The Kingdom Period (475 AC to 875 AC)

The Union of Upper and Lower

Formation and Rise

Of the cities that won their freedom in the war against Phernac, the strongest was the city state of Sunas. Large, and wealthy off the back of its positioning just upriver from the delta, Sunas had dominance over river trade between the Sun Delta and Upper Sunar, an attribute it capitalized on by charging heavy tolls to pass through its section of the Sun River. During the war against Phernac, Sunas, would because of their wealth, do most of the heavy lifting, fielding the most troops, and laying siege to the city of Phernac itself at the war's end.
Ruled by a warrior king, the city of Sunas, propagandized the victory over the Phernaci tyrants, and turned their king into a heroic savior of all Lower Sunar. This strategy was not without motive though, and as Phernac struggled to hold itself together in Upper Sunar, Sunas continued to escalate the threat her old enemy posed, inspiring a fear among her neighbors of a vengeful Phernac someday returning north. Stroking the flames of war in this manner, Sunas situated itself as the protector of Lower Sunar, asserting more and more power over its neighbors, until by around 360 FD what began as a confederation, had twisted and forged itself into what many today see as a kingdom.
Ruling unofficially over dozens of client cities, the king of Sunas, became the overlord of a new hegemony, collecting tribute and extorting protection from all who would heed its denouncement of Phernac. Despite being titled a kingdom, and treated by many as a state, the Kingdom of Upper and Lower Sunar was in no way a modern state or country. It was, like Phernac, still a single city state, with each of its many client subjects perceiving themselves as autonomous actors in a system that would have in all likelihood appeared like an international coalition of collective security. Each city would have maintained its own law, culture and language, while also being led by their own rulers, who while subservient to the high king, still maintained serious power in their own right, and ruled largely autonomously.
The title Kingdom of Upper and Lower Sunar, is for this reason, a bit of an anachronism. Its title is instead garnered less from its own merit as a unified kingdom, and instead that of its successor, the First Sunarian Empire. Wanting to portray a divergence between the rule of Sunas and Phernac, later Sunarians, likely came up with the name for the geopolitical entity, that would have been utterly unheard of during its actual period of existence. As such the Kingdom of Upper and Lower Sunar, is a largely mythic time, heightened by later Sunarians as a heroic past, that helped legitimatize Sunas' dominance as the capital of the First Sunarian Empire.

Expansion and/or Reform

The Upper and Lower Kingdom would for quite a time, be solely, the Lower Kingdom, with most of Upper Sunar remaining under Phernaci control for another hundred years or so, after its loss of the north. The war to decide who would rule supreme over all of Sunar, would erupt sometime around 410 FD, however very little is known of the actual conflict, beyond Sunas eventually emerging as the victor, with Phernac being crippled for centuries to come as a result of the fighting. Sunas' border's would after this conflict stretch to include everything once ruled by the Phernaci Hegemony and then some, as even old outliers were brought into the new Sunarian fold.

Hegemony and/or Stagnation

Sunas would adopt several policies from this point onward, that increasingly shaped the kingdom into a Sunarian parallel of its Phernaci predecessor. Client states, like under Phernac, were expected to pay tribute to Sunas; this was usually comprised of wheat, however, cases of luxury goods, or precious metals being accepted by the king of Sunas were known to have occurred. paying of wheat to Sunas, would be of major importance at this time, since located on the very edge of the Sun Delta, only about half of Sunar's territory was arable. This would change entirely in time, as advancements made over the next few centuries saw a major expansion of the delta's waterways, but, during the age of the Upper and Lower Kingdom, food was an ever present issue for the wealthy city.
Unlike the Phernaci, the Sunarians would not accept slaves as a form of tribute. Slavery within their borders was a subject heavily looked down upon, with practitioners like the Phernaci being viewed in the utmost contempt. While it would be tolerated across their client cities, such cities were often times looked down upon by the men and women of Sunas, who viewed such people as untrustworthy or lesser.
Tribute sent to Sunas was for most of the kingdom's history, an offering of purely secular nature, with the receiver (the king of Sunas) receiving them personally as a show of fealty and respect, from one ruler to an even greater one. Late monarchs in the kingdom, however, are known to have begun a practice of receiving tribute not in their own name, or upon their own supremacy, but in the name of Sune as the patron goddess of Sunas. This aspect of these later rulers, is not well discussed in the sources, but was no doubt a major cause of discontent within the kingdom at the time as client cities maintained their own specific patron deity, and the paying of tribute to another city's patron, even their overlord's, would have been utterly insulting, and unheard of. It would be this reason in large part, that loyalty towards Sunas' high king began to degrade in the closing years of the kingdom, as its clients began to grow more resistant, and revolution simmered just under the surface, waiting to break free.

