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91-581: The chariot was a fast, light, open, two- wheeled conveyance drawn by two or more equids (usually horses) that were hitched side by side, and was little more than a floor with a waist-high guard at the front and sides. It was initially used for ancient warfare during the Bronze and Iron Ages, but after its military capabilities had been superseded by light and heavy cavalries, chariots continued to be used for travel and transport, in processions , for games , and in races . The word "chariot" comes from

182-424: A bearing , and is where the spokes meet. A hubless wheel (also known as a rim-rider or centerless wheel) is a type of wheel with no center hub . More specifically, the hub is actually almost as big as the wheel itself. The axle is hollow, following the wheel at very close tolerances . A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel (the hub where the axle connects), connecting

273-663: A circumalpine type of wagon construction (the wheel and axle rotate together, as in Ljubljana Marshes Wheel), and that of the Baden culture in Hungary (axle does not rotate). They both are dated to c.   3200–3000 BCE. Some historians believe that there was a diffusion of the wheeled vehicle from the Near East to Europe around the mid-4th millennium BCE. Early wheels were simple wooden disks with

364-552: A hybrid of a donkey and a female onager , named Kunga in the city of Nagar which was famous for breeding them. The hybrids were used by the Eblaite , early Sumerian , Akkadian and Ur III armies. Although sometimes carrying a spearman with the charioteer (driver), such heavy wagons, borne on solid wooden wheels and covered with skins, may have been part of the baggage train (e.g., during royal funeral processions) rather than vehicles of battle in themselves. The Sumerians had

455-673: A two-wheeled spoked cart that does not fit the definition of the ancient Near Eastern chariot . Before these discoveries can help answer the question of where the chariot originated, thorough studies of the spoked wheeled vehicles and horse gear of the steppes, as well as of interconnections and transfer of knowledge, are necessary (cf. Epimachov and Korjakova in Fansa and Burmeister 2004). Chariots figure prominently in Indo-Iranian and early European mythology. Chariots are also an important part of both Hindu and Persian mythology , with most of

546-531: A 2.2   m wide door was constructed for wagon entry; this barn was 40   m long with three doors, dated to 5000 BCE, and belonged to the neolithic Linear Pottery culture . Surviving evidence of a wheel-axle combination, from Stare Gmajne near Ljubljana in Slovenia ( Ljubljana Marshes Wooden Wheel ), is dated within two standard deviations to 3340–3030 BCE, the axle to 3360–3045 BCE. Two types of early Neolithic European wheel and axle are known:

637-433: A Canadian truck shop owner. While wheels are very widely used for ground transport, there are alternatives, some of which are suitable for terrain where wheels are ineffective. Alternative methods for ground transport without wheels include: The wheel has also become a strong cultural and spiritual metaphor for a cycle or regular repetition (see chakra , reincarnation , Yin and Yang among others). As such and because of

728-547: A Smithsonian affiliate - has hired an archivist to create an inventory of the hundreds of books. Brownrigg, Gail, 2006, "Obituary - Mary Aiken Littauer," International Council for Archaeozoology Newsletter , 7(1):15. Equestrian News release, 2007, "World's Most Extensive Private Equine Library Donated to the Kentucky Horse Park," ' American Horse Publications ' http://www.equestrianmag.com/news/equine-library-kentucky-horse-park-4-07.html Archived 2007-09-28 at

819-498: A biga with two four-spoked wheels. The use of the composite bow in chariot warfare is not attested in northern Europe. Wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle bearing . The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines . Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be moved easily facilitating movement or transportation while supporting

910-420: A chariot or coach, especially at a reckless or dangerous speed. Plato , in his Chariot Allegory , depicted a chariot drawn by two horses, one well behaved and the other troublesome, representing opposite impulses of human nature; the task of the charioteer, representing reason, was to stop the horses from going different ways and to guide them towards enlightenment. The Greek word for chariot, ἅρμα, hárma ,

1001-549: A chariot to fetch the bride home. Herodotus ( Histories , 5. 9) Reports that chariots were widely used in the Pontic – Caspian steppe by the Sigynnae . Greek chariots were made to be drawn by two horses attached to a central pole. If two additional horses were added, they were attached on each side of the main pair by a single bar or trace fastened to the front or prow of the chariot, as may be seen on two prize vases in

