AHC: New Kingdom Egypt creates Mid Eastern Empire

So a relatively simply question. What would it take for New Kingdom Egypt to emulate or outcompete Mesopotamian and Iranian empires, ie conquer a broader empire outside of Egypt proper.
 
The new kingdom did do that and took over most of the Levant and had to stop because the Hittites were the northern border and east of them was Mesopotamia not to mention how overextended they probably were
 
The new kingdom did do that and took over most of the Levant and had to stop because the Hittites were the northern border and east of them was Mesopotamia not to mention how overextended they probably were

That's true but it never reached to quite the extent that say Persia or Assyria but had a relatively similar power base. I was wondering part of the problem was a less militant ruling class and how that could be changed to drive Egypt to expand eastwards.
 
If the Egyptian empire was ever to get to that size it would need to expand into areas closer to Egypt maybe wherever in Africa the kingdom of punt was. you would still need a series of militant pharaohs to get Egypt prepared for something like that. I am not a Egyptologist so I do not know how to get Egypt militaristic enough to get on the scale of Assyria.
 
I think part of the problem was religion - at least if I remember rightly.

There was a really good timeline a long while back that investigated the idea of Atenism surviving beyond Akenaten, creating a more expansionist/missionary Egyptian faith that is very much Divine Right (please forgive the anachronisms). It had missionaries going southward, and expansion via religion into Mitanni, and wars with Hittite.

Part of the argument made (if I recall correctly) was that dying IN Egypt was quite important, as otherwise your soul was doomed, but the change was that as long as you died in service of Ma'at (bit Valhallaish) you were guaranteed a place in the next life.

So I think that may be the trick, embrace a spiritual system that encourages religious, and political expansion. With the Egyptian Pharaoh raised above other Monarchs, more "Father King" than "Brother King" as was the state of the time. Mix of Hard and Soft expansion that serves Pharaoh.
 
That's true but it never reached to quite the extent that say Persia or Assyria but had a relatively similar power base. I was wondering part of the problem was a less militant ruling class and how that could be changed to drive Egypt to expand eastwards.
Well remember the Egyptian Empire also went down into Nubia.
 
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