Contemplating the history of Egyptian horses, he realizes with certainty that they have found great care and care, unprecedented since the time of the Pharaohs. The first to care about horses was King Ahmose, when he decided to expel the Hyksos from Thebes. He studied the reasons for their military superiority, and found that it lies in the war wheel drawn by three horses. He decided to raise strong horses with high physical structures; Only two horses could pull the chariot and maneuver with it, to be more flexible than the chariot pulled by three horses, and this was the secret of superiority over the Hyksos, and indeed Ahmose succeeded in expelling the Hyksos and forming a strong empire.
Ahmose is considered the owner of the first organized horse breeding program. The rock and stone drawings recorded pictures of horses. The ancient Egyptian artist excelled in drawing and engraving pictures of beautiful horses on the walls of temples and pharaonic tombs. The horses were always represented on the monuments while they were climbing or striking their legs in a leash position. Male horses were used most often.
The main objective of the Pharaohs’ interest in horses is due to their reliance on them in fighting battles, and that it is the secret underlying their superiority over the enemies; It is the weapon of war that drives their famous war wheels. In addition, it is the secret of growth; Because they are used in agricultural work and transport, that is, the basis of flourishing trade.
Stableman A word of pharaonic origin
William Nazeer, in his book “The Livestock of the Ancient Egyptians,” attributed the term “Sais” to the fact that it is derived from the ancient Egyptian name “Ssem,” and the bridle method used in the Persians is the same as the method used now, as well as the bridle and the gauntlet.
The interest of the ancient Egyptians in horses and taking care of them exceeded all limits, after the god “Horus” asked about the most useful animals for war. So the pharaohs called their horses resonant names, such as: “Amon gives strength, and Amun is the god of victory.”
Ramses II and Thutmose develop from the Egyptian horse and Benakhy recommends burying his horses with him
The horses of Ramses II needed three saias; To be able to tighten its reins and control.
Ramses II recorded lines for horses; To ensure that future generations will be aware of the originality of the horses he owned, saying: “I have fought with my own hands, and I have repelled millions of peoples, and my strength in Thebes and Memphis was my great horses, which were in my hand when I was alone in the midst of the trembling enemy; therefore their food is given to them.” In front of me every day in the palace
There was a place of honor in the royal stables dedicated to the king’s favorite horses, being given an unlimited portion of food, unlike the rest of the horses, and the same was true for their adornment, which was different from the rest of the horses.
Thutmose took care of educating his son Amenophis II to identify the best types of horses in the royal stables, and ordered him to take care of them, and taught him how to obey him, as he was absolutely certain that his son was able to hold the reins of the empire he founded, and Amenophis II was at the age of eighteen, and he was mature, He learned all the lessons of war, and he also learned how to train and ride horses, and there was no one better than him in the army, and there was no one who could defeat him in any horse race.
It is reported that Amenophis II traveled to Syria; To bring the best of horses and chariots, and during his reign, Egypt became the main leading center for horses in the East, and the royal stables of the Pharaoh and the army contained a thousand of the best purebred Arabian horses.
During the reign of Thutmose IV, horses were used to hunt lions and predators, and he trained horses for speed and racing. In his reign, the horses were called “faster than the wind”, and this analogy became applied to the purebred Arabian horses; Because it is as fast as the wind, and our beloved Prophet Muhammad bin Abdullah brings the message from his Lord, and we know that horses were created from the south wind.
The ancient king of Nubia, “Benakhi”, also recorded a lot about the pharaohs and their horses, as he cared for horses compared to those who preceded him, and many royal stables were discovered, which took care of horse breeding, and the value of these horses was not estimated in gold and silver. Before his death he recommended that four of his horses be buried with him; Because of his love for her, so that her souls may rise with him in the other world, the horses were buried while standing looking down.
The Pharaohs bred the most beautiful breeds of horses and adorned them with gold and silver
The Pharaohs mastered decorating their horses, and they made saddles and covers decorated with gold and silver. One of the most beautiful things that were discovered in the tomb of King “Tutankhamun” is the covering of his horse, which was made of gilded and colored leather, and wonderful scenes of the pharaoh were depicted on it. Arabic, and they preserved it for many centuries.
The Egyptian Arabian horse leads the Pharaohs in decisive battles
Horses were the secret of the strength of the ancient Egyptians and the most important reasons for victory, as Thutmose III, who was called “Napoleon of ancient Egypt”, succeeded in incurring north into the Euphrates River in Iraq and eliminating the kingdom of “Mittani” and expanding the Egyptian empire beyond the Euphrates River, and brought all the horses of a kingdom Mitanni, carriages, and captives traveled to Egypt, and the Mitanni were the first to establish horse races, and took care of racing horses, as they were pioneers in breeding and managing all stages of jockey training.
Horses were also a major reason for the pharaohs’ elimination of the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh. The ancient Hittites were the ones who lived in Anatolia in Syria in the second millennium BC, and they found important information about the art of horse breeding, including that the sufficient period for training horses is seven months; This is so that the horse can abide by the rules and feel loyal to its owner. According to the latest methods of that era, the king of the Hittites at that time rented the horses he rode from the kingdom of “Mittany”, and made his empire distinguished by the war horses he owned.
In the Battle of Kadesh, when the king of the Hittites realized that he was about to defeat Thutmose’s army, he sent a “female horse” against a chariot of the Egyptian army’s horses; Hoping to cause confusion in the battle, the matter turns, but what happened is that one of the soldiers, called “Amenhotep”, jumped from his chariot, and caught a female horse on her feet, until he caught her, killed her, cut off her tail, and gave it to the king, and the Hittites fell in the Battle of Kadesh.
Because of the strength and greatness of the Egyptian horses, during the era of the pharaohs, they gained great fame among all the nations contemporary with them. It was mentioned in the Torah (1 Kings – 4: 28 and 29) that our master Solomon, peace be upon him, used to buy the horses he needed from Egypt for one hundred and fifty shekels of silver for the horse. The one, from a group of merchants who move between Egypt and Syria.
