Chariot
A chariot (latin biga) is a two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle. It was used for battle during the Bronze and Iron Ages, and continued to be used for travel, processions and in games after it had been superseded militarily. Early forms may also have had four wheels, although these are not usually referred to as chariots. The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots for use in battle was the spoked wheel. The earliest spoke-wheeled chariots date to ca. 2300 BC. In these times, most horses could not support the weight of a man in battle. Chariots were effective in war only on fairly flat, open terrain. With better horse breeding and greater size, chariots gave way to cavalry. Chariot races continued to be popular in Constantinople until the 6th century.
The word "chariot" is sometimes used nowadays to mean frogmen's manned torpedoes.
Early forms
The earliest depiction of chariots is on the "battle standard" of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, ca. 2600 BC. The vehicles depicted are more properly called carts, still double-axled and pulled by tamed asses or onagers. Such heavy chariots may have been part of the baggage train rather than vehicles of battle in themselves. The Sumerians had also a lighter, two-wheeled type of chariot, pulled by four onagers, but still with solid wooden wheels.
Indo-Iranians
The Indo-Europeans, particularly the Indo-Iranians, have been connected with the invention of the spoke-wheeled chariot. The Mitanni would have spread the invention in the Middle East.
Some kurgans contain warriors that have been buried together with their horses and their chariots. Chariots figure prominently in Indo-Iranian mythology. Chariots are also an important part of Hindu as well as of Persian mythology, with most of the gods in their pantheon portrayed as riding them. The Sanskrit word for a chariot is ratha.
China
Chariots were already in use in the Xia Dynasty, in the 17th century BC. The earliest chariot burial site, discovered in 1933, dates to the rule of King Wu Ding of the Yin Dynasty.
Egypt
The chariot, together with the horse itself, was introduced to Egypt during the reign of the Hyskos dynasty in the 16th century BC. In the remains of Egyptian and Assyrian art there are numerous representations of chariots, from which it may be seen with what richness they were sometimes ornamented. The chariots of the Egyptians and Assyrians, with whom the bow was the principle arm of attack, were richly mounted with quivers full of arrows. The Egyptians invented the yoke saddle for their chariot horses in ca. 1500 BC.
The best preserved examples of egyptian chariots are the six specimens from the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Hittites
The Hittites were renowned charioteers. They developed a new chariot design which had lighter wheels with four spokes rather than eight, and which held three, instead of two warriors. Under Suppiluliuma I, the Hittites conquered Kadesh and finally all of Syria.
The Battle of Kadesh of 1299 BC was probably the largest battle ever fought with chariots, with some 5000 chariots involved.
Chariots in the Bible
Chariots are frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, particularly by the prophets, as instruments of war or as symbols of power or glory. The first mention is in the story of Joseph (Genesis 50:9).
Examples (KJV):
- Song of Solomon 1:9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.
- Isaiah 2:7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.
- Jeremiah 4:13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
"Iron chariots" are mentioned in Joshua (17:16,18) and Judges (1:19,4:3,13) as weapons of the Canaanites. 1 Samuel 13:5 mentiones (in exaggerated numbers) chariots of the Philistines, who are sometimes identified with the Sea Peoples or early Greeks.
Persian Empire
Among the Persians there was a class of chariot having the wheels mounted with sharp, sickle-shaped blades, which cut to pieces whatever came in their way (scythed chariots). This was probably an invention of the Persians; Cyrus the younger employed these chariots in large numbers. Herodotus mentions that the Indus satrapy supplied cavalry and chariots to Xerxes' army. The defeat of Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela marked the end of the era of chariot warfare.
Ancient Greece
The Mycenaean Greeks made use of chariots in battle. Administrative records, mainly in Knossos, list chariots (wokha) and their equipment. The Linear B ideogram for a chariot (B240, 𐃌) is an abstract drawing, showing two four-spoked wheels. The chariots fell out of use with the end of the mycenaean civilization, and even in the Iliad, the heroes use the chariots merely as a means of transport, and dismount before engaging the enemy. Chariots were retained only for races in the public games, or for processions, without undergoing any alteration apparently, their form continuing to correspond with the description of Homer, though it was lighter in build, having to carry only the charioteer.
The Greek chariot was made to be drawn by two horses attached to a central pole. If two additional horses were added, they were attached on each side of the main pair by a single bar or trace fastened to the front of the chariot, as may be seen on two prize vases in the British Museum from the Panathenaic Games at Athens, Greece, in which the driver is seated with his feet resting on a board hanging down in front close to the legs of his horses. The biga itself consists of a seat resting on the axle, with a rail at each side to protect the driver from the wheels. Greek chariots appear to have lacked any other attachment for the horses, which would have made turning difficult.
The body or basket of the chariot rested directly on the axle connecting the two wheels. There was no suspension, making this an uncomfortable form of transport. At the front and sides of the basket was a semicircular guard about 3 ft (1 m) high, to give some protection from enemy attack. At the back the basket was open, making it easy to mount and dismount. There was no seat, and generally only enough room for the driver and one passenger.
The central pole was probably attached to the middle of the axle, though it appears to spring from the front of the basket. At the end of the pole was the yoke, which consisted of two small saddles fitting the necks of the horses, and fastened by broad bands round the chest. Besides this the harness of each horse consisted of a bridle and a pair of reins. The reins were mostly the same as those in use in the 19th century, and were made of leather and ornamented with studs of ivory or metal. The reins were passed through rings attached to the collar bands or yoke, and were long enough to be tied round the waist of the charioteer to allow him to defend himself.
The wheels and basket of the chariot were usually of wood, strengthened in places with bronze or iron. They had from four to eight spokes and tires of bronze or iron. Most other nations of this time had chariots of similar design to the Greeks, the chief differences being the mountings.
Celts
The Celts were famous chariot-makers, and the English word car is believed to be derived, via Latin carrum, from Gaulish karros (English chariot itself is from 13th century French charriote, an augmentative of the same word).
Some 20 Iron Age chariot burials have been excavated in Britain, dating roughly from between 500 BC and 100 BC, virtually all of them in East Yorkshire, with the exception of one find of 2001 from Newbridge, 10km west of Edinburgh.
Chariots play an important role in Irish mythology surrounding the hero Cu Chulainn.
Roman Empire
See main article Chariot racing.
The Romans probably borrowed chariot racing from the Etruscans, who themselves borrowed it from the Greeks, but the Romans were also influenced directly by the Greeks especially after they conquered mainland Greece in 146 BC. In the Roman Empire, chariots were not used for warfare, but for processions and for chariot racing. The main centre of chariot racing was the Circus Maximus. Chariot races continued to enjoy great popularity in Byzantine times, in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, even after the Olympic Games had been disbanded, until their decline after the Nika riots in the 6th century.
Russian Tachanka
The chariot was briefly revived during the Russian civil war of 1918–1920, when the "tachanka", a two- or four-wheeled cart with a machine-gun mounted on it, enjoyed a limited tactical success in the Red Army. Since the gun had to be pointed away from the horses, it operated by firing in a direction opposite or lateral to the direction in which the tachanka was moving. One man drove the horses, while another, or a team of two, operated the gun.