The position of the Hatti kings in state affairs, the nature of their kingdom and their empire, has been already disclosed in watching how their power was won.[870] The army was the mainstay of their empire, yet no martial scenes decorate the walls of the palaces and temples that have been hitherto unearthed. This may be accounted for by the essentially feudal nature of the constitution, whereby the bulk of the forces would be composed of troops under the more direct command of the vassal kings and chieftains. Within the domain of his own tribe or tribes, though doubtless a royal bodyguard was maintained, it would almost seem that the power of the Hittite king was sustained rather by constitutional rights such as have been indicated. Some of the religious sculptures, however, give an indication, though in somewhat conventional and maybe antiquated form, of the dress and armour of the Hittite infantry; while the general character of their chariots and arms may be gathered from the hunting scenes of later date in Syrian towns. Where the home sources fail, the Egyptian carvings supply a wealth of detail illustrating all branches of the Hittite forces;[871] and these, though drawn as it were from afar, have none the less the advantage of being contemporary evidence, recorded, too, by past-masters in this branch of archivism, who allowed no characteristic detail to escape them. The freest drawing of a foot-soldier is that from Sinjerli,[872] wherein a warrior is seen armed with a spear and shield; the head of the spear is narrow and ribbed down the middle, and the shaft is about the length of the man; the defensive weapon is of the figure-of-eight shape traditional in Asia Minor, and associated with some branches of the Hittites in Egyptian sculptures.[873] The dirk which is worn, an invariable side-arm of the Hittites, is here shown so long that it looks almost like a two-edged sword; from other sculptures, however, like those of Giaour-Kalesi[874] and Boghaz-Keui,[875] we may be sure that a dirk or dagger is indicated. The crescental hilt and the midrib are noticeable features. That the sword was used, however, may be gathered from other scenes.[876] The dress of the Hittite warrior, like that of his gods, was uniformly the short tunic, short-sleeved vest, shoes with turned-up points, and tall conical hat; the last named is seemingly padded in this instance at the top. Equestrians and charioteers seem to have modified or discarded this head-dress[877] as being unsuitable for rapid motion. In addition to the spear, the bow was doubtless used by both infantry[878] and chariotry;[879] but other implements, originally of an offensive character, like the club, double-axe,[880] mace, and curved dagger,[881] are found only in religious symbolism in such connection that it must be considered doubtful whether they continued to be used in war. The throw-stick is, however, admissible, though found only in