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1092-445: A deformation loss. It depends on the nature of the ground, of the material of the wheel, its inflation in the case of a tire, the net torque exerted by the eventual engine, and many other factors. A wheel can also offer advantages in traversing irregular surfaces if the wheel radius is sufficiently large compared to the irregularities. The wheel alone is not a machine, but when attached to an axle in conjunction with bearing, it forms

1183-443: A hole for the axle. Some of the earliest wheels were made from horizontal slices of tree trunks. Because of the uneven structure of wood , a wheel made from a horizontal slice of a tree trunk will tend to be inferior to one made from rounded pieces of longitudinal boards. The spoked wheel was invented more recently and allowed the construction of lighter and swifter vehicles. The earliest known examples of wooden spoked wheels are in

1274-796: A lighter, two-wheeled type of cart , pulled by four asses , and with solid wheels. The spoked wheel did not appear in Mesopotamia until the mid second millennium BCE. Chariot use made its way into Egypt around 1650 BCE during the Hyksos invasion of Egypt and establishment of the Fourteenth Dynasty . In 1659 BCE the Indo-European Hittites sacked Babylon , which demonstrated the superiority of chariots in antiquity. The chariot and horse were used extensively in Egypt by

1365-438: A load, or performing labor in machines. Wheels are also used for other purposes, such as a ship's wheel , steering wheel , potter's wheel , and flywheel . Common examples can be found in transport applications. A wheel reduces friction by facilitating motion by rolling together with the use of axles . In order for wheels to rotate, a moment needs to be applied to the wheel about its axis, either by way of gravity or by

1456-600: A number of toys, very similar to those found throughout the world and still made for children today ("pull toys"), the wheel was never put into practical use in Mesoamerica before the 16th century. Possibly the closest the Mayas came to the utilitarian wheel is the spindle whorl , and some scholars believe that these toys were originally made with spindle whorls and spindle sticks as "wheels" and "axes". Aboriginal Australians traditionally used circular discs rolled along

1547-513: A sled that rests on wooden rollers or wheels have been found. They date from about the same time as the early wheel discoveries in Europe and may indicate knowledge of the wheel. The earliest depiction of vehicles in the context of warfare is on the Standard of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, c.  2500 BCE . These are more properly called wagons which were double-axled and pulled by oxen or

1638-636: Is a symbol of progress, seen in many contexts including the coat of arms of Panama , the logo of the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the State Railway of Thailand . The wheel is also the prominent figure on the flag of India . The wheel in this case represents law ( dharma ). It also appears in the flag of the Romani people , hinting to their nomadic history and their Indian origins. The introduction of spoked ( chariot ) wheels in

1729-452: Is also used nowadays to denote a tank , properly called άρμα μάχης, árma mákhēs , literally a "combat chariot". The Trundholm sun chariot is dated to c. 1500-1300 BCE (see: Nordic Bronze Age ). The horse drawing the solar disk runs on four wheels, and the Sun itself on two. All wheels have four spokes. The "chariot" comprises the solar disk, the axle, and the wheels, and it is unclear whether

1820-633: Is armed with a bow and arrow, threatens the right flank. It has been suggested (speculated) that the drawings record a story, most probably dating to the early centuries BCE, from some center in the area of the Ganges – Yamuna plain into the territory of still Neolithic hunting tribes. The very realistic chariots carved into the Sanchi stupas are dated to roughly the 1st century. Bronze Age solid-disk wheel carts were found in 2018 at Sinauli , which were interpreted by some as horse-pulled "chariots," predating

1911-526: Is attributed to Kikkuli the Mitanni (15th century BCE). The Hittites were renowned charioteers. They developed a new chariot design that had lighter wheels, with four spokes rather than eight, and that held three rather than two warriors. It could hold three warriors because the wheel was placed in the middle of the chariot and not at the back as in Egyptian chariots. Typically one Hittite warrior steered

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2002-408: Is described as wheelbuilding . A tire ( American English and Canadian English ) or tyre ( Commonwealth English ) is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground. The word itself may be derived from the word "tie", which refers to

2093-582: Is no evidence of Halafians using either wheeled vehicles or pottery wheels. Potter's wheels are thought to have been used in the 4th millennium BCE in the Middle East. The oldest surviving example of a potter's wheel was thought to be one found in Ur (modern day Iraq ) dating to approximately 3100 BCE. However, a potter's wheel found in western Ukraine , of the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture , dates to

