This is the body of the chariot of Thutmose IV, discovered in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, and now on display in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. This is a gorgeous work of art, and an unimaginably rare find! It’s never been on display before—at least not in living memory—and most had only ever seen old pH๏τos and drawings from 1903! So you can imagine how I felt when I saw this thing! I was truly starstruck.

The body of the chariot itself is made of wood, but the decoration is executed in exquisite high relief in a layer of stucco. This in turn would’ve been gilded, but the gold is now missing, taken away in antiquity. The second picture shows you a closeup of the king, whose unfaltering aim is being guided by the falcon-headed Montu himself, a god of war.

Typically, ancient Egyptian chariots were manned by two people: the driver, who held the reins, and the warrior, whose primary weapon was the bow and arrow. Kings, being of a divine essence, were depicted performing both roles: as you can see here, Thutmose IV has tied the reins around his waist, thus leaving his hands free to shoot arrows from his speeding chariot.

That’s offence. But what about defence? The king is wearing armour, perhaps mail. The vulture goddess Nekhbet soars above him, seeing that no harm comes to him, holding the protective shen-hieroglyph.

The king, as the son of Ra, was often accompanied by solar symbols, and here, above his head, is a sun disc. The king’s ᴀssociation with the sun was often accentuated when he rode his chariot. One text from the reign of AmenH๏τep III, Thutmose IV’s son, describes the king charging into battle as “a dazzling sun disc at the head of his army”.

The king was the sun’s progeny, standing on the raised platform of the chariot, wearing gold and gleaming like the sun, all the while speeding over vast expanses just as the sun does in its daily journey through the heavens. Another text from AmenH๏τep III’s reign encapsulates this perfectly, describing the king as “a runner like the disc when he moves, a star of electrum when he shines in a chariot.”