How Powerful was Ar-Pharazon's Numenor?

[Aldarion]

My obsession with military stuff shows again:

How Powerful Was Ar-Pharazon’s Numenor?

Population growth Maximum theoretical population This is the maximum population that island of Numenor could support with its resources. Land area of Numenor is some 167 961 square miles, or 435 01…

militaryfantasy.home.blog

Basically an attempt to figure out how powerful, exactly, Ar-Pharazon's Numenor was. Of course, this is only the most basic stuff; as Tolkien himself was well-aware, numbers are only a portion of power. Much more important are culture, morale, discipline, elan and other "invisible and untouchable" aspects, which unfortunately I barely touch on as we do not really see Numenorean soldiers in combat.

 

[Boaz]

Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff. I do not disagree at all. But you mentioned "invisible and untouchable" aspects of Numenorean power and I'd like to comment on that.

I believe that the many tremendous advantages that the Dunedain had over other peoples all stem from their friendship to the Eldar. First, they learned shipbuilding from the Teleri. The Dunedain traveled where no other men could and their outposts and colonies remained connected. This allowed them to become Middle-earth's only superpower. Andor itself was beyond the reach of any potential enemies from Middle-earth. The second advantage gained from the Eldar was the Tengwar. The ability to write allowed the Dunedain to chart time, tides, geography, medicine, etc. The written word put them far ahead of other men. Other advantages were the other competencies gained from the Eldar, i.e. smithing, mining, irrigation, animal husbandry. At first the Dunedain openly shared this intelligence with the men of Middle-earth, but later began to keep these types of knowledge as secrets. A combination of shipbuilding, the tengwar, and production skills gave the Dunedain unrivaled economic power.

Also, the Dunedain had longer life spans than other men. This gave their leaders time to hone their individual arts. Robust captains could oversee a project decades longer than those of other men. It's not hard to imagine how their great cities, towers, and edifices were constructed with enduring vision.