Tablet with Chariot Scene

Unknown

ca. 1400–1390 B.C. · Faience · Egyptian Art

During the New Kingdom, a new image emerged: the pharaoh alone in his chariot. Horses and chariots had been introduced to Egypt around 1600 B.C. by the Hyksos, foreign rulers of Levantine origin who controlled Lower Egypt at the time. By Dynasty 18, this mode of transport had been adopted by the Egyptian court. At some point, Egyptians improved chariot design, making the vehicles lighter and faster. This drawing on faience of a man driving a chariot pulled by two galloping horses in a food-producing garden illustrates how these new means of transport were gradually adopted by people outside the Egyptian court and army.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1400–1390 B.C.

Medium

Faience

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917