File:Chariot of Tutankhamun.jpg

English: Chariot of Tutankhamun; Two Neck saddles; cheek Rowel.

Displayed here is one of six dismantled chariots found in Tutankhamun´s tomb. It was most likely , since it is light and open and has very sturdy wheels, used for hunting and training. The body is made of bent wood, bound with rawhide; the floor would have been of interwoven leather thongs. The neck saddles would have beenfitted over the necks of the two horses that pulled the chariot, then attached to the front of the yoke and to the harness straps. The small disc of laminated wood with pins on either side is a "cheek rowel", use to keep the stallions that pulled the chariot from turning their heads toward one another. Traditional weaponry continued to be used throughout the New Kingdom, bt with the addition of a number of new weapons, such as the duck-billed axe, many of which were adopted from the repertoire of the Hyksos invaders. The single greatest military innovation brought by the Hyksos was the chariot, light-weighted, two wheel cart drawn by two horses. The chariot was used as a mobileplatform from which archers could rain arrows onto their enemies, and was the vehicle of choise for the Egyptian pharaoh, used for battle, training and hunting. The great monarch in his chariot, bow drawn and aimed at a horde of fleeing enemies, became an icon of kingship, engraved on pylons and outer walls of temples, on the bodies of chariots themselves, and even furniture. These representatons served symbolically to keep the enemies of Egypt, who themselves represented the forces of chaos, at bay. 18th dynasty, from the tomb of Tutankhamun KV62 (I have no inv. number to this)

Luxor Museum