2184-601: Is no evidence. It is from the wheel track measurements and the dimensions and positions of the wheels alone that we may legitimately draw conclusions and these are alone sufficient to establish that the Sintashta-Petrovka vehicles would not be manoeuverable enough for use either in warfare or in racing. Peter Raulwing and Stefan Burmeister consider the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero finds from the steppe to be carts rather than chariots. However, recent discoveries in

2275-408: Is no longer at the surface that the vehicle is traversing, but in the bearings . In the simplest and oldest case the bearing is just a round hole through which the axle passes (a " plain bearing "). Even with a plain bearing, the frictional work is greatly reduced because: Example: Additional energy is lost from the wheel-to-road interface. This is termed rolling resistance which is predominantly

2366-546: Is the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel ( c.  3150 BCE ). The later Greeks of the first millennium BCE had a (still not very effective) cavalry arm (indeed, it has been argued that these early horseback riding soldiers may have given rise to the development of the later, heavily armed foot-soldiers known as hoplites), and the rocky terrain of the Greek mainland was unsuited for wheeled vehicles. The chariot

2457-573: Is the Old Hittite Anitta text (18th century BCE), which mentions 40 teams of horses (in the original cuneiform spelling: 40 ṢÍ-IM-TI ANŠE.KUR.RA) at the siege of Salatiwara . Since the text mentions teams rather than chariots , the existence of chariots in the 18th century BCE is uncertain. The first certain attestation of chariots in the Hittite empire dates to the late 17th century BCE ( Hattusili I ). A Hittite horse-training text

2548-575: The British Museum from the Panathenaic Games at Athens, Greece , in which the driver is seated with feet resting on a board hanging down in front close to the legs of the horses. The biga itself consists of a seat resting on the axle, with a rail at each side to protect the driver from the wheels. Greek chariots appear to have lacked any other attachment for the horses, which would have made turning difficult. The body or basket of

2639-804: The Canaanites and Israelites . 1 Samuel 13:5 mentions chariots of the Philistines , who are sometimes identified with the Sea Peoples or early Greeks . Examples from The Jewish Study Bible of the Tanakh ( Jewish Bible ) include: Examples from the King James Version of the Christian Bible include: Small domestic horses may have been present in the northern Negev before 3000 BCE. Jezreel (city) has been identified as

2730-457: The Hyksos invaders from the 16th century BCE onwards, though discoveries announced in 2013 potentially place the earliest chariot use as early as Egypt's Old Kingdom ( c.  2686 –2181 BCE). In the remains of Egyptian and Assyrian art, there are numerous representations of chariots, which display rich ornamentation. The chariots of the Egyptians and Assyrians, with whom the bow was

2821-510: The Latin term carrus , a loanword from Gaulish karros . In ancient Rome a biga described a chariot requiring two horses, a triga three, and a quadriga four. The wheel may have been invented at several places, with early evidence found in Ukraine , Poland , Germany , and Slovenia . Evidence of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid 4th millennium BC near-simultaneously in

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2912-765: The Near East and Egypt . She was born Mary Aiken Graver in Pittsburgh and raised in New York. She was married to Captain Vladimir S. Littauer , an equestrian whose training and teaching methods are still in use today. Her family chose the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park as the recipient of her vast library and her own works on ancient horses. The museum -

3003-610: The Northern Caucasus ( Maykop culture ), and in Central Europe. These earliest vehicles may have been ox carts . A necessary precursor to the invention of the chariot is the domestication of animals , and specifically domestication of horses – a major step in the development of civilization. Despite the large impact horse domestication has had in transport and communication, tracing its origins has been challenging. Evidence supports horses having been domesticated in

3094-666: The Vedic period around 1750 BCE. Shortly after this, about 1700 BCE, evidence of chariots appears in Asia-Minor . The earliest fully developed spoke-wheeled horse chariots are from the chariot burials of the Andronovo (Timber-Grave) sites of the Sintashta-Petrovka Proto-Indo-Iranian culture in modern Russia and Kazakhstan from around 2000 BCE. This culture is at least partially derived from

3185-412: The cogwheel (see also antikythera mechanism ), the spinning wheel , and the astrolabe or torquetum . More modern descendants of the wheel include the propeller , the jet engine , the flywheel ( gyroscope ) and the turbine . A wheeled vehicle requires much less work to move than simply dragging the same weight. The low resistance to motion is explained by the fact that the frictional work done

