196 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



the head of an animal, and a ring which generally enclosed a 

 winged bull. The horses' manes were allowed to fall loosely 

 on the neck, or were plaited, and their tails were tied in the 

 middle with a ribbon adorned with tassels 1 ." The fact that 

 the Assyrian horses seem always to have been controlled by 

 bits and not merely by nose-bands will be of importance at a 

 further stage in our investigations. 



To judge from the sculptures alone, cavalry must have 



FIG. 63. Head of a Horse from the chariot of Assur-bani-pal. 



formed an important part of the Assyrian armies, a conclusion 

 fully confirmed by the Old Testament, where the Assyrian 

 horsemen are frequently mentioned. Thus Ezekiel 2 describes 

 the Assyrians as "clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of 

 them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses." 

 Again, Holofernes 3 , the general of Nabuchodonosor, is stated to 

 have had no fewer than twelve thousand archers on horseback. 

 On the monuments the rider is represented as seated on the 



1 Layard, op. cit., pp. 237-8. 2 xxiii. 6. 3 Judith ii. 15. 



