* The numbers of horses brought from Syria either as spoils of war or as tribute paid by the vanquished are frequently recorded in the Annals of Thutmosis III.  Besides the usual species, powerful stallions were imported from Northern Syria, which were known by the Semitic name of Abiri, the strong.  In the tombs of the XVIIIth dynasty, the arrival of Syrian horses in Egypt is sometimes represented.

[Illustration:  314.jpg THE EGYPTIAN CHARIOT PRESERVED IN THE FLORENCE MUSEUM]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken by Petrie.

The Pharaohs kept studs of horses in the principal cities of the Nile valley, and the great feudal lords, following their example, vied with each other in the possession of numerous breeding stables.  The office of superintendent to these establishments, which was at the disposal of the Master of the Horse, became in later times one of the most important State appointments.*

* In the story of the conquest of Egypt by the Ethiopian Pionkhi, studs are indicated at Hermopolis, at Athribis, in the towns to the east and in the centre of the Delta, and at Sais.  Diodorus Siculus relates that, in his time, the foundations of 100 stables, each capable of containing 200 horses, were still to be seen on the western bank of the river between Memphis and Thebes.

[Illustration:  315.jpg THE KING CHARGING ON HIS CHARIOT]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph.

The first chariots introduced into Egypt were, like the horses, of foreign origin, but when built by Egyptian workmen they soon became more elegant, if not stronger than their models.  Lightness was the quality chiefly aimed at; and at length the weight was so reduced that it was possible for a man to carry his chariot on his shoulders without fatigue.  The materials for them were on this account limited to oak or ash and leather; metal, whether gold or silver, iron or bronze, being used but sparingly, and then only for purposes of ornamentation.  The wheels usually had six, but sometimes eight spokes, or occasionally only four.  The axle consisted of a single stout pole of acacia.  The framework of the chariot was composed of two pieces of wood mortised together so as to form a semicircle or half-ellipse, and closed by a straight bar; to this frame was fixed a floor of sycomore wood or of plaited leather thongs.  The sides of the chariot were formed of upright panels, solid in front and open at the sides, each provided with a handrail.  The pole, which was of a single piece of wood, was bent into an elbow at about one-fifth of its length from the end, which was inserted into the centre of the axletree.  On the gigantic T thus formed was fixed the body of the chariot, the hinder part resting on the axle, and the front attached to the bent part of the pole, while the whole was firmly bound together with double leather thongs.  A yoke of hornbeam, shaped like a bow, to which the