which constituted a very large and effective portion of the Egyptian army.

Each car contained two persons, like the diphros (ogos*) of the Greeks. On some occasions it carried three, the charioteer or driver and two chiefs; but this was rarely the case, except in triumphal processions, when two of the princes or noble youths accompanied the king in their chariot, bearing the regal sceptre, or the flabella, and required a third person to manage the reins. In the field each had his own car, with a charioteer; and the insignia of his office being attached behind him by a broad belt ‡, his hands were free for the use of the bow and other arms. When on an excursion for pleasure, or on a visit to a friend, an Egyptian gentleman, or even the king, mounted alone, and drove himself, footmen and other attendants running before and behind the car, (like the syïs or grooms of modern Egypt and India,) who, when the carriage stopped, were ready to take the reins, and walked the horses till their master returned, continuing, however, on foot §, and not venturing to step into it; a custom equally observed by those who wished to show marked respect to the king, when passing before or following him, in state processions.

A name which implies carrying two. The Roman war chariot also contained two persons; the bellator, or warrior, and the auriga, or driver. Virg. Æn. ix. 330., ii. 469. 624. 737. Conf. Isaiah, xi. 7. "A chariot with a couple of horsemen." Or rather 1 Kings, xxii. 34., and 2 Chron. xviii. 33.; since the former appears to refer to men riding Fares, is also in Arabic, a horseman (or a Persian); and farras, the mare, is the horse par excellence. + Vide wood-cut, No. 48. fig. 1. Wood-cut, No. 4. p. 46.

.פרשים,on horses

Vide wood-cut, No. 49.

from his car, to lead his troops over hilly and precipitous heights inaccessible to chariots, to the

*Conf. Hom. Il. 0, 109. 113.

2

In battle, also, many attendants were always in readiness; and whenever a general dismounted

No 48

The Royal Princes in their chariots.

Thebes.

assault of a fortified town, or for any other purpose, they took charge of the horses, and keeping them in some secure place they awaited his return, or followed at a short distance; and a second car with fresh horses was always ready in the rear, in order to provide against accident, or the still less welcome chance of a defeat.

In the battle scenes of the Egyptian temples, the king is represented alone in his car, unattended by any charioteer t, the reins fastened round his body, while engaged in bending his bow against the enemy; but it may be doubted whether we are to infer the absence of that person: and he may have been omitted, in order not to interfere with the principal figure and feature of the picture, which, with a similar notion of exclusiveness, they were accustomed to draw of colossal dimensions.

The cars of the whole chariot corps contained each two warriors, comrades of equal rank, both joining in the labours and glory of the fight; and if the charioteer who accompanied a chieft did not hold the same high station, he was probably appointed to the post as a mark of distinction; and from the familiar manner in which one of them is represented conversing with a son of the great Remeses, we may conclude the office was filled by persons of consideration, who were worthy of the friendship they enjoyed. §

As with the Greeks, the employment was neither servile nor ignoble; and if Hector, Nestort, Ulyssest, and others were not ashamed to act in this capacity, Egyptian officers of note, in like manner, undertook the management of their own cars, and prided themselves on their skill in driving, as in wielding the javelin and bow: but whether the chariot race was instituted in Egypt does not appear; and we may conclude from the absence of the subject in their sculptures, and of the hippodrome in the precincts of towns of early date, that the celebration of games similar to those of Greece was unknown there, previous to the Macedonian conquest: the only hippodromes being at

* Il. o, 352. " (Εκτωρ) μαστιγι κατωμαδον ήλασεν ιππους:” and the gods frequently.

+ II., 116. Nestor mounts the car of Diomed, and takes the reins and whip.

II. x, 513.

Alexandria, and at the Roman town of Antinoë, founded by Hadrian, in Upper Egypt.

In driving, the Egyptians used a whip, like the heroes and charioteers of Homer; and this, or a short stick, was generally employed even for beasts of burden, and for oxen at the plough, in preference to the goad. The whip consisted of a

2

3

No. 50.

Whips.

Thebes.

smooth round wooden handle, and a single or double thong it sometimes had a lash of leather, or string, about two feet in length, either twisted or platted; and a loop being attached to the lower end, the archer was enabled to use the bow, while it hung suspended from his wrist.*

When a hero encountered a hostile chief, he sometimes dismounted from his car, and substituting for his bow and quiver the spear, battle-axe, or falchion, he closed with him hand to hand, like the

* Vide wood-cut, No. 51., next page.