Talk:Assyrian Soldier/@comment-108.20.253.170-20150123072055/@comment-5232784-20150123190929

1. Interesting depiction of Assyrian cavalry riding alone on a horse and on a "Saddle", but is this representitive of the entire span of Assyrian history, or the period that the relief was made? (I can show you pictures of modern American Cavalrymen riding in tanks or airplanes, doesn't mean that they always rode in planes and Tanks, just as Assyrians didn't always ride on "Saddles" (Of course, United States Cavarlyme used to ride on horses, and in a short period of history, and on very rare occasions, camels (See "The Last Camel Charge" by Forrest Bryant Johnson")

Answer: only the period that the relief was made.

"Dictionary of the Ancient Near East", Edited by Piotr Bienkowski and Alan Millard, mentions that the early Assyrian cavalry did indeed ride in pairs. Later new types of bridle were made that allowed a rider to let go of the reins and use their weapon, thus why you see one rider in the relief you posted. Now compare with the following:

"Ground warfare: an international encyclopedia, Volume 1" edited by Stanley Sandler, page 69, and "The Historical Atlas of Weaponry" by Rupert Matthews, page 45, do indeed state that Assyrians did ride ibarebacked and with two people on the horse. Put two and two togther, you come to the conclusion that they originally rode on horseback with two people, barebacked, and then, with better tech, rode alone on a horse, using a "Saddle" (see below)

2. There is a difference between a saddle and something saddle-like. The first saddle-like equipment, the type seen in the relief, was invented in Ancient Assyria, but not the saddle proper (see the book "Saddles" by Russel  H Beatie, pages 18-22). What is on the relief is a "Saddle Blanket" aka "Saddle cloth". This does not mean that Assyrians always had the "saddle blanket" or "saddle cloth", and therefore would have once rode bareback (see "Early Riders: the beginnings of mounted warfare in Asia and Europe" by Robert Drews, page 56, where it mentions Assyrian reliefs from the 9th century that had such "Saddle cloths" instead of real "Saddles")

3. The "Faith and State" information was not taken from a Judeo-Christian-islamic-worldview source. Lke the book you quote (I'm assuimg Karlsson is a historian), that information, along with several other bits of info (which did not make up the whole article Deadliest fiction article, written by several people on here), came from the book "The Historical Atlas of Weaponry" by Rupert Matthews and Brenda Ralph Lewis. Rupert Matthews is a historian who has written several books, such as Hitler: military commander, The Battle of Thermopylae, etc. Your scholar says one thing, mine another. Its a problem that comes up at times when scholars unwittingly disagree, until one side is proven correct.

However, I do not mind the removal of the "Faith and State" information, until the whole facts are presented in full, and a final determination can be made.