Wheeled Vehicles

Sources

Late Development . Wheeled vehicles appear relatively late in Egypt—surprisingly enough, there is no evidence that any sort of wheeled transport was available to the builders of the great Dynasty 4 pyramids at Giza, for example. Instead, wheels are pictured for the first time in the late Old Kingdom (circa 2675-2130 b.c.e.). From Dynasty 6, a tomb painting shows wheels used to help move a ladder in a scene of soldiers attempting to storm an enemy town. Wheeled sledges are pictured in tombs from the Dynasties 5, 11, and 13. All of these early examples are solid wheels, made without spokes.

Earliest Spoked Wheels . The use of spoked wheels appears to have been introduced into Egypt around the time of the transition from the Second Intermediate Period to the New Kingdom. The first known spoked wheels in Egypt are from a small wheeled cart with a model boat set on it from the tomb of Ahhotep, mother of Ahmose (Amosis), the first pharaoh of Dynasty 18. But the most important use of spoked wheels was as part of the basic construction of battle chariots, mentioned for the first time in an inscription of the very end of Dynasty 17. In all likelihood, chariots were not developed in Egypt but were, along with horses, introduced into Egypt from Syria-Palestine. Their actual original home is a matter of conjecture. The earliest examples of Egyptian chariots have wheels with only four spokes, but relatively soon afterward up to ten spokes were utilized. The construction of spoked wheels is illustrated in several tomb scenes.

King Tut’s Chariots . Of course the best evidence of how wheeled vehicles in Egypt were constructed comes from actual examples, most of which come from the tomb of Tutankhamun. Six chariots were discovered in his tomb. All of their wheels have six spokes and are quite complex in their construction, involving artificially bent wood, glue, and rawhide as binding materials. A lining of leather, and probably a lubricant of animal fat, was used to make the revolution of the wheel on its axle smoother and quieter. Chariots had wheels set well apart so that they would remain stable during fast, tight turns; they were completely open in back so that the two passengers, a driver and an archer, could quickly enter and exit the car. Some illustrations show that a skilled driver could tie the chariot reigns around his waist and steer with his body movements, leaving his hands free to fire arrows.

A Royal Prerogative . Chariots were always associated with royalty in Egypt, and throughout Dynasties 18, 19, and early 20, images of the pharaoh in a chariot—hunting or battling his enemies—are a major piece of royal iconography. Aside from the chariots from the tomb of Tutankhamun, fragmentary remains of chariots have come from the tombs of Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III, and Ay. At least some high-ranking nonroyals could also take chariots into the next

world with them, such as Yuya and Tuya, the father- and mother-in-law of Amenhotep III. Another intact Egyptian chariot, now in a museum in Florence, Italy, may well have come from a nonroyal tomb, but its exact origin is unknown.

Sources

M.A. Littauer and J. H. Crouwel, Chariots and Related Equipment from the Tomb of Tut’ankhamun (Oxford: Griffith Institute, 1985).

Robert Partridge, Transport in Ancient Egypt (London: Rubicon Press, 1996).

B. G. Trigger and others, Ancient Egypt: A Social History (Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983).