228 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



into a socket at the back of the body, and firmly secured by 

 leather thongs to the front part, and in order to prevent it 

 slipping back two straps were fixed into the rim and tied to the 

 pole. The floor was made of leather meshwork. The axletree 

 and wheels were of wood ; the latter having eight spokes and 

 tires of metal, and being secured to the axle by means of metal 

 axlepins. The pole was of wood covered with leather, and it 

 was bent into an elbow at about one-fifth of its length from the 

 end, and was supported by a wooden yoke. The horses were 

 yoked to the chariot by the following harness, made of leather 

 and probably ornamented with leather bosses: (1) the breast- 

 harness with girth and yoke-saddle ; (2) the bridle, nose-strap, 

 forehead-band, the three cheek and one neck-strap ; (3) the 

 reins, which were fixed to the nose-strap and passed through 

 a loop attached to the breast-harness and girth. The horses 

 seem to have been controlled by the nose-strap and not by 

 a bit. The charioteer carried a leather whip with a wooden 

 handle. " Attached to the body of the chariot on the outside 

 were a bow-case and two quivers, and on the inside a leather 

 pocket or pouch with an embossed flap to cover it. The horses' 

 saddles and the pole were of wood covered with red leather." 



A comparison of this chariot with that at Florence shows 

 that in structure they are essentially the same ; the shape of the 

 body with its leather meshwork floor, the method of morticing 

 the pole into the back-piece, the shape of the pole, the 

 leather covering of the pole and yoke, the wooden axletrees 

 and wheels are found in each. The only points of difference are 

 the number of spokes in the wheel and the use of metal, but it 

 has to be remembered that as the wheels are missing in the 

 chariot of Thothmes IV, the number of spokes and the use of 

 metal tires rest only on conjecture. 



The close resemblance between the Florentine chariot and 

 that of Thothmes IV renders it highly probable that the 

 Egyptian chariot was borrowed from the Libyans under the 

 xviith dynasty, and that it was gradually developed under 

 the xvinth dynasty by means of metal fittings until it arrived 

 at the form in which we find it in the tomb of Thothmes IV 

 and in the bas-relief of Seti I (Fig. 68), the second king of the 



