The Old Kingdom of Egypt

The Egyptian military, was throughout history, a deadly force. Generally engaging in combat with the Libyans of the Sahara desert and the Nubians, Egypt held dominance and maintained their territory while increasing the size of their borders.
During the "old kingdom" Egypt felt that it's most prominent threat was from the Nubians to south. To defend their borders, they built forts deep within this country to deter attacks. having forts on the inside made it so if the Nubians decided to stage an invasion, they would be able to cripple their forces from the inside. none of these forts were ever actually attacked and many remain underwater in lake Nasser. During this period Egypt had no "official army". The governor of each division of egypt had to raise their own made up of volunteers, who would come together and fight as one force under the Pharaoh during times of conflict. many of these divisions, or "Nomes" would often engage in conflict with each other to increase their power in those regions.
Soldiers were equipped with many types of weapons.The army's at this point were more primitive during these time, often not utilizing defenses and being very lightly armed.  Bows were they're most utilized weapon, but they were known to have used spears, shields, cudgels, maces, axes and swords.
The old kingdom was not a very militaristic time in Egypt's history, But the invasion of the Hyksos and the coming of the "new kingdom" brought much technology and advances, turning them into a more significant and dominant force.
More Info on early Egyptian combat