Chariot

chariot, open, two- or four-wheeled vehicle of antiquity, probably first used in royal funeral processions and later employed in warfare, racing, and hunting. The chariot apparently originated in Mesopotamia in about 3000 bc; monuments from Ur and Tutub depict battle parades that include heavy vehicles with solid wheels, their bodywork framed with wood and covered with skins. On the earliest chariots the wheels rotated on a fixed axle that was linked by a draft pole to the yoke of a pair of oxen. To the axle was attached a superstructure consisting of a platform protected by sidescreens and a high dashboard. These Mesopotamian chariots were mounted by both spearman and charioteer, although it is doubtful that fighting was conducted from the vehicle itself.

The two-wheeled version soon proved superior in battle because of its higher maneuverability. Greater speed was attained by the use of teams of two or four onagers and by the evolution of the light, spoked wheel. The introduction of the horse as a draft animal in about 2000 bc was the final step in the development of the chariot into a military arm that revolutionized warfare in the ancient world by providing armies with unprecedented mobility. Chariotry contributed to the victories, in the 2nd millennium bc, of the Hyksos in Egypt, the Hittites in Anatolia, the Aryans in northern India, and the Mycenaeans in Greece. By 1435 bc Egyptians were making chariots, and by the end of the century chariots with four-spoked wheels and light design were in use throughout the Levant and had been introduced to Minoan Crete and the southern European mainland.

Bronze chariot plaques and horse trappings from graves of the Shang dynasty (18th–12th century bc) indicate that chariotry was introduced to the Chinese steppes by the 14th century bc, but no reconstruction of the earliest types is possible. Chariots of c. 300 bc found in a burial at Liu-li-ho, in Peking municipality, have dished wheels but otherwise are similar in construction to Celtic chariots in western Europe.

In Europe the chariot was transmitted, perhaps by the Etruscans, to the Celts, who were using it in the British Isles about the 5th century bc. The bodywork of Celtic chariots was somewhat heavier than that of the Greek, and metal, sometimes inlaid with fine enamels, was extensively used for axle and draft pole, and occasionally for solid wheels. On the fringe of the Celtic world, where the chariot remained in use until the 4th century ad, small ponies, yoked four abreast, were used for draft.

By the time of Alexander the Great, the war chariot had been superseded by cavalry, but chariot racing had become popular in Greece and was a main feature of the Olympic Games and of the Pythian Games at Delphi. In the Roman circus games, chariot racing took foremost place, and chariotry became socially important. Racing vehicles were drawn by two, three, or four horses, although as many as 10 horses were harnessed on spectacular occasions; chariots drawn by dogs and even ostriches are mentioned.

In England and America in the 18th and early 19th centuries, a popular four-wheeled vehicle was called a chariot. It was essentially the rear half of a coach, cut off just in front of the door.