The article about "three battles on ice" sparked an interesting discussion in the comments about the different types of protective armor. As always, there were people who spoke about the subject, but had superficial knowledge about it. Therefore, it will probably be interesting to consider the genesis of armor from ancient times, and on the basis of the works of authoritative historians. Well, and to start the story about armor will have to be with the history of … cavalry! Since you can't carry a lot of iron on yourself on a hike!
So, to begin with: where, when and where on the planet did the horse become a pet? Today it is believed that this may have happened in the region of the Northern Black Sea region. A tamed horse gave a person the opportunity to hunt much more efficiently, to move from place to place, but most importantly - to fight successfully. In addition, a person who managed to subjugate such a strong animal was purely psychologically master of all those who did not have horses! So they often bowed before the rider without any war! No wonder they turned out to be heroes of ancient legends, in which they were called centaurs - creatures that combine the essence of man and horse.
If we turn to artifacts, then the ancient Sumerians who lived in Mesopotamia in the III millennium BC. NS. already had chariots on four wheels, in which they harnessed mules and donkeys. The battle chariots used by the Hittites, Assyrians and Egyptians turned out to be more convenient and high-speed; NS.
The Standard of War and Peace (circa 2600-2400 BC) is a pair of inlaid decorative panels discovered by Leonard Woolley's expedition during the excavation of the Sumerian city of Ur. Each plate is decorated with a mosaic of mother-of-pearl, shells, red limestone and lapis lazuli attached to a black bitumen base. On them, against a lapis lazuli background, scenes from the life of the ancient Sumerians are lined with mother-of-pearl plates in three rows. The dimensions of the artifact are 21, 59 by 49, 53 cm. The panel depicting the war shows a border skirmish with the participation of the Sumerian army. Opponents perish under the wheels of heavy chariots drawn by kulans. The wounded and humiliated captives are brought to the king. Another panel depicts a scene of a feast, where the feasts are enjoying themselves playing the harp. The purpose of the panels is not entirely clear. Woolley assumed that they were carried to the battlefield as a kind of banner. Some scholars, emphasizing the peaceful nature of a number of scenes, believe that it was some kind of container or case for storing the harp. Today "The Standard from Ur" is kept in the British Museum.
Their chariots were uniaxial, and the axle was attached behind the cart itself, so part of its weight, along with the drawbar, was distributed to the horses harnessed to it. In such a chariot, two or three horses were harnessed, and its "carriage" consisted of a driver and one or two archers. Thanks to the chariots, the same, for example, the Egyptians won the Battle of Megiddo and did not concede (at least!) To the Hittites at Kadesh.
But the most massive battle with the use of war chariots is again legendary: it is described in the ancient Indian epic "Mahabharata" - "The Great Battle of the Descendants of Bharata." It is interesting to note that the first mention of the epic about the war between the descendants of King Bharata dates back to the 4th century. BC, and was recorded only in the V - IV centuries. ADIn fact, the "Mahabharata" has been formed over the course of a whole millennium! As an epic monument, this work is unmatched. However, a lot can be learned from it, for example, how the ancient Indo-Europeans fought, what military equipment and armor they had.
Judging by the composition of the mythical military unit akshauhini, which included 21870 chariots, 21870 elephants, 65610 horsemen and 109,350 infantrymen. Chariots, elephants, horsemen and infantry took part in the battles. It is significant that chariots come first on this list, and most of the heroes of the poem do not fight as horsemen or on elephants, but standing on chariots and leading their troops.
If we discard all kinds of artistic exaggerations and descriptions of the use of "divine weapons", the most fantastic in their action, then for any researcher of this poem it will become obvious that the bow and arrows occupy the main place in its entire arsenal. The convenience of their use for the warriors who were on the chariot is obvious: one, standing on its platform, shoots, while the other drives the horses.
Of course, both of these warriors must have good training, since it is not at all easy to control a chariot in battle. It is interesting that the Pandava princes in the "Mahabharata", demonstrating their dexterity in the use of weapons and horse riding, hit targets with arrows at full gallop. Then they show the ability to drive chariots and ride elephants, after which they again show the ability to wield a bow, and only lastly, wielding a sword and a club.
Interestingly, the bows of the main characters of the Mahabharata, as a rule, have their own names. Arjuna's bow, for example, is called Gandiva, and in addition to it he has two never-running quivers, which are usually found on his chariot, and Krishna's bow is called Sharanga. Other types of weapons and equipment have their own names: this is how Krishna's throwing disc is called Sudarshana, and Arjuna's shell, which replaced his horn or trumpet, is called Devadatta. Swords, which are used by pandavas and kauras in battle only when arrows and other types of weapons are used up, do not have their own names, which is also very significant. It was not so with the medieval knights of Europe, for whom swords have proper names, but not bows.
To protect themselves from enemy weapons, the Mahabharata warriors usually put on shells, have helmets on their heads, and carry shields in their hands. In addition to bows - their most important weapon, they use spears, darts, clubs, used not only as shock weapons, but also for throwing, throwing discs - chakras, and only last but not least, the warriors in the poem take up swords.
