Biblical Hebrew Forum

[CS Bartholomew <jacksonpollock AT earthlink.net>]

On 3/28/04 9:53 AM, "Walter R. Mattfeld" <mattfeld12 AT charter.net> wrote:

> Regarding the claims that the Egyptians did not ride horses before the 8th
> century BCE- that is an old notion which has been "disproven".


W.von Soden* says "Riders were used to carry messages from an early date,
though cavalry with a military function did not exist prior to 900, and
thereafter primarily in Assyria, where they were developed to defend against
attacks by mounted Iranians."

There appears to be a significant semantic distinction between "cavalry with
a military function" and mounted horsemen in general. An artifact showing a
mounted horseman does not prove that "cavalry with a military function" as a
military function existed.


greetings,
Clay Bartholomew 
 
*Page 84., von Soden, Wolfram; Schley, Donald J. (translator)
The Ancient Orient : An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East
Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994