Mesopotamian architecture	Babylonians · Persians · Sumerians
Roman architecture	Carthaginians · Macedonians · Palmyrans · Romans

[ref-1] ttps://www.forgottenempires.net/age-of-empires-definitive-edition

[manual-2] ttps://archive.org/stream/manual_Age_of_Empires/page/n75/mode/1up

[1]

[2]