Shooting from bows, standing on a chariot, the Pandavas and Kauravas use different types of arrows, and very often - their arrows have crescent-shaped tips, with which they cut the bowstrings of the bows and the bows themselves in the hands of their opponents, cut through the clubs thrown at them, and the enemy armor, as well as shields and even swords! The poem is literally filled with reports of whole streams of arrows sent by miraculous arrows, and how they kill enemy elephants with them, smash war chariots and repeatedly pierce each other. Moreover, it is significant that not every pierced person is immediately killed, although someone is struck with three, someone with five or seven, and someone with seven or ten arrows at once.
For all the fabulousness of the plot of the Mahabharata, this is only an exaggerated display of the fact that many arrows, piercing the armor and even, perhaps, getting stuck in them, did not inflict serious injuries on the warrior himself, and he continued the battle, all stuck with arrows that fell into him - the situation is quite typical and for the medieval era. At the same time, the goal for the enemy soldiers was the warrior himself on the chariot, and the horses, and the driver who participates in the battle, however, he himself does not actually fight. It should be especially noted that many of the chariots operating in the poem adorn banners, by which both their own and strangers recognize them from afar. For example, the chariot of Arjuna had a banner with the image of the god of monkeys Hanuman, while on the chariot of his mentor and adversary Bhishma a banner with a golden palm and three stars fluttered.
It is interesting to note that the heroes of the "Mahabharata" fight not only with bronze, but also with iron weapons, in particular, they use "iron arrows". However, the latter, as well as all the fratricide that takes place in the poem, is explained by the fact that then people had already entered the Kaliyuga - the "Iron Age", the age of sin and vice, which began three thousand years BC.
At the same time, the "Mahabharata" also confirms that horse riding was already known then, and for some time the development of cavalry and chariots proceeded in parallel.
Note that the importance of the horse only increased over time, which is confirmed by the numerous finds of horse harness, which was placed in the grave along with the dead, their weapons, as well as jewelry and other "necessary things in the next world", although much in ancient graves after so many centuries have not survived. At first, people rode bareback horses. Then, for the convenience of the rider, they began to put a skin or blanket on the horse's back, and so that it would not slip, they tried to fix it, and this is how the girth appeared.
Soft bits appeared before hard bits, as evidenced by ethnographic data. For example, such bits were often used by peasants of remote villages in tsarist Russia. On a belt or rope, they tied knots, the distance between which was 5-7 cm greater than the width of the horse's jaw. So that it would not "pull", sticks 8-10 cm long with cutouts in the middle were inserted into them. Then the "bit" was thoroughly greased with tar or fat. When bridging, the ends of the belt were connected and led to the back of the horse's head. The type of bridle used by the Indians of North America was also used: a simple loop of rawhide, which was worn over the lower jaw of a horse. As you know, even with such "equipment" the Indians showed miracles of horseback riding, they still did not possess heavy protective weapons. The disadvantage of a soft bridle was that the horse could chew on it, or even eat it, which is why metal replaced wood and leather. And so that the gnaw was always in the horse's mouth, cheekpieces * were used, fixing them between the horse's lips. The pressure of the bit and the belt on the horse's mouth forced it to be obedient, which was very important in battle, when the rider and the horse became one. Well, the constant wars between the tribes of the Bronze Age contributed to the emergence of a caste of professional warriors, excellent riders and skilled fighters, from among whom the tribal nobility emerged and at the same time the cavalry was born. The most skillful horsemen were considered by the contemporaries to be the Scythians, which is confirmed by the excavations of the Scythian burial mounds.
About another people of the same places and wonderful riders - Savromats (either ancestors, or relatives of later Sarmatians, about which historians still argue), Herodotus wrote in the same treatise that their women shoot from bows while sitting on horseback and throw darts … and they do not marry until they have killed three enemies …
Images of horsemen of ancient Assyria are known from the excavations of its ancient cities - Nineveh, Khorsabad and Nimrud, where well-preserved reliefs of the Assyrians were discovered. According to them, one can judge that the art of horsemanship in Assyria has gone through three stages in its development.
So, on the reliefs of the era of the kings Ashurnazirpal II (883 - 859 BC) and Shalmaneser III (858 - 824 BC), we see lightly armed horse archers, some with two horses. Apparently, they were not too hardy and strong, and the warriors needed two horses to change them often.
The riders acted in pairs: one drove two horses: his own and the archer, while the other, without being distracted by this, shot from a bow. Obviously, the function of such riders was only purely auxiliary, that is, they were "riding arrows from a bow" and "chariots without chariots."
But king Tiglathpalasar III (745 - 727 BC)BC BC) already had as many as three types of horsemen: lightly armed warriors armed with bows and javelins (perhaps they were allies or mercenaries from the nomadic tribes neighboring Assyria); horse archers, dressed in "armor" of metal plates, and, finally, horsemen with spears and large shields. The latter, apparently, were used to attack and pursue enemy infantry. Well, the chariots now only supplemented the cavalry, and were no longer the main shock arm of the troops.
