Wagons before chariots
The earliest wheeled military vehicles in Mesopotamia were not the light chariots of later films. They were heavy, four-wheeled wagons with solid wheels, pulled by teams of animals that are usually identified as onagers or hybrids rather than horses, which were not yet common in the region. Two Sumerian monuments show them in action: the Stele of the Vultures, commemorating a conflict between Lagash and Umma in the Early Dynastic period, and the so-called Standard of Ur, a decorated box from the royal cemetery at Ur showing a war scene.
These vehicles carried a driver and a warrior armed with spears or javelins, with a quiver of weapons at the front. They were slow and hard to turn, and some scholars see them more as command or prestige vehicles, or as mobile platforms used for shock effect, than as manoeuvrable units. How they were used in real fighting remains uncertain, since the reliefs are stylised.
The light spoked-wheel chariot
The major change came around the beginning of the second millennium BCE with the spoked wheel and the domesticated horse. A spoked wheel is far lighter than a solid one, and a light two-wheeled vehicle pulled by two horses could move at speed. Where exactly this design originated is debated. Some of the earliest evidence comes from burials on the Eurasian steppe, particularly the Sintashta culture in what is now Russia, but scholars disagree about how directly those vehicles link to the chariots of the Near East.
By the later seventeenth to sixteenth centuries BCE, chariots were established in the Near East. Egypt is traditionally said to have adopted the chariot, along with the composite bow, in the era when the Hyksos ruled the Delta, and the vehicle became central to the New Kingdom army after the Hyksos were expelled. The Mitanni kingdom in northern Mesopotamia and Syria had an elite of chariot warriors, called maryannu in the sources. A Hittite text on horse training, associated with a man named Kikkuli who is described as from Mitanni, gives a detailed training programme for chariot teams, showing how much specialist knowledge the system required.
How a chariot was built
A typical Bronze Age war chariot had:
- A light wooden frame, often with a floor of leather thongs or woven material that gave a springy ride, open at the back.
- Two spoked wheels, with four to six spokes in many Egyptian examples, mounted on an axle placed toward the rear, which affected stability.
- A pole and yoke, with two horses harnessed side by side and sometimes a third or fourth in reserve.
- Quivers, spear holders and shields attached to the body.
Remarkably complete examples survive from the tomb of Tutankhamun, whose chariots confirm the lightweight construction known from art. Building a chariot demanded skill in bending and joining wood, and different types of timber were chosen for different parts. Some materials were imported, which made chariots expensive.
Crew sizes varied. Egyptian chariots usually carried a driver and an archer, while Hittite chariots are depicted with three men, including a spear-carrying warrior, giving them more weight in close combat. Whether this difference decided any particular battle is uncertain.
What chariots did in battle
Chariots were mainly mobile firing platforms for archers. A skilled driver could bring an archer within range, allow him to shoot, and carry him away again. They could also pursue fleeing infantry, carry messages and officers, and provide a fast reserve. They were less well suited to charging solid lines of disciplined spearmen, and uneven ground could damage wheels or throw crews.
Most chariot warriors were wealthy, because the vehicle, horses, training and equipment cost a great deal. Chariot forces therefore formed a social elite in states such as Egypt and Mitanni, and this helps explain why royal art so often shows kings riding into battle in a chariot.
Kadesh and the great powers
The best-known chariot battle is Kadesh in Syria, around 1274 BCE, where Egyptian forces under Ramesses II faced a Hittite army. Egyptian records, which include temple inscriptions and reliefs, present the battle as a triumph for the king, who is shown fighting from his chariot after an ambush. Hittite sources are less direct, and modern historians generally see the outcome as indecisive, with both sides claiming victory. A later treaty between the two powers is among the earliest known peace agreements. The Hittite chariot force at Kadesh, often described in terms of Hittite military power, is estimated by ancient accounts at thousands of vehicles, but the numbers are uncertain and probably exaggerated.
Other powers adopted the chariot in their turn. The Assyrian Empire used chariots extensively, and royal reliefs show kings hunting and fighting from them. Later Assyrian chariots were heavier, with more crew members, adapted to shock and protection. Chariots were also used in China and elsewhere, though those traditions are a separate story.
Decline
Chariots gradually lost their central place in warfare. A major reason was the increasing importance of cavalry, which was cheaper in some respects and could cross rough ground. With the growth of large infantry armies, iron weapons and mounted archers, the chariot became less decisive. By the first millennium BCE it often had a ceremonial or secondary role, although some armies still used it in specific settings. Later scythed chariots in the Persian and Hellenistic world had limited success and were countered by disciplined troops.
What we do not know
The evidence for chariots is mixed. Art provides the clearest images but is shaped by royal propaganda, and written records exaggerate numbers. The surviving vehicles are few, and burial finds may not reflect what was used in battle. Scholars continue to debate the origin of the chariot, the exact tactics used and how far chariot armies really dominated the Late Bronze Age.