3276-535: The petroglyphs in the sandstone of the Vindhya range. Two depictions of chariots are found in Morhana Pahar, Mirzapur district. One depicts a biga and the head of the driver. The second depicts a quadriga, with six-spoked wheels, and a driver standing up in a large chariot box. This chariot is being attacked. One figure, who is armed with a shield and a mace, stands in the chariot's path; another figure, who

3367-404: The wheel and axle , one of the simple machines . A driven wheel is an example of a wheel and axle. Wheels pre-date driven wheels by about 6000 years, themselves an evolution of using round logs as rollers to move a heavy load—a practice going back in pre-history so far that it has not been dated. The rim is the "outer edge of a wheel, holding the tire". It makes up the outer circular design of

3458-571: The wheelwright 's work, than to the materials used. The rims of wire wheels (or "wire spoked wheels") are connected to their hubs by wire spokes . Although these wires are generally stiffer than a typical wire rope , they function mechanically the same as tensioned flexible wires, keeping the rim true while supporting applied loads. Wire wheels are used on most bicycles and still used on many motorcycles . They were invented by aeronautical engineer George Cayley and first used in bicycles by James Starley . A process of assembling wire wheels

3549-500: The 17(18)th–16th centuries BCE. Some scholars argue that the horse chariot was most likely a product of the ancient Near East early in the 2nd millennium BCE. Archaeologist Joost Crouwel writes that "Chariots were not sudden inventions, but developed out of earlier vehicles that were mounted on disk or cross-bar wheels. This development can best be traced in the Near East, where spoke-wheeled and horse-drawn chariots are first attested in

3640-687: The Eurasian Steppes, with studies suggesting the Botai culture in modern-day Kazakhstan were the first, about 3500 BCE. Others say horses were domesticated earlier than 3500 BCE in Eastern Europe (modern Ukraine and Western Kazakhstan ), 6000 years ago. The spread of spoke-wheeled chariots has been closely associated with early Indo-Iranian migrations. The earliest known chariots have been found in Sintashta culture burial sites, and

3731-533: The Eurasian steppe have provided fresh support to the claim that the chariot originated there, rather than in the Near East itself, and may be attributed to speakers of an Indo-Iranian (or Indo-Aryan) language. In particular, archaeological remains of horse gear and spoked wheeled vehicles have been found at the sites of Sintashta (Russia) and Krivoe Ozero (northern Kazakhstan), with calibrated radiocarbon dating to ca. 2000–1800. These finds, however, provide evidence of

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3822-524: The Indo-Aryans. In Rigveda , Indra is described as strong willed, armed with a thunderbolt , riding a chariot: May the strong Heaven make thee the Strong wax stronger: Strong, for thou art borne by thy two strong Bay Horses. So, fair of cheek, with mighty chariot, mighty, uphold us, strong-willed, thunder armed, in battle. — RigVeda, Book 5, Hymn XXXVI: Griffith Among Rigvedic deities , notably

3913-707: The Mahabharata is around 1750 BCE ." According to Asko Parpola these finds were ox-pulled carts, indicating that these burials are related to an early Aryan migration of Proto-Indo-Iranian speaking people into the Indian subcontinent, "forming then the ruling elite of a major Late Harappan settlement." Horse-drawn chariots, as well as their cult and associated rituals, were spread by the Indo-Iranians, and horses and horse-drawn chariots were introduced in India by

4004-604: The Middle Bronze Age appears to have carried somewhat of a prestige. The sun cross appears to have a significance in Bronze Age religion , replacing the earlier concept of a solar barge with the more 'modern' and technologically advanced solar chariot . The wheel was also a solar symbol for the Ancient Egyptians . In modern usage, the 'invention of the wheel' can be considered as a symbol of one of

4095-410: The Sintashta culture vehicle finds are true chariots. In 1996 Joost Crouwel and Mary Aiken Littauer wrote Let us consider what is actually known of the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero vehicles. At Sintashta, there remained only the imprints of the lower parts of the wheels in their slots in the floor of the burial chamber; Krivoe Ozero also preserved imprints of parts of the axle and naves. At Sintashta,

4186-620: The Vedic Sun God Surya rides on a one spoked chariot driven by his charioteer Aruṇa . Ushas (the dawn) rides in a chariot, as well as Agni in his function as a messenger between gods and men. The Jain Bhagavi Sutra states that Indian troops used a chariot with a club or mace attached to it during the war against the Licchavis during the reign of Ajatashatru of Magadha . The Persians succeeded Elam in

