History A new invention
Horses and chariots reached Egypt around 1600 BC, probably with the Hyksos, rulers from western Asia. Egyptian chariots were light and fast: a frame of bent wood covered with leather, two spoked wheels and a floor of woven leather straps that worked like a spring. A driver steered while an archer shot from beside him.
History Royal chariots
Kings were shown riding chariots into battle and on hunts. When Howard Carter opened the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, he found six chariots, some covered in gold. They show how carefully chariots were made: every part could be taken apart, carried and put back together.
History Gifts for a king
Horses and chariots were costly and prized. In the Amarna letters, the kings of other lands sent the pharaoh fine horses and decorated chariots as gifts, and asked for gold in return.
Art In this artwork
The illustration shows a blue and gold chariot pulled by one horse with a feather plume. Real Egyptian chariots were almost always pulled by a pair of horses.
Look closer
- Count the spokes in a wheel.
- Find the feather plume on the horse.
Think about it
- Why would a light chariot be faster than a heavy one?
- How might chariots have changed the way wars were fought?
- What is the fastest way to travel where you live?
Key words
- Chariot
- A light two-wheeled vehicle pulled by horses.
- Spoke
- A bar joining the middle of a wheel to its rim.
- Plume
- A large feather worn for decoration.
Sources
The history on this page is a short summary based on these sources:
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Chariot"
- Griffith Institute, University of Oxford, Howard Carter's records of the tomb of Tutankhamun
- The Amarna letters (about 1360 to 1335 BC), letters between the pharaohs and foreign rulers
- Ian Shaw (editor), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
