Renfrew and IE Overlords

[Stanley Friesen]

At 05:31 AM 1/18/00 -0500, Vidhyanath Rao wrote:
>"Stanley Friesen" <sarima at friesen.net> wrote:
>> In particular the evidence from Egypt prior to 1100 BC shows
>> clearly that the chariot was a mobile combat platform, actively used in
>> shock warfare.

>What is ``shock'' warfare?

What the modern US army calls "mobile warfare".  What we called
"Blitzkrieg" a few decades ago.  It is attacking rapidly with a powerful
force in a manner that throws the enemy into confusion, disrupting their
ability to fight.  It is what cavalry was used for from late Roman times
on.  It is what helicopters are used for today.

>2nd millennium BCE chariots, as far as we know, were extremely light.

So?  A *rapid* attack, with powerful weaponry is the key factor, not weight
of the platform allowing the speed.

>Given the size of horses in use then (ponies by modern standards) and
>the requirement of quick acceleration, they could not have been
>otherwise. It would not possible to use them except as mobile archery
>platforms ...

Which accomplishes the goal of shock warfare.  (Actually, one can also use
them as mobile spear throwing platforms, but that comes to the same thing).

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May the peace of God be with you.         sarima at ix.netcom.com