Thutmose IV’s chariot is now on display in the new Museum of Egyptian Civilization. It is an object of great beauty and wonder. It serves double function to show us both a part of an actual chariot and to give us images of other chariots. The images in relief on the body include a mix of four- and eight-spoke vehicles. As far as I can make out, it appears to be a coating of gesso over a timber panel. Cedar is the most likely wood I think for the panel. It is lightweight. Now imagine it in its original splendour, when it gleamed brightly, covered in electrum.Despite sounding as if it is something space age, exotic and rare, electrum is an ancient, naturally occurring ore that was in common use in the ancient world. The first metal coins were struck from it. Electrum is an alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its colour ranges from pale to bright yellow to a yellowy silver, depending on the proportions of the gold, silver and copper. Electrum was used as early as the third millennium BCE in Old Kingdom of Egypt, sometimes decorating the capstones (pyramidions) on pyramids. This chariot may have been purely for ceremonial/ parade but the applied decoration wouldn't really carry any significant additional weight and it is conceivable that a princely vehicle like this could have led squadrons of chariots into battle. What a sight that would have been! Also a timber panel like this would be a good defence against enemy arrows. I recently recorded just over three hours of interview for a History Hit podcast - well they are going to edit it into two podcasts I think. I covered Egyptian, Hittite, Mycenaean, Assyrian, Persian, Libyan, Chinese and Iron Age (Celtic) battle chariots, as well as Hellenistic and Roman sporting chariots. I will announce on this page, when the podcast becomes available. ...
Many congratulations to Steve Lysyj, Rosemary Janes and Andy Mark, who have all won a FREE copy of my book ‘Dogs: Working Origins and Traditional Tasks”. The competition was held by my publisher to celebrate national Pets Day in the UK. I concocted a riddle for them to solve.The Dowager Empress Cixi was my early patronAnd they dressed me in silk, those courtly matronsIt was said that they had something up their sleeve But I was left behind, when Elgin made those ladies leaveThe answer to the riddle is the Pekingese. During the latter half of the 19th-century, Cixi ruled China as Dowager Empress. She famously developed the Pekingese breed. Ladies of her court dressed these dogs in embroidered silk coats. The dogs were also carried in the sleeves of their robes; they were often referred to as ‘sleeve dogs’. In 1860, during the Opium Wars, Lord Elgin sacked the Forbidden Palace. The courtiers had fled but left behind their Pekingese dogs. Shortly afterwards, the first Pekingese dog appeared in Britain.For those who have not yet read the book, you may be wondering why such dogs are featured in a book about working origins – well the answer is simply that, although obviously ALL dogs make the most excellent companions, some breeds were bred exclusively for that purpose – that is their working origin. These companion dogs have a history equally as fascinating as that of Sled Dogs, Water Dogs or Herding Dogs. Many may also wonder why I appear on the front cover face to face with a wolf. The answer is that it was for this chapter –Companion Dogs – that I had the experience of meeting 98% wolf-dogs, in order to understand a little more about that first primal connection between humans and wolves. ...
