heavy cavalry engaging heavy cavalry

[Michael Kerr]

Richard robinson wrote:

The Assyrians who I believe were the first to have a true cavalry. They were the dominant culture circa 800-600bce

I just finished a book called "March of the Scythians" by Cam Rae where he traces the Scythians & Cimmerians not through Greek sources but through Assyrian inscriptions which go into great detail about these nomadic riders from Sargon II to the fall of Nineveh and it seems he tends to agree with you. He said that the Scythians & Cimmerians taught the Assyrians about horsemanship but the Assyrians or contact with the Assyrians taught the Scythians about armour & weapons (lamellar armour, helmets, lances & even the Scythians favoutite weapon the ice pick like sagaris was based on the Assyrian battle axe}.
Below is a bronze relief from around 850BC of mounted Assyrian archers. They are at this time riding badly, retaining the Egyptian "donkey seat" and so unsteady are the Assyrians on their horses that they are being led by aides who hold the reins while the warriors use their bows. Pictures off Times Life series "The Emergence of Man" The First Horsemen covering nomadic riders of the Steppe.


[attachment=7851]assyrianearly.jpg[/attachment]


The image below is from a relief in Nineveh from 7th Century BC where the Assyrian riders control their mounts easily & ride well forward displaying good horsemanship which they probably learned off the Scythians or Cimmerians


[attachment=7852]laterassyrian-Copy-Copy.jpg[/attachment]

So something changed in the Assyrian cavalry between the 2 reliefs & that fits in roughly with your timeframe.

Regards
Michael Kerr