The tactical advantage of the light battle chariot was the mobility that it possessed. These factors all added up to make the light chariot a high-powered, vehicle used by the charioteers, to kill their enemies. It had highly mobile weapons system that could descend down an infantry force with frightening speed and velocity. (Silberman 24). “The firepower of the new-style chariots was so overwhelming on the battlefield that no ruler who hoped to maintain his throne against his local or regional rivals could afford to be without them.”(Silberman, 24). The cost of chariots in the Bronze age was large and the skilled craftsmen, chariot drivers, archers, and horse trainers required to maintain the battle-readiness of a kingdom’s chariot force could demand abundant personal support, generous, land grants. Yet, the Late Bronze age powers had all become dangerously dependent on this method of welfare in the military. In the battle of Kadesh the modest chariot corps of a few vehicles had expanded to enormous subject. “At Kadesh, the Hittite chariot corps alone numbered at least 3,500 vehicles.” (Silberman, 24) This placed a strain on even the wealthiest kingdoms.The sea Peoples came from the highlands of the Balkans and the coastlands of Asia Minor. As a skilled class of mercenary foot soldiers who drifted southward to find employment in kingdoms throughout the region, this group of Sea Peoples had both the tactical know-how and the weaponry to demonstrate just how obsolete the Bronze Age chariot armies had become. The Sea Peoples also utilized shields, body armor, double-sided swords, and javelins. Robert Drews notes that barely ten years before the battle of Kadesh, Egyptian hieroglyphic reliefs recorded the movement of people named the Sherdan who had arrived fierce fully. The Sherden apparently became an independent offensive force. They used different weapons such as hunting javelins to kill and wound horse...
