I am currently reading Ian Shaw's book Ancient Egyptian Warfare .
it seems to imply that Egyptians chariotry was different as the chariots being light, manoeuvrable and made for shooters with lots of arrows. There is a contrast with other nations ( Hittites, Mitani ...) that would not be shooty but more short spears !
In MEG hitties and so on are bow skileld shooters !
So I just wonder why
I haven't read the book. The reviews I saw weren't tremendously favourable. They implied the book was more an introduction to Egyptian wars and warfare. Shaw wrote a more detailed book on Egyptian warfare in 1999.
I think any suggestion that Hittite chariots weren't "shooty" would be highly controversial. Hittite manuals for training chariot horse pairs survive and it is clear that these were mobile shooting platforms.
Maryannu (e.g. Mitanni charioteers) were definitely archers.
All chariots of this era, Egyptian included, carried javelins and short spears to use as well as the bow.
Richard
I am reading a 2019 édition but cannot say more 8)
Quote from: lionheartrjc on May 19, 2021, 04:58:05 PM
I think any suggestion that Hittite chariots weren't "shooty" would be highly controversial.
I wonder how the (large scale) propaganda machine of Ramses II would have reacted :):):)
He 'won' and faced them personally at Kadesh...
I guess a fine example of not always taking historical accounts at face value.
History is written by the victorious (or by those who have the sharpest pen).
In fact Shaw has written on the propaganda machine of the Egyptian pharaohs.
Assyrians did the same ( propaganda )
The Ancients podcast recently did an episode with an expert on chariot warfare. Well worth a listen. The guest, whose name I can't recall, discusses the nature of chariot warfare during the Bronze Age and chariot warfare in China. He likens chariot warfare in the middle east to a dogfight.
Australian Academic (Professor Trevor Bryce) has shown that the Hittite chariots were not rank busters but heavy archery platforms. Archaeological evidence suggests the fighting crews were primarily archers with a spear for close combat. Less mobile but less fragile.