I'm always fascinated by these ancient archeological finds, like someone made this thing 3000+ years ago and it somehow survived. Like the only known surviving Roman scutum shield [1].

It should be noted taht we have a lot of misconceptions about ancient warfare. Swords were largely ceremonial, probably owned by officers (muhc like even modern militaries have sabers as part of dress uniforms).

The dominant weapon in ancient warfare was the spear, not the sword. Why? Because it's relatively easy to teach to use, it's effective against cavalary and easy to use in formation, as in 3 rows (or more) of men could have spears facing forward.

Ancient egyptians at this time were hoplites [2]. They did have swords but they were close-quarter weapons, probably for dealing with survivors when a formation breaks down. And hoplites were followed by Greek phalanxes and ultimately Roman legions.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutum_from_Dura-Europos

[2]: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Ancient-Egyptian-Battle-Tac...