Rein hook

A rein hook,^[2] or rein holder is a device used in chariotry. It is designed to hold the reins in place when the driver is away, or his hands are used for something else than driving. It is used to free the rider's hands.^[3] It is held in place by a "charioteer's belt".

Chariot rein ring. Iran, Elamite, circa 2600-2400 BCE. LACMA.^[1]

Characteristics

"Narrow-back rein holders" were probably hung to the rider's waist. They worked as rein hooks, attached at the belt, for horse control.^[4]

"Broad-back rein holders" were probably fixed at the leading edge of the carriage to hold the reins.^[3] They may also have been attached at the belt of the charioter for hands-free control.^[5][6]

Rein holders were probably introduced in China circa 1200 BCE, where they first appear at Yinxu, from the Northern Zones, where earlier rein holders are known as far as the Minusinsk basin.^[3]

• 
  Karasuk culture bronze rein holders (1500-500 BCE)
• 
  Rein holder in position, as discovered in a burial in the Askizsky region of Khakassia, Southern Siberia. Lugav culture, Late Bronze Age, 11th-8th century BCE.^[6]
• 
  Wheel and rein holders in deer stones culture petroglyphs, circa 1000 BCE
• 
  A Deer stone charioteer with rein hook (hypothetical reconstruction).
• 
  Chinese bronze rein holder, ca. 11th century BCE. The span is 38.7 cm.^[7]
• 
  Western Zhou rein holder
• 
  Shang rein hook, with horse-head endings. Yinxu Museum
• 
  Hunter controlling his chariot from the waist, Ugarit, 15th-14th century BCE.^[8]

See also

• Terret

References

1. "Chariot Rein Ring LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org.
2. Rawson, Huan & Taylor 2021.
3. Yang, Jianhua; Shao, Huiqiu; Pan, Ling (3 January 2020). The Metal Road of the Eastern Eurasian Steppe: The Formation of the Xiongnu Confederation and the Silk Road. Springer Nature. p. 205. ISBN 978-981-329-155-3. a rein-holder used to free the rider's hands
4. Rawson, Huan & Taylor 2021, "curved hooks thought to have functioned as rein-holders for horse control, hanging from a belt around the stones".
5. Selby, Stephen (1 January 2000). Chinese Archery. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-962-209-501-4.
6. Altuntas, Leman; Kayra, Oguz (21 July 2023). "3,000-year-old 'charioteer belt' discovered in Siberia". Arkeonews.
7. "Chariot Fitting China". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
8. Communications And The Earliest Wheeled Transport of Eurasia. 2012. p. 284.

Sources

• Rawson, Jessica; Huan, Limin; Taylor, William Timothy Treal (December 2021). "Seeking Horses: Allies, Clients and Exchanges in the Zhou Period (1045–221 BC)". Journal of World Prehistory. 34 (4): 489–530. doi:10.1007/s10963-021-09161-9.

See also

• Horse tack
• Horse harness
• Draught horse
• Horse-drawn vehicle