THE HORSE-HISTORY. 453 



henge says, "Arabia could not have been remarkable in any 

 way for her horses ; for Solomon, while he resorted to her for 

 silver and gold, mounted his cavalry from Egypt." 



The Israelites were, indeed, a peculiar people, viewed in the 

 light of the civilization of the nineteenth century; for they even 

 hamstrung the horses of the Canaanites, which fell into their 

 hands. They were able to drive out the inhabitants of the 

 mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valleys, 

 because these had chariots of iron. (Judges i, 19.) 



The Lesson of History. Thus we have the lesson of 

 history begun, that the people who fought with horses could 

 not be conquered by those who owned not cavalry. 



The Israelites became possessors of a hill country, where 

 horses and chariots could not be employed. This was 1443 

 B. C. A few years later we find in Deuteronomy the order, 

 " But he [their chosen king] shall not multiply horses to him- 

 self, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to the end that he 

 should multiply horses." This warning shows that about 1450 

 B. C., kings were accustomed to make themselves strong by mul- 

 tiplying horses and chariots, and that Egypt was rich in horses, 

 and had them to sell to princes who would increase their power 

 by well-appointed cavalry. Though Egypt was rich in horses, 

 we may not infer that it was the native land of the horse. The 

 presumption is rather that Egypt was more advanced in civiliza- 

 tion and the arts and agriculture, and had learned much of *the 

 value of the horse as a means of gain and power. 



Youatt, in an early edition of his book, was inclined " to 

 trace the first domestication of the horse to Egypt ;" but later, 

 on further investigation, he adopted the opinion of Colonel Ham- 

 ilton Smith, " that it took place in Central Asia, and, perhaps, 

 nearly simultaneously in the several regions where the wild 

 animals of the horse form existed. From the higher valleys of 

 the Oxus, and from Cashmere, the knowledge of his usefulness 

 seems to have radiated to China. India, and Egypt." "The 

 original horse of the Southern and Western countries came from 

 the north-eastern part of Asia, the domicile of those who escaped 

 from the ravages of the Flood." " To ancient Egypt we appear 



