For example, the Egyptian chariot had a metal covering for the axes, which reduced friction, and this was certainly an improvement. However, while they certainly did make improvements to certain parts of the chariot, it is arguable whether the Egyptian chariot was better, or simply designed for a different purpose and terrain than others in the Middle East.
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Some analysis of ancient chariots provide that the Egyptians greatly improved the design of this vehicle. The Egyptian horse drawn chariot (wrrt or mrkbt) typically consisted of a light wooden semicircular framework with an open back surmounting an axle and two wheels of four or six spokes. Yet chariots continued to be used particularly for hunting, and sometimes for sport racing, long after the demise of its usefulness in war. With the advent of horseback riding by 1000 BC it lost most of its military importance and from that time on, the chariot was mostly replaced by the use of mounted cavalry. We can picture these huge numbers of vehicles charging across the plain straight towards the enemy the psychological impact of such a charge would have been enormous on untrained and unsteady troops. However, by the 15th century BC, Pharaoh Tutmoses III had over a thousand chariots at his disposal by 1400 BC the Great King of the Mitanni had amassed several times that number. The Egyptian chariot betrayed its Asiatic origin in a number of ways, by the names of its parts which were Semitic and by its decorations which often took the form of date palm branches or animals opposing each other, both Syrian motifs. It spread into Asia Minor, Greece and was known in Northern Europe by 1500 BC. This expensive weapon spread throughout the Middle East and is thought to have reached Egypt with the conquering Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. This gave the chariot even greater speed and maneuverability without compromising stability and strength. It was this development that gave the real impetus to the chariot, which now became an even greater weapon, combining high speed, strength, durability and mobility that could not be matched by infantry.Īt about the same time the "cross-bar" form of construction gave way to the extremely light spoked-wheel. The chariot quickly became the transport of the elite, whether for war, religion or affairs of state, though the humble donkey remained an important and dignified mode of transport until the introduction of the horse. More accurate radio-carbon testing is required to settle this dispute.) (Based on the style of the artifacts found at the burial sites, Russian researchers previous dated the Sintasta chariots to two centuries after the first evidence of chariot use in the Middle East. Radio-carbon dating of horse remains interred with chariots now indicates that this ancient grassland culture, called by archaeologists the Sintashta-Petrovka people, began using chariots around the beginning of the Middle Bronze period, two hundred years before the first evidence of Middle Eastern chariots.
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However, it is likely that the first true chariots were developed on the Eurasian steppes, as shown by the burials discovered along the border between Russia and Kazakhstan, although this is still the subject of scholarly debate. In fact, Sir Leonard Woodlley uncovered several burials among the Royal Tombs of Ur where warriors and the kings were buried not only with their carts and wagons, but also with the draft animals and the driver!Ī later development in Mesopotamia was a type of two-wheeled vehicle whose solitary occupant sat astride a central beam as if riding an animal.
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The famous Sumerian "Standard of Ur" depicts this earliest form of military wagon with four wheels drawn by four asses or ass/onager hybrids, together with a driver and a warrior armed with spears and axes riding into battle over the corpses of the slain. It was on the fertile plains of Mesopotamia and Anatolia that the precursor to the chariot was created. In the Middle East, no sooner do we find evidence of utility wagons drawn by donkeys, mules, oxen and even goats, than we find these same primitive vehicles used in warfare.
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However, the Egyptian chariots were not used in the same manner, and their use was more of a supporting role to the archers who manned them.Ĭhariots are the culmination of a natural technical evolution. Clearly, in the hands of the Hittites, one of Egypt's chief opponents during the New Kingdom, their heavy machines were weapons used to crash into the troops of their enemies. It was certainly a mode of transportation, but at the same time, most analyst consider it a weapon. Actually, the chariot is difficult to classify as a piece of military equipment.