The Chariots of King Tutankhamen

A chariot consisted of a light wooden semi-circular, open backed frame provided with an axle and a pair of wheel sometimes more. A long pole or shaft attached to the axle enabled the chariot to be drawn by a pair of horses by means of a yoke

Only 11 examples have survived from ancient Egyptian history. We found 6 chariots in the tomb of Tutankhamen

At the time of their discovery they were all dismantled into small compartments for compactness of storage and heaped in different locations inside the tomb. Four of them were found in the southeastern corner of the antechamber and two others were found placed along the north wall of the treasury. They proved very difficult to reconstruct but after much delicate preservation work five of them were reassembled.

The first appearance of chariots in Egypt was from the Hyksos period; 2nd Intermediate Period. There is a theory which suggests that one of the reasons that the Hyksos managed to invade Egypt was their use of this new equipment which took the Egyptians by surprise

The importance of chariots is that they provide a mobile platform for the archers allowing the enemy to be bombarded by arrows from many different directions

Throughout the New Kingdom chariots were closely associated with the king who is constantly shown driving his chariot by himself and dominating the field of battle. He would control the horses by means of a leather belt tied around his waist and connected to the saddles of the horses. However, non-royal chariots carried two soldiers; the driver and a fighter.

The first scene showing a chariot appeared in the early 18th dynasty depicting Ahmose I from then on it started to be traditional scene depicting the power and the strength of the king and we can compare it to earlier representations of the king with the mace head striking the enemies. Chariots were also mentioned as diplomatic gifts in the correspondence from El Amarna

Its name in ancient Egyptian was wrrt or mrkbt

After the reconstruction of the chariots it was possible to distinguish between two different kinds of chariots:

The state of ceremonial chariots

The hunting chariots

The ceremonial chariots was used by the king during ceremonies or when visiting different parts of the country to check on his people. We have scenes from the reign of Akhenaton representing the king riding his chariot followed by other chariots carrying his wife and daughters and the rest of his officials

These chariots were heavier than the war chariots and were inlaid with semi precious stones, gold, silver and bronze and decorated with highly ornate designs. These chariots were not built for speed, they were built for effect. They were also built for comfort and large umbrellas were attached to offer shade to those who rode in them

The state of ceremonial chariots consisted of a bent wooden frame partly with a thin wooden sheet which is covered in gold leaf and inlaid with colored glass and semi precious stones. The frame is resting upon a platform on which the king would stand unfortunately this is missing. This platform was normally made of bands of wood covered with animal skin and linen matting. These are attached to the axle which connects the two wheels together. The rims of the wheels were originally lined with leather. In the middle there is a sloping rod of shaft ending with a yoke; horizontal rod of wood at which the end will be tied the two horses. There is also a top rail which provided support for the king when he is riding the chariot

 The ancient Egyptians used the chariot for hunting purposes. The hunting chariot offered speed and allowed an archer to concentrate on the prey rather than the horse. The pharaohs favored this form of hunting and were accompanied on such expeditions by large number of their armies. They are decorated with remains of leather panels.

The first chariot:

It is decorated from the outer and inner sides with rishi decoration which was common in the coffins from the 17th dynasty. The significance of the rishi decoration on the coffins is that it may represent the feathers of the Ba bird or the wings of Isis when she was protecting her husband Osiris.

The frame is strengthened at the front with an additional top rail. The space between it and the body of the chariot is decorated in open work with the smA tAwy sign flanked by captives some of whom are represented with their hands tied behind their backs but unfortunately the left side is destroyed

The central inner panel is decorated in raised relief with a representation of a falcon with a solar disk at the top if his head with two cobras attached. This is probably ra Hr Axty but the inscriptions next to it read bHdt on one side and nTr aA nb pt the great god lord of the sky on the other side so maybe this was a mistake and the depiction is of Horus of Behdet. The falcon is holding the shen sign of eternity and two feathers. Underneath there are the cartouches of the king and his wife. The first cartouche is the son of Re name then the niswtbity name then the cartouche of his wife

Under the cartouches there is the Rkhyt bird with up tied wings representing the people of Egypt resting upon the nb sign meaning all. And in front of it a sign of a star dwA meaning to adore and also two ankh signs flanking the dd pillar. The whole scene means that all the people of Egypt adore the Osiris king Tutankhamen

At the bottom there is a representation of the smA tAwy sign. There are also two captives entangled within the sign

There is a circle on each side internally and externally enclosing the wDt eye of Horus sign of protection. On both sides of the frame of the chariot there is a representation of a notched palm rib sign of god HH ending in the frog Hfn and the Sn sign of eternity

The second chariot:

It is decorated with spiral patterns and this is the main difference in decorating the frame of these two chariots. Otherwise it is similar to the first one the entire body is covered with gold leaf and inlaid with semi precious stones.

There are also some more differences: the yoke was decorated with representations of two prisoners one on either side. Also there is a representation of a lotus and papyrus flowers or maybe two papyri decorating the end of the shaft towards the body of the chariot itself.

In the front there are two serpents each one surmounted by a solar disk. The panel in the middle of the outer side contains the cartouches of the king each surmounted by a two feathers and the solar disk. These are flanked on both sides with the Horus name of the king

Decorating the inner side there are the names and titles of the king and his wife followed by the unification sign. Asiatic and Nubian captives were shown under the unification sign flanked on both sides by the figure of the king represented as a standing sphinx wearing the nms headdress with the cobra on his forehead and the false royal beard attached to his chin. There is also a rosette on either side

At the bottom there is a depiction of god Bes on both sides at the end of the frame to provide protection for the king

With both chariots some related materials or accessories were discovered. These included yokes, saddles of gilded wood, spurs for the horses, two blinders to be put on either side of the horses’ eyes and figures of Horus surmounting a captive as a king of decoration to be put on the heads of the horses. It is a symbol of the king as it was well known that Horus represented the living king on earth