Rulership in the Upper and Lower Kingdom

Another aspect that cannot be overlooked in the Kingdom Period, is the vital role of the Sunarian king, and his status as a warrior. Under Phernac, the king was viewed primarily as a religious leader, who's role on the battlefield was purely that of a commander. In the case of Sunas, however, kings were firstly warriors, who were expected to hone their martial skills to best protect their people. To do this, kings were fully expected to take part in the violence of war and battle, fighting alongside infantry on the front lines. This was not to say, they were recklessly spent fighting in the thick of battle; instead, most kings, fought on areas of less intense fighting, where their presence would inspire the troops to break through the enemy line, before being quickly moved somewhere else to rinse and repeat. Despite this attempt to keep them secure, kings would die in combat on numerous occasions, but it seems this did little to prevent the practice from being widespread throughout the period.

Collapse

With the death of its last king in 680 FD, the Kingdom of Lower and Upper Sunar collapsed into the chaos of a succession crisis. Starting within the walls of Sunas, the First Intermediate Period began with the aristocratic elite of Sunas fighting a bloody war over who of their number should assume the position of king.
Lasting for months though, the crisis within the capital would ultimately be rendered irrelevant, as it was turned into a small subsection of a greater conflict fought across the entirety of Sunar between warring separatist factions. These revolting cities, were upset with Sunas' tyranny, and saw in the crisis their opportunity to not only achieve freedom, but also to replace Sunas as the hegemonic power of the region.

History of Sunar

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The Kingdom of Upper and Lower Sunar

Years Active

475 AC to 875 AG (400 Years)

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Capital

Sunas, Sun Delta, Lower Sunar

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Successor Period

The First Intermediate Period

Predecessor Periods

The Age of Phernac

Military System

Like with Phernac, Sunas operated on a levy system, which made handling its large territory quite difficult. Lacking the military to properly garrison its client states, Sunas is recorded in the sources, as being more reliant upon their subject's willing cooperation more so than the Phernaci, who favored using fear to dominate. This was achieved by portraying their dominance as protection, first against the Phernaci, and later, neighboring states in general. This alteration in strategy from the Phernaci style, worked far better for Sunas, and allowed their period of hegemony to last considerably longer.
Chariots would also prove a pivotal aspect of Sunarian armies, with elite and wealthy members of Sunarian society serving as charioteers; this key component would be almost identical in nature to the Phernaci usage of chariots, in which the position served as both a tactical asset, as well as a status symbol for the more elite members of the levy.

Beyond chariots though, cavalry would also serve an increasingly important role in the country's armies. The discovery of the saddle would make horse riding a far more feasible option, and ultimately lead to the replacement of the chariot almost entirely several centuries later. These mounted soldiers, were most often hand picked retainers of the Sunarian king, who comprised an even smaller segment of the elite men of the levy, and maintained the favor of their liege.
Armor and Equipment Infantry would also continue to advance under the kingdom, with some of the wealthier levy troops being equipped in light, bronze or copper breastplates, as well as heavier, and larger, but still rectangular palm wood or cow hide shields. Despite these early introductions of infantry armor, the majority of the levy still fought with minimal gear, due to its member's social class and personnel wealth acting as a limitation.


Spears continued to be the weapon of the day, but towards the end of the period, the sickle sword, or khopesh began to be seen among light cavalry, and some of the wealthier members of the infantry levy. The spear would, however, retain its overwhelming dominance as the defacto weapon of war for millennia to come.

A modern khopesh, with the curved section of blade being elongated.