4277-564: The application of another external force or torque . The English word wheel comes from the Old English word hwēol , from Proto-Germanic * hwehwlaz , from Proto-Indo-European * k ék los , an extended form of the root * k el- ' to revolve, move around ' . Cognates within Indo-European include Icelandic hjól ' wheel, tyre ' , Greek κύκλος kúklos , and Sanskrit chakra ,

4368-624: The arrival of the horse-centered Indo-Aryans. They were ascribed by Sanjay Manjul, director of the excavations, to the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture (OCP)/ Copper Hoard Culture , which was contemporaneous with the Late Harappan culture, and interpreted by him as horse-pulled chariots. Majul further noted that "the rituals relating to the Sanauli burials showed close affinity with Vedic rituals, and stated that "the dating of

4459-485: The chariot base of King Ahab . And a decorated bronze tablet thought to be the head of a lynchpin of a Canaanite chariot was found at a site that may be Sisera 's fortress Harosheth Haggoyim . In Urartu (860–590 BCE), the chariot was used by both the nobility and the military. In Erebuni ( Yerevan ), King Argishti of Urartu is depicted riding on a chariot which is pulled by two horses. The chariot has two wheels and each wheel has about eight spokes. This type of chariot

4550-538: The chariot in Achaean art. This sculpture shows a single man driving a two-wheeled small box chariot. Later the vehicles were used in games and processions, notably for races at the Olympic and Panathenaic Games and other public festivals in ancient Greece, in hippodromes and in contests called agons . They were also used in ceremonial functions, as when a paranymph , or friend of a bridegroom, went with him in

4641-417: The chariot rested directly on the axle (called beam ) connecting the two wheels. There was no suspension , making this an uncomfortable form of transport. At the front and sides of the basket was a semicircular guard about 3 ft (1 m) high, to give some protection from enemy attack. At the back the basket was open, making it easy to mount and dismount. There was no seat, and generally only enough room for

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4732-462: The chariot while the second man was usually the main archer; the third warrior would either wield a spear or sword when charging at enemies or hold up a large shield to protect himself and the others from enemy arrows. Hittite prosperity largely depended on their control of trade routes and natural resources, specifically metals. As the Hittites gained dominion over Mesopotamia, tensions flared among

4823-640: The context of the Sintashta culture , dating to c.   2000 BCE ( Krivoye Lake ). Soon after this, horse cultures of the Caucasus region used horse-drawn spoked-wheel war chariots for the greater part of three centuries. They moved deep into the Greek peninsula where they joined with the existing Mediterranean peoples to give rise, eventually, to classical Greece after the breaking of Minoan dominance and consolidations led by pre-classical Sparta and Athens . Celtic chariots introduced an iron rim around

4914-805: The culture is considered a strong candidate for the origin of the technology, which spread throughout the Old World and played an important role in ancient warfare . It is also strongly associated with the ancestors of modern domestic horses, the DOM2 population (DOM2 horses originated from the Western Eurasia steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don, but not in Anatolia, during the late fourth and early third millennia BCE. Their genes may show selection for easier domestication and stronger backs). These Aryan people migrated southward into South Asia, ushering in

5005-415: The difficult terrain, wheeled vehicles were forbidden in old Tibet . The wheel in ancient China is seen as a symbol of health and strength and used by some villages as a tool to predict future health and success. The diameter of the wheel is indicator of one's future health. The Kalachakra or wheel of time is also a subject in some forms of Buddhism , along with the dharmachakra . The winged wheel

5096-515: The driver and one passenger. The reins were mostly the same as those in use in the 19th century, and were made of leather and ornamented with studs of ivory or metal. The reins were passed through rings attached to the collar bands or yoke, and were long enough to be tied round the waist of the charioteer to allow for defense. The wheels and basket of the chariot were usually of wood, strengthened in places with bronze or iron. The wheels had from four to eight spokes and tires of bronze or iron. Due to

5187-659: The earlier Yamna culture . It built heavily fortified settlements, engaged in bronze metallurgy on an industrial scale, and practiced complex burial rituals reminiscent of Hindu rituals known from the Rigveda and the Avesta . Over the next few centuries, the Andronovo culture spread across the steppes from the Urals to the Tien Shan , likely corresponding to the time of early Indo-Iranian cultures . Not everyone agrees that

