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CHARIOT

A wheeled vehicle that served a variety of functions over a long history, including ordinary transportation, hunting, royal and religious processions, and warfare. Its design was altered and improved through the centuries. By the time that chariot races were held in major cities of the Roman Empire, this vehicle — in one form or another — had been used for more than three millennia. The chariot is best known for its role in war, as a mobile fighting platform (for two or three riders) in conflicts fought on broad, flat battlefields. Information about the chariot’s evolution comes from a variety of sources — texts, art, and archaeological remains, i.e., the remains of actual chariots (in Egypt).

The earliest chariots were built in Mesopotamia during the latter part of the 4th millennium b.c.; these early models were heavy, four-wheeled, and sometimes pulled by teams of onagers. By the 1st millennium the chariot had passed through almost every conceivable variation in design and construction. Information on the Neo-Assyrian chariot is not equal to what is known about the Egyptian vehicle, since so many examples of the latter have survived in Egyptian tombs. While chariots were used by other ancient Near Eastern armies (e.g., in Anatolia, Syria, Israel), the Late Bronze Age Egyptian and Iron Age Assyrian war chariots were superior to their competitors, and tremendous effort (research and development) was invested to improve the war chariot. Changes in the design and construction of chariots resulted when armies returned from battles, as in the great chariot engagement at Kedesh-on-the-Orontes, in 1286.

Chariots served as symbols of power and prestige, as when the Egyptian pharaoh gave Joseph a chariot (Gen. 41:43; cf. 46:29; 50:9; 2 Sam. 15:1; 1 Kgs. 1:5). In the account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, the status of the latter is indicated by his use of a chariot for transportation (Acts 8:26-40). Egyptian kings were portrayed in chariots to indicate their military prowess, and some of these chariots were buried with them in royal tombs.

The Hebrews felt overwhelmed when facing the Egyptian chariotry at the Red Sea (Exod. 14:6-7, 17-18; 15:4, 19). These were the sleek, lightweight chariots known from New Kingdom art and similar to the examples from Egyptian tombs, including six recovered from the tomb of Tutankhamen. Later, the Canaanites (Josh. 11:4-9; 17:16; Judg. 1:19; 4:3, 13) and Philistines (1 Sam. 13:5) used chariots against the Hebrews. Samuel warned the Hebrews who asked for a king that this step to nationhood would require them to give up sons to man chariots in time of war (1 Sam. 8:11-17).

David captured chariots in his war with the Arameans (2 Sam. 8:4); this was easier than Israel’s building their own, since the production of chariots required considerable expertise. Solomon gave considerable attention to the development of chariot forces (1 Kgs. 4:26; 9:19, 22; 10:26, 29); the attempt to identify archaeologically Solomon’s facilities for horses and chariots remains controversial. Chariots remained in use for later Hebrew kings (1 Kgs. 22:34-38; 2 Kgs. 9:21-25; 2 Chr. 35:24); Ahab contributed a chariot force to the coalition that met Shalmaneser III at Qarqar in 853. Jer. 51:21 refers to Cyrus as God’s weapon who would “shatter chariot and charioteer.” The only portrayal of an Israelite chariot is found on Sennacherib’s wall relief that documents his attack on Lachish in 701.

Bibliography. M. A. Littauer and J. H. Crouwel, Chariots and Related Equipment from the Tomb of Tutʿankhamun (Oxford, 1985); Wheeled Vehicles and Ridden Animals in the Ancient Near East. HO 7, 1/2, B/1 (Leiden, 1979); Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands (Jerusalem, 1963).

Gerald L. Mattingly

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CHARIOT

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)