For more information on the chariots of the Egyptian army, let's go to the Biblical account, when Pharaoh and his army go after the multitude: EXO 14:6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: 7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
This verse makes it quite clear that the Pharaoh took every chariot in Egypt- his own, his generals (or "Captains") and a group called his "chosen" chariots, which seem to be in addition to his regular army ("all the chariots of Egypt"). Who might these "600 chosen chariots" have been? This group seems too small to have been a division of the army. We do not know the exact number in a "squadron", but we do have information that a pharoah, one of his names being Rameses II, had an army of 20,000 troops, which was divided into 4 divisions. This would imply that each division consisted of 5,000 troops. But the army took more than just soldiers, many times. To get a little insight, we need to understand a bit about the Egyptian government and economy.
"The priests and military men held the highest position in the country after the family of the king, and from them were chosen his ministers and confidential advisers, `the wise counsellors of Pharaoh,' and all the principal officers of state." (From "The Ancient Egyptians- Their Life and Customs" by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, 1854, vol.1, p.316.)
The priesthood and the military were closely associated- the Egyptian government was a combination "church and state", so to speak. Their system of "gods" was quite elaborate and we can't possibly present an accurate description of their religious system in this limited article. But for our purposes, we need to understand that there were many, many gods in ancient Egypt- but the ultimate "god" was the one represented as the "sun". This god was known throughout the various times as Amon, Aten and Re or Ra, among other names. And it was this "ultimate god" that the pharaoh was considered the "earthly embodiment" of.
The divisions of the army were named after the gods, ie. "the first army, that of Amon, the army of Re, the army of Ptah and the army of Sutech". When the army set out to war, elaborate ceremonies were performed at the various temples, asking the various gods to give them victory over their foes. Then, booty that was gained as a result of victories was dedicated to the priesthoods and temples of the deities. All military victories were directly attributed to the favor of the gods.
Sometimes, the priests would accompany the army to the battlefield in hopes that the "god(s)" would show special favor in their endeavors. And the evidence at hand shows that when Pharaoh and his army set out after Moses and the great multitude, he took with him the all priesthood of all the gods of Egypt. After all, he had seen the power of the true God, the great "I AM". If the Egyptian army ever needed supernatural intervention by the hands of their so-called "gods", it was at this time. We believe that every priest of every god was summoned to accompany the army as they went after Moses and the multitude, as well as all the ministers of state.
All of this is leading up to a discussion of the gold-veneered, 4-spoked chariot wheel Ron found in 1988. Since he found it on the Egyptian side of the Gulf of Aqaba, that indicates that whoever was driving that particular chariot was at the rear of the army. It makes sense to us that a priest, who is not trained in battle, would be in this position at the rear of the army. Also, a gold chariot would not be practical for battle- these chariots were more "ceremonial" than those used by the chariotry.
We also know that the priesthood were given gold chariots, which were booty of various foreign defeats. There is an inscription of Thutmoses III (18th Dynasty) which relates: "He went forth, none like him, slaying the barbarians, smiting Retenu, bringing their princes as living captives, their chariots wrought with gold, bound to their horses."(1)
In fact, we have many, many inscriptions of the kings of the 18th Dynasty receiving gold-plated foreign chariots, either as spoils of war or as tribute received from conquered peoples. There are, as well, inscriptions telling that these gilded chariots were many times dedicated to various temples and gods, which meant that the priests would receive these chariots.
We do know from inscriptions that the king did go to war in a "glittering chariot of electrum" as stated in one of Thutmoses III's inscriptions- but, we doubt very seriously that he would have remained at the rear of the army. However, Dr. Bill Shea of the Biblical Research Institute, told us a few days ago, that he believed it was possible that the pharaoh may have been at the rear of the army.
With all of this information, we feel we may conclude that the gold wheel most likely belonged to a member of the priestly caste who was accompanying the army, or possibly a high minister of state. If it had belonged to the pharaoh, it would have probably had his "cartouche" or name on it- and the one Ron found did not have this, at least not on the exposed side. Either way, we have evidence from ancient tombs that the Egyptians constructed wheels of this design, and also the Retenu (Syrian) chariot wheels were of this same design and size.
These drawings are from "The Ancient Egyptians" by Sir J. Gardiner Wilkinson, and are taken from 18th dynasty tombs and monuments. They show a depiction of a Retenu (Syrian) chariot and also Egyptians constructing chariots- both of these wheel designs are consistent with the 4-spoked, gold veneered wheel Ron found.
