The chariots were drawn by either two or three horses, but there was apparently never more than one pole; accordingly when a third horse was harnessed to the chariot, he must have been attached by a rope or thong, and was probably taken as a relief-animal to fill the place of one of the others in the event of either of them being shot through. The trappings of the horses were often very elaborate, as may be seen in Figs. 83, while the chariots were also sometimes very ornate. There are two main types of war-chariot represented on the Assyrian bas-reliefs, one being characteristic of the earlier period, when Calah (Nimrûd) was the capital of the empire, the other of the later epoch when the seat of the government was established at Nineveh. The chariots of the early period are low and short, the wheels being comparatively small, and as a rule only having six spokes, while the chariots portrayed on the later reliefs are generally more capacious and also loftier, while the wheels, which would appear to be about five feet in diameter, are normally eight-spoked (cf. Fig. 108). A position in one of these later chariots consequently gave the warrior a good vantage ground for aiming at the enemy and also for viewing the situation. The poles of the chariots of both periods frequently terminate in the head of an animal, an ox or a horse as the case may be. Sometimes a cross-bar was fixed to the end of the pole, which also occasionally terminated in the heads of animals, the cross-bar being at times straight, at others curved. [Illustration: FIG. 108.] [Illustration: FIG. 109.] From this brief description of the military equipment of the Assyrians, it will be at once manifest how elaborate must have been the organization of the army. Reference has frequently been made to the conical-shaped helmets of the soldiers, and the similarly shaped tiaras of the kings, but it must not be supposed that all Assyrian head-gears were conical. Some idea of the diversity of head-coverings used in Assyria may be gained from the selection reproduced in Fig. 109. The most noteworthy of these is the horned crown in the centre (A), which was worn by the colossal winged-bulls. The horns which are the symbol of divinity, occupy a prominent position on the head-coverings of nearly all Babylonian and Assyrian gods, and their presence on the head-gear of a human-headed bull is indicative of the divine character with which they endowed these colossi. The top of this massive crown or hat is decorated with a row of feathers, while its face is adorned with the familiar rosettes. In (B) we have a royal tiara, and (C), (D), (E) and (F) illustrate the different kinds of fillets worn round the head, while (G) to (M) exhibit the various types of helmets used in the Assyrian army. [Illustration: FIG. 110.]