5278-482: The earlier part of the second millennium BCE..." and were illustrated on a Syrian cylinder seal dated to either the 18th or 17th century BCE. According to Christoph Baumer , the earliest discoveries of wheels in Mesopotamia come from the first half of the third millennium BCE – more than half a millennium later than the first finds from the Kuban region. At the same time, in Mesopotamia, some intriguing early pictograms of

5369-581: The first technologies of early civilization, alongside farming and metalwork, and thus be used as a benchmark to grade the level of societal progress. Some Neopagans such as Wiccans have adopted the Wheel of the Year into their religious practices. Mary Aiken Littauer Mary Aiken Littauer , née Graver (February 11, 1912 – December 7, 2005), was a leading authority on ancient domesticated horses and related materials (Brownrigg 2006). Using her knowledge of contemporary horsemanship , she wrote works on ridden horses and chariots in Greece ,

5460-445: The four specimens from the tomb of Tutankhamun . Chariots can be pulled by two or more horses. Chariots are frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Tanakh and the Greek Old Testament , respectively, particularly by the prophets, as instruments of war or as symbols of power or glory. First mentioned in the story of Joseph ( Genesis 50:9), "Iron chariots" are mentioned also in Joshua (17:16, 18) and Judges (1:19,4:3, 13) as weapons of

5551-477: The gods in their pantheon portrayed as riding them. The Sanskrit word for a chariot is rátha- ( m. ), which is cognate with Avestan raθa- (also m.), and in origin a substantiation of the adjective Proto-Indo-European *rot-h₂-ó- meaning "having wheels", with the characteristic accent shift found in Indo-Iranian substantivisations. This adjective is in turn derived from the collective noun *rot-eh₂- "wheels", continued in Latin rota , which belongs to

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5642-423: The ground for target practice. Nubians from after about 400   BCE used wheels for spinning pottery and as water wheels . It is thought that Nubian waterwheels may have been ox-driven. It is also known that Nubians used horse-drawn chariots imported from Egypt . Starting from the 18th century in West Africa, wheeled vehicles were mostly used for ceremonial purposes in places like Dahomey . The wheel

5733-425: The ground-contact area flat. Examples include: Truck and bus wheels may block (stop rotating) under certain circumstances, such as brake system failure. To help detect this, they sometimes feature "wheel rotation indicators": colored strips of plastic attached to the rim and protruding out from it, such that they can be seen by the driver in the side-view mirrors . These devices were invented and patented in 1998 by

5824-400: The hub with the round traction surface. The term originally referred to portions of a log which had been split lengthwise into four or six sections. The radial members of a wagon wheel were made by carving a spoke (from a log) into their finished shape. A spokeshave is a tool originally developed for this purpose. Eventually, the term spoke was more commonly applied to the finished product of

5915-433: The invention of the wheel, and that unlike other breakthrough inventions, the wheel cannot be attributed to a single nor several inventors. Evidence of early wheeled carts has been found across the Middle East , in Europe , Eastern Europe , India and China . It is not known whether Chinese, Indians, Europeans and Mesopotamians invented the wheel independently. The invention of the solid wooden disk wheel falls into

6006-421: The last two both meaning ' circle ' or ' wheel ' . Archaeological artifacts demonstrate a slow development over centuries in many locales. Mesopotamian civilization was credited with the invention of the wheel by several, mainly old sources. Some recent sources either suggest that the wheel was invented independently in both Mesopotamia and Eastern Europe or credit prehistoric Eastern Europeans with

6097-399: The late Neolithic , and may be seen in conjunction with other technological advances that gave rise to the early Bronze Age . This implies the passage of several wheel-less millennia after the invention of agriculture and of pottery , during the Aceramic Neolithic . The Halaf culture of 6500–5100 BCE is sometimes credited with the earliest depiction of a wheeled vehicle, but there

6188-433: The mid 1st millennium. They may have been the first to yoke four horses to their chariots. They also used scythed chariots . Cyrus the Younger employed these chariots in large numbers at the Battle of Cunaxa . Herodotus mentions that the Ancient Libyan and the Ancient Indian ( Sattagydia , Gandhara and Hindush ) satrapies supplied cavalry and chariots to Xerxes the Great 's army. However, by this time, cavalry

