}
Soldiers
Army officers were part of the civil service and career soldiers, though they probably had other non-military jobs as well. Ordinary soldiers were conscripted as needed. Most were farm labourers, and so fighting was limited by the needs of the agricultural year – the army had to go home to plant their crops and to harvest them. The soldiers had bronze axes and spears and stone maces as weapons. Iron was not widely used in Egypt until about 2,500 years ago.