Horse

The Horse in Ancient Egypt


 * Egyptian Name:**

//Htr, Ssmt,// or //Zezemet//


 * Hieroglyphics:**



The horse was introduced by the Hyksos late in Egyptian history, at the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period. Thuthmose listed 2,000 horses and 894 chariots seized as booty during a war campaign. Always a rare animal, it was kept exclusively by the upper classes for war, hunting, and short-distance transport. Asiatic kings brought pharaohs gifts of horses. Ancient horses were fairly small: using the yoke measurements of surviving chariots, an average height of 4 feet (1.2 meters), 6 inches (15 cm) has been calculated, not much bigger than the Egyptian donkey.

Systematic breeding produced elegant and swift animals with long bodies and slender legs; speed, not power, was the main objective. A pair (team) of horses are often shown pulling a light two-wheeled chariot, requiring minimal muscular effort. Chariot races, like those held in ancient Rome, were popular, and the powerful weapon of chariotry became the pride of the pharaohs. King Tutankhamen in particular enjoyed racing - six full-sized chariots were found in his tomb.

The state barracks excavated at Amarna was designed to house up to two hundred horses. The chariotry here acted as a guard of honor for the pharaoh and a police flying squad, and led the charge in battle. Regrettably, no ancient Egyptian horse-training manuals survive. Scribal literature, which often compares the breaking-in of horses with that of youths, portrays the horse as wiser than unruly pupils! Putting a yoke upon a horse was one of the symbols the scribe Ani used in his //Teachings// to describe education and its effects: "The horse which has stepped under its yoke, it obeys and goes outside."

A stela describes how Amenophis II, while still a young prince, "adored horses and delighted in them. He was tenacious in working them, one who knew their nature, and was conversant with their training, having close acquaintance with their disposition." He was accustomed to harness them with the bridle himself, and drove from Memphis to Giza in order to visit the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Ramses III is depicted in the royal stables "inspecting the horses which his [own] hands trained."

Royal equids were distinguished by their ostrich-plumed headdresses, and were often given individual names. The pair used by Ramses II were called "Victory in Thebes" and "Mut is Contented." Other examples are "Repulser of Foreigners," "Amun Gives Might," "Anat is Satisfied," and "Trampler of Foreign Countries." Saddles, blinkers, and stirrups were unknown - a simple bridle and reigns, a harness in the chariot, and perhaps a colorful neck cloth or decorative blanket on the back were the only gear worn by horses.

Beloved horses were often mummified and buried with their owners, so that they could be together in the afterlife. King Piye had four of his horses buried in his tomb, each wrapped in linen bandages and wearing silver trappings, riding blankets, and strings of ornate beads. Each horse was interred in its own massive, painted wooden coffin. A courtier named Senenmut had his favorite horse, a chestnut mare, buried with him. Pharaohs often had themselves portrayed riding in a war chariot, trampling the enemies of Egypt under their horses' hooves.

Apart from their breaking-in and training, horses were invariably confined to stables, where they received daily rations of grass and straw (oats were unknown in ancient Egypt.) A letter relates: "The horse teams of my lord are well; I have their allotted measure mixed before them, and their grooms bring them the best grass from the marshes. I assign grass to them daily and give ointment to rub them every month, and their chiefs of the stable trot them every ten days." The leisured lifestyle of the horse contracts sharply with the equally valued but exploited donkey.

The horse was used as a symbol of a young woman's lover in a poem dating to the New Kingdom: "Oh that you come to your lady swiftly! Like a horse of the king, picked from a thousand steeds of all kinds, the choicest of the stables. It is singled out in its feed, its master knows its paces; when it hears the sound of the whip, there is no holding it back. There is no chief of charioteers who could overtake it! The lady is aware: He is not far from her!"

Perhaps because of the small size of Egyptian horses, the ancient Egyptians considered bareback riding to be undignified. Prince Tefnakhte of Sais, in the 25th Dynasty, is described fleeing from his enemies: "He mounted a horse without [even] asking [for] his chariot." This was clearly an ignominious retreat! There was no native Egyptian deity associated with the horse, although it was associated with a foreign goddess, Astarte.

Livestock of Ancient Egypt