6279-427: The middle of the 4th millennium BCE onward, the evidence is condensed throughout Europe in the form of toy cars, depictions, or ruts, with the oldest find in Northern Germany dating back to around 3400   BCE. In Mesopotamia , depictions of wheeled wagons found on clay tablet pictographs at the Eanna district of Uruk , in the Sumerian civilization are dated to c.   3500–3350   BCE. In

6370-424: The middle of the 5th millennium BCE which pre-dates the earliest use of the potter's wheel in Mesopotamia. Wheels of uncertain dates have been found in the Indus Valley civilization of the late 4th millennium BCE covering areas of present-day India and Pakistan . The oldest indirect evidence of wheeled movement was found in the form of miniature clay wheels north of the Black Sea before 4000   BCE. From

6461-410: The mountings. According to Greek mythology, the chariot was invented by Erichthonius of Athens to conceal his feet, which were those of a dragon. The most notable appearance of the chariot in Greek mythology occurs when Phaëton , the son of Helios , in an attempt to drive the chariot of the sun, managed to set the earth on fire. This story led to the archaic meaning of a phaeton as one who drives

6552-728: The neighboring Assyrians , Hurrians , and Egyptians . Under Suppiluliuma I , the Hittites conquered Kadesh and, eventually, the whole of Syria . The Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE is likely to have been the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving over 5,000 chariots. Models of single axled, solid wheeled ox-drawn vehicles, have been found at several mature Indus Valley cites, such as Chanhudaro , Daimabad , Harappa , and Nausharo . Spoked-wheeled, horse-drawn chariots, often carrying an armed passenger, are depicted in second millennium BCE Chalcolithic period rock paintings, examples are known from Chibbar Nulla, Chhatur Bhoj Nath Nulla, and Kathotia. There are some depictions of chariots among

6643-513: The noun *rót-o- for "wheel" (from *ret- "to run") that is also found in Germanic, Celtic and Baltic ( Old High German rad n., Old Irish roth m., Lithuanian rãtas m.). Nomadic tribes of the Pontic steppes, like Scythians such as Hamaxobii , would travel in wagons , carts , and chariots during their migrations. The oldest testimony of chariot warfare in the ancient Near East

6734-498: The outer steel ring part of a wooden cart wheel that ties the wood segments together (see Etymology above). The fundamental materials of modern tires are synthetic rubber , natural rubber , fabric, and wire, along with other compound chemicals. They consist of a tread and a body. The tread provides traction while the body ensures support. Before rubber was invented, the first versions of tires were simply bands of metal that fitted around wooden wheels to prevent wear and tear. Today,

6825-454: The principal arm of attack, were richly mounted with quivers full of arrows. The Egyptians invented the yoke saddle for their chariot horses in c.  1500 BCE . As a general rule, the Egyptians used chariots as mobile archery platforms; chariots always had two men, with the driver steering the chariot with his reins while the main archer aimed his bow and arrow at any targets within range. The best preserved examples of Egyptian chariots are

6916-531: The second half of the 4th   millennium BCE, evidence of wheeled vehicles appeared near-simultaneously in the Northern ( Maykop culture ) and South Caucasus and Eastern Europe ( Cucuteni-Trypillian culture ). Depictions of a wheeled vehicle appeared between 3631 and 3380 BCE in the Bronocice clay pot excavated in a Funnelbeaker culture settlement in southern Poland . In nearby Olszanica ,

7007-595: The sun is depicted as the chariot or as the passenger. Nevertheless, the presence of a model of a horse-drawn vehicle on two spoked wheels in Northern Europe at such an early time is astonishing. In addition to the Trundholm chariot, there are numerous petroglyphs from the Nordic Bronze Age that depict chariots. One petroglyph, drawn on a stone slab in a double burial from c. 1000 BCE, depicts

7098-591: The vast majority of tires are pneumatic inflatable structures , comprising a doughnut-shaped body of cords and wires encased in rubber and generally filled with compressed air to form an inflatable cushion. Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, such as cars , bicycles , motorcycles , trucks , earthmovers , and aircraft . Extreme off-road conditions have resulted in the invention of several types of wheel cover, which may be constructed as removable attachments or as permanent covers. Wheels like this are no longer necessarily round, or have panels that make

7189-587: The west. In Britain, a large wooden wheel, measuring about 1 m (3.3 ft) in diameter, was uncovered at the Must Farm site in East Anglia in 2016. The specimen, dating from 1,100 to 800 BCE, represents the most complete and earliest of its type found in Britain. The wheel's hub is also present. A horse's spine found nearby suggests the wheel may have been part of a horse-drawn cart. The wheel

