CHARIOT RACES. See GAMES. CHARIOTS (char (Heb. nter-kaw baw' mer-kawb').
The Scriptures employ different words to de note carriages of different sorts, but it is not in every case easy to distinguish the kind of vehicle which these words severally denote. We are now, however, through the discovery of ancient sculp tures and paintings, in possession of such in formation respecting the chariots of Egypt, As syria, Babylon, and Persia as gives advantages in the discussion of this subject which were not possessed by earlier writers. The chariots of these nations are, in fact, mentioned in the Scrip tures ; and by connecting the known with the unknown, we may arrive at more determinate conclusions that have hitherto been attainable.
(1) Early Mention. The first chariots men tioned in Scripture are those of the Egyptians; and by close attention to the various notices which occur respecting them, we may be able to discriminate between the different kinds which were in use among that people.
The earliest notice on this head occurs in Gen. xli :43, where the king of Egypt honors Joseph by commanding that he should ride in the second of the royal chariots. This was doubtless a state chariot, and the state-chariots of the Egyptians do not appear to have been different from their war-chariots, the splendid military appointments of which rendered them fit for purposes of royal pomp. This view of the matter is confirmed by our finding that although the same word (iler cabah) is again used for chariots of state in Gen. xlvi:29,t Sam. viii :11, 2 Sam. xv :t, it undoubt edly denotes a war-chariot in Exod. xv :4; Joel ii :5. In Is. ii :7, the same word appears to com prehend chariots of every kind which were found in cities.
(2) Private Carriages. We also observe that where private carriages were known, as in Egypt, they were of the same shape as those used in war, and only differed from them by having less complete military accouterments, although even in these the case for arrows is not wanting. One of the most interesting of the Egyptian paintings represents a person of quality arriving late at an entertainment in his curricle, drawn (like all the Egyptian chariots) by two horses. He is attended by a number of running footmen, one of whom hastens forward to knock at the door of the house, another advances to take the reins, a third bears a stool to assist his master in alighting; and most of these carry their sandals in their hands that they may run with the more ease. This conveys a lively illustration of such
passages as r Sam. viii:t t ; 2 Sam. xv :1.
(3) War Chariots. The principal distinction between these private chariots and those actually used in war was, as appears from the monu ments, that in the former the party drove him self, whereas in war the chariot, as among the Greeks, often contained a second person to drive it, that the warrior might be at liberty to em ploy his weapons with the more effect. But this was not always the case; for in the Egyptian monuments we often see even royal personages alone in their chariots, warring furiously, with the reins lashed round their waist. So it ap pears that Jehu (who certainly rode in a war chariot) drove himself ; for his peculiar style of driving was recognized at a considerable dis tance (2 Kings ix :20).
(4) of Terms. There has been some speculation as to any difference of meaning between the preceding word mcreabah and mer cab. In Lev. xv :9 (rendered in the Auth. Vers. 'saddle') and Cant. (rendered 'the tom') it has been understood by some to de note the seat of a chariot. To this view there is the fatal objection that ancient chariots had no seats. It appears to denote the seat of a litter (the only vehicle that had a seat), and its name mercab may have been derived from the general resemblance of the body of a litter (distinguished from the canopy, etc.), both in form and use, to that of a chariot.
Another word, rekeb, from the same root, ap pears to signify a carriage of any kind, and is especially used with reference to large bodies of carriages, and hence most generally of war-char iots ; for chariots were anciently seldom seen to gether in large numbers except when employed in war. It is applied indifferently to the war-chari ots of any nation, as to those of the Egyptians (Exod. xiv :9), the Canaanites (Josh. xvii :18;. Judg. i :19; iv:3), the Hebrews (2 Kings 24; x :16), the Syrians (2 Kings v :9), the Per sians (Is. xxi :7, 9). By a comparison of these references with those passages in which mercabah occurs. we find the two words applied with so little distinction to all sorts of carriages as to suggest that they were used indifferently and interchangeably.