The Egyptians kept a core of professional soldiers managed by the king. Among the composition of these soldiers were professional soldiers, Nome conscripts, and Nubian and Libyan mercenaries. Nomes during most periods were required to fill a quota of men for the army when the king called for it.
During the 1st Intermediate Period, the armies were comprised of a core of house troops belonging to the king. The core was comprised of conscripts and supplemented by allied troops. Mercenaries from Nubia were also used in most of the battles of this period.
The Middle Kingdom made no changes as far as the composition of the army was concerned.
The 2nd Intermediate Period saw the use of mainly Egyptians in the Theben army. This was once again a core made up of house troops, the personal troops of the nomarch or king, supplemented by conscripts. The Nubians were independent of the king and fought against the Thebens.
The New Kingdom was back to the practice of the Old Kingdom.
It is not until the Late Periods where the explicit use of Greeks were allowed into the army. By the Late Period, the army was essentially a home grown Greek mercenary unit.
Even though the composition of the soldiers did change through out the differing dynasties, professional soldiers and soldiers fighting for Egypt occupied one of the highest castes of Egypt, and were regarded as highly as the Scribes, nobles and priests.
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