We find certain words used in describing them, both by Homer, who lived
a thousand years before Christ, and by Moses, who lived at least five
hundred years earlier, and that the words are technical terms, such as
axles, wheels, naves, felloes, tyres, spokes, &c. Now technical terms
imply that the art that had such terms must have existed prior to the
writer who speaks of the art, so that, if we hesitated as to the date of
the chariots sculptured and painted on the walls of the Egyptian
temples, we are reassured by the terms used by the authors we name.
Moses, in the description of the wheels upon which moved the great
cauldron used by the priest, and Homer, in describing the car of the
goddess Juno, used the same terms. We read in the fifth book of the
Iliad, “The awful Juno led out the golden-bitted horses, whilst Hebe
fitted the whirling wheels on the iron axles of the swift chariot. The
wheels had each eight brazen spokes, the felloes were of gold secured
with brazen tyres all round, admirable to the sight. The seat was of
gold, hung by silver cords; the beam (or pole) was of silver, at the end
of which was hung the golden yoke and the golden reins.”
These cars [Plate 1, Figure 1] were occasionally square, but more
generally semicircular or horse-shoe shaped; the rounded front towards
the horses was high, the sides lower, the back was open, and the bottom
was near the ground, so that it was easy to step in and out. The wheels,
especially in Egypt, were very low, from 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. 3 in. in
height. The framework of the body was often open, but sometimes closed
up with leather skins or basket-work, and occasionally with carved wood
or embossed metal. The pole by which it was supported curved up from the
bottom of the bar to the backs of the necks of the horses or oxen, where
it was joined to a wooden yoke, this was again strapped round the bodies
and necks of the horses, or tied to the horns of the oxen. The addition
of bridles and reins would complete the simple harness. Some horses were
attached to the pole by an iron bar with knobs at each end, which passed
through a ring at the end of the pole, and through a similar ring upon
each of the pads or saddles of the horses. This would be very similar to
the curricle bars used in modern times, and would allow of more
[Illustration: PLATE 1.
FIG: 1. EGYPTIAN CAR,
FIG: 2. GRECIAN CAR,
FIG. 3. ROMAN CAR]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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