EARLY HISTORY OF THE HORSE. 5 



cattle their milk, and both of them their flesh. By the latter of these animals 

 the land was tilled, and the corn trodden out ; while the rulers and the judges, 

 and even the kings of Israel, are carried by asses. The horse is occasionally 

 mentioned in the early period of the Israelitish commonwealth. No definite 

 duty, however, is assigned to him ; and it is said of the then monarch that " He 

 shall not multiply horses to himself*." There were two reasons for this : 

 they were destined to be a peculiar people, preserving in the narrow confines 

 of their country the knowledge and worship of the true God : therefore they 

 were forbidden the means of wandering to other lands. The nature of their 

 country likewise forbade the extensive breeding of the horse. It consisted, in 

 a great measure, of mountains, and was bounded on the west by the sea, and on 

 three other sides by deserts. It was not until the time of Solomon, 500 years 

 after the Israelites had left Egypt, that the horse was domesticated among 

 them ; and then so rapidly did he increase that Solomon had a thousand and 

 four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand cavalry, and stabling for forty thou- 

 sand horsest. The greater part of these horses were imported from Egypt. 



The sacred historian gives the price both of the chariots and the horses, 

 it is the oldest document of the kind on record. The horse, including pro- 

 Aably the expense of the journey, cost 150 shekels of silver, or rather more 

 than 17^:. The chariot cost 000* shekels, or a little more than 68. Of the 

 comparative value of money at that period it is impossible to speak ; but it was 

 probably many times greater than at present. 



It is a question yet disputed, whether the use of chariots or the art of riding 

 was first cultivated. According to Colonel Hamilton Smith, the northern 

 nations were exclusively riders. At Nineveh, in Asia Minor, and India, they 

 were both charioteers and riders. In Greece, Palestine, and Egypt, they were 

 originally charioteers only . The probability, however, is, that although one 

 might prevail in particular eras and countries, the other would not long remain 

 unpractised || . 



Before a sketch of the history of the European horse is attempted, it may 

 be interesting to collect the accounts given by historians of the character and 

 management of the horse in earlier periods. 



Upper Egypt and Ethiopia were inhabited by horsemen, of wild and preda- 

 cious habits ; plundering those who fell into their power, or hiring themselves 

 to increase the army of any foreign potentate. Many troops of them attended 

 Xerxes in his expedition into Greece. 



In Libya, Numidia, Mauritania, and the settlements on the northern coast 

 of Africa, comprising Morocco, Barbary, Tunis, and Tripoli of the present day, 

 and the northern part of the Sahara, or Great Desert, the horses were numerous 

 and fleet. Julian describes them as being somewhat slenderly made, and seldom 

 carrying much flesh ; requiring little care and attendance from their owners ; 

 content with the common pasture which the country afforded, and on which 

 they were turned, without further care or notice, as soon as their work was 

 done. Their present treatment is not a great deal better. 



They were at first ridden, as they are represented on the fresco of the 

 Parthenon, without either bridle or saddle ; and the rider had nothing but 

 a switch or stick by which to guide them. This is said to have given them 

 an ungraceful and awkward appearance ; their necks being straight and 



* Deut. xvii. 16. f 1 Kings x. 26. H Berenger's Hist, of Horsemanship, vol. i. 



J 1 Kings x. 29. p. 11 f. 



$ Nat. Lib., vol. xii. p. 88. 



lj This is a work of great research and fidelity. We have found it truly invaluable in our 

 Investigation of the early history of the horse. 



