Chariots

A two-wheeled horse-driven military vehicle, apparently the invention of the Hittites. In ancient times chariots represented the most expensive items of military spending, as well as being one of the most formidable and awe-inspiring vessal of war. Drawn by horses bred for their strength and speed, their speed makes them difficult to target and gives them a momentum that is fatal to anyone in their paths. This, however, is possible only on fairly level terrains, and were, therefore, used mainly for warfare on the plains. Once they lose this mobility they become sitting ducks, as happened to Sisera's nine hundred chariots when they got stuck in the rain soaked ground by the Kishon (Judg 4:13ff.). This makes them unsuitable the hill country (where Judah mainly dwelt); the terrain quickly exhausts the horses and slows them down. This was one of the reasons why the Philistines never quite managed to suppress the Judeans in the hill-countries but was able to inflict some quite serious punishment on the northern tribes with their more level terrain (on this aspect of chariotry, see esp., Judg 1:19b).

Chariots did not become a significant tool for ancient Israel until late in the reign of David and especially in the reign of Solomon when Israel's territorial holdings expanded to include much level grounds. They were also expensive to procure (1 Ki 10:29 reports that Solomon's—imported from Egypt—cost "six hundred silver shekels") and the cost of maintainence extremely high. Among the first Israelites to use the chariot was Absalom (David's son who would later rebel against him) who armed "himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him" (2 Sam 15:1). That he should so flaunt his royal excesses was already a portent of the things to come. Solomon is reported to have "four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses" (1 Ki 4:26). Subsequent kings, both of Israel and Judah boasted large contingents of chariots.

Wall carving from an Assyrian palace, now in the British Museum.