Episode 67 – Mitanni 2 Late Bronze Age Warfare

This may be the late bronze age, but it is the golden age of chariot warfare. To a great degree, the power of the great kingdoms is all built upon chariot warfare, from the Maryannu elites of Mitanni to the heavy chariots of the Hittites, to the personal valor of the Egyptian pharoahs, to the flat plains of Kassite Babylon. What did war look like in a time dominated by the the great chariots? We will look at how thoroughly a chariot army could dominate and raid into places that had no chariots for themselves, and then we will take a look at what it looked like when two full armies confronted each other.

Modern illustration of a Mitanni Chariot. The amount of armor puts it on the heavier end of the spectrum, and those golden looking rounds should probably all be bronze and elongated and rectangular like the ones on the shirt

The other end of the spectrum, this is a modern model of an Egyptian rail chariot. Note how it is stripped down and in place of all that heavy armor is just decorative wicker.