Weni
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Weni was a court official of the 6th dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He served as a general under Pepy I and as governor of Upper Egypt during the reign of Merenre Nemtyemsaf I. While he was general he reorganized the military into a format that was still in use in the New Kingdom.
Weni rose through the ranks of the military to become Commander in Chief of the army. He was consider by both his contemporaries to and many Egyptologists to have been a brilliant tactician and possibly even a genius. His victories earned him the privilege to be to be shown leading the troops into battle, right usually reserved for pharaohs. Weni is the first person, other than a pharaoh, known to been portrayed in this manner. Many of his battles were in the Levant and the Sinai he is said to have pursued a group of Bedouins all the way to Mount Carmel. He battled a Bedouin people known as the Sand-Dwellers at least five times.
While he was Commander and Chief of the army, he made several key reforms to the military. He began training his troops to have a pre-emptive rather than a defensive posture. Weni included Nubian mercenaries in the army for the first time, and reorganized the army in a manner that made infighting in the troops and uncontrolled pillaging difficult. He recorded in great detail his reorganization of the army and his reforms would last into the New Kingdom.
After the death of Pepy I, Weni was appointed the governor of Upper Egypt. He made many infrastructure improvements, especially those beneficial to the military. His most noted project was a canal that ran parallel to the Nile at the First Cataract.