ODD-TOED UNGULATES (pEEISSODACTYLA) 275 



reindeer^ rhinoceros, bison^ aurochs^ lion and bear 

 roamed in the primeval forests. 



On the enrly Egyptian monnments the horse is not 

 represented, neither is there any mention of it in any 

 document. We learn, however,"^ that the Asiatic 

 conquest of Egypt by the Hyksos, or Bedouins (about 

 1800 ? — 1350 B.C.), and the subsequent rule of these 

 Shepherd Kings, " was due not only to the weakness 

 and disunion of the Egyptians, but to the possession 

 by the invaders of a new engine of war, previously 

 unknown to the Egyptian military system, the war 

 chariot and its horses. ^^ The Egyptians learned the 

 use of horses from their conquerors, and made good 

 use of their knowledge later, in their conquests in 

 Asia and Africa. In a bas-relief at Thebes of King 

 Seti I in battle reproduced by Prof. Ridgeway t we see 

 the king in his chariot drawn by horses. The very 

 fine relief in the British Museum tells us that the 

 Assyrians hunted horses, and we know that the 

 Greeks and Romans and many ancient peoples used 

 horses. King Solomon is said to have had 40,000 

 chariot horses and 12,000 for war. There are tra- 

 ditions, too, of individual horses as of ^^Bucephalus,^^ 

 Alexander's horse, who is said to have saved his 

 master's life. 



The form of many of the horses pourtrayed 

 on medals, coins, and in ancient statues and frescoes 

 tells us that they were larger, more slender and more 

 graceful than the Mongolian horse and the horse of 

 the Cave-men. It is believed that the northern or 



* ' The Ancient History of the Near East,' by H. R. Hall, p. 212. 

 t ' Origin of the English Thoroughbred Horse,' p. 217. 