7280-652: The wheel in the 1st   millennium BCE. In China , wheel tracks dating to around 2200   BCE have been found at Pingliangtai, a site of the Longshan Culture . Similar tracks were also found at Yanshi , a city of the Erlitou culture , dating to around 1700 BCE. The earliest evidence of spoked wheels in China comes from Qinghai , in the form of two wheel hubs from a site dated between 2000 and 1500   BCE. Wheeled vehicles were introduced to China from

7371-523: The wheel in the Americas was the absence of domesticated large animals that could be used to pull wheeled carriages. The closest relative of cattle present in Americas in pre-Columbian times, the American bison , is difficult to domesticate and was never domesticated by Native Americans; several horse species existed until about 12,000 years ago, but ultimately became extinct. The only large animal that

7462-399: The wheel on which the inside edge of the tire is mounted on vehicles such as automobiles . For example, on a bicycle wheel the rim is a large hoop attached to the outer ends of the spokes of the wheel that holds the tire and tube. In the 1st millennium BCE an iron rim was introduced around the wooden wheels of chariots . The hub is the center of the wheel, and typically houses

7553-412: The wheel to be both stiff and light. Early radially-spoked wire wheels gave rise to tangentially-spoked wire wheels, which were widely used on cars into the late 20th century. Cast alloy wheels are now more commonly used; forged alloy wheels are used when weight is critical. The invention of the wheel has also been important for technology in general, important applications including the water wheel ,

7644-420: The wheel tracks and their position relative to the walls of the tomb chamber limited the dimensions of the naves, hence the stability of the vehicle. Ancient naves were symmetrical, the part outside the spokes of equal length to that inside. The present reconstructions of the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero vehicles above the axle level raise many doubts and questions, but one cannot argue about something for which there

7735-453: The widely spaced spokes, the rim of the chariot wheel was held in tension over comparatively large spans. Whilst this provided a small measure of shock absorption, it also necessitated the removal of the wheels when the chariot was not in use, to prevent warping from continued weight bearing. Most other nations of this time had chariots of similar design to the Greeks, the chief differences being

7826-500: Was barely used for transportation, with the exception of Ethiopia and Somalia in Sub-Saharan Africa well into the 19th century. The spoked wheel was in continued use without major modification until the 1870s, when wire-spoked wheels and pneumatic tires were invented. Pneumatic tires can greatly reduce rolling resistance and improve comfort. Wire spokes are under tension, not compression, making it possible for

7917-526: Was domesticated in the Western hemisphere, the llama , a pack animal, was not physically suited to use as a draft animal to pull wheeled vehicles, and use of the llama did not spread far beyond the Andes by the time of the arrival of Europeans. On the other hand, Mesoamericans never developed the wheelbarrow , the potter's wheel , nor any other practical object with a wheel or wheels. Although present in

8008-565: Was far more effective and agile than the chariot, and the defeat of Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela (331 BCE), where the army of Alexander simply opened their lines and let the chariots pass and attacked them from behind, marked the end of the era of chariot warfare (barring the Seleucid and Pontic powers, India, China, and the Celtic peoples). Chariots were introduced in the Near East in

8099-498: Was found in a settlement built on stilts over wetland, indicating that the settlement had some sort of link to dry land. Although large-scale use of wheels did not occur in the Americas prior to European contact , numerous small wheeled artifacts, identified as children's toys, have been found in Mexican archeological sites, some dating to approximately 1500 BCE. Some argue that the primary obstacle to large-scale development of

8190-536: Was heavily used by the Mycaenean Greeks, most probably adopted from the Hittites, around 1600 BCE. Linear B tablets from Mycenaean palaces record large inventories of chariots, sometimes with specific details as to how many chariots were assembled or not (i.e. stored in modular form).On a gravestone from the royal Shaft-grave V in Mycenae dated LH II (about 1500 BCE) there is one of the earliest depiction of

8281-632: Was used around 800 BCE. As David W. Anthony writes in his book The Horse, the Wheel, and Language , in Eastern Europe, the earliest well-dated depiction of a wheeled vehicle (a wagon with two axles and four wheels) is on the Bronocice pot ( c.  3500 BCE ). It is a clay pot excavated in a Funnelbeaker settlement in Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship in Poland. The oldest securely dated real wheel-axle combination in Eastern Europe

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