Editing Solar deity (section)

==== <span class="anchor" id="Chariot"></span> Solar chariots ====
{{redirect-multi|4|Solar chariot|Sun chariot|Sun Chariot|Chariot of the Sun|the racehorse|Sun Chariot (horse)}}
[[File:Solvognen-00100.jpg|thumb|The [[Trundholm sun chariot]], [[Nordic Bronze Age|Denmark]], {{circa|1500-1300 BC}}]]

The concept of the "solar chariot" is younger than that of the solar barge and is typically [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]], corresponding with the Indo-European expansion after the invention of the chariot in the 2nd millennium BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Feldman |first1=Marian H. |last2=Sauvage |first2=Caroline |title=Objects of Prestige? Chariots in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean and Near East |journal=Ägypten und Levante / Egypt and the Levant |date=2010 |volume=20 |pages=67–181 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23789937 |access-date=2 October 2021 |publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press|doi=10.1553/AEundL20s67 |jstor=23789937 }}</ref> The reconstruction of the [[Proto-Indo-European religion]] features a "solar [[chariot]]" or "sun chariot" with which the Sun traverses the sky.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kristiansen |first1=Kristian |year=2005 |title=The Nebra find and early Indo-European religion |journal=Congresses of the Halle State Museum for Prehistory |volume=5 |publisher=[[Halle State Museum of Prehistory]] |url=https://www.academia.edu/565963 |via=Academia.edu}}</ref>

[[File:The struggle of the nations - Egypt, Syria, and Assyria (1896) (14774936871).jpg|thumb|Gold boat model mounted on chariot wheels, from the tomb of Queen [[Ahhotep II|Ahhotep]], {{circa|1550 BC}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1d719880b541134441d428b23398713e |title=Photo of queen Ahhotep's gold boat model}}</ref>]]

Chariots were introduced to Egypt in the [[Second Intermediate Period of Egypt|Hyksos period]], and were seen as solar vehicles associated with the sun god in the subsequent [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] period.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.academia.edu/5630117 |title=Chasing Chariots. Proceedings of the First International Chariot Conference |date=2012 |publisher=Sidestone Press |chapter=Vehicle of the Sun: The Royal Chariot in the New Kingdom |last=Calvert |first=Amy |pages=45–71}}</ref> A gold solar boat model from the tomb of [[Ahhotep II|Queen Ahhotep]], dating from the beginning of the New Kingdom ({{circa|1550 BC}}), was mounted on four-spoked chariot wheels.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/4635066 |journal=Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections |volume=2 |issue=3 |date=2010 |title=Ahhotep's Silver Ship Model: The Minoan Context |last=Wachsmann |first=Shelley |pages=31–41|doi=10.2458/azu_jaei_v02i3_wachsmann |doi-access=free }}</ref> Similarities have been noted with the [[Trundholm sun chariot|Trundholm Sun Chariot]] from Denmark, dating from {{circa|1500}}–1400 BC, which was also mounted on four-spoked wheels.<ref name="Meller-2021"/>

Examples of solar chariots include:
* In Norse mythology, the chariot of the goddess [[Sól (Sun)|Sól]], drawn by [[Árvakr and Alsviðr]] (‘early awake’ and ‘all-swift’). The [[Trundholm sun chariot]] dates to the [[Nordic Bronze Age]], about 2,500 years earlier than written attestations of the Norse myth, but is often associated with it.
* Greek [[Helios]] (or [[Apollo]]) riding in a chariot.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Helios.html |title=Helios |website= Theoi.com |access-date=22 September 2010}}</ref> (See also [[Phaethon|Phaëton]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thanasis.com/helios.htm |title=Helios & Phaethon | website= Thanasis.com |access-date=18 September 2010}}</ref>
* [[Sol Invictus]] depicted riding a ''[[quadriga]]'' on the reverse of a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Denarius|coin]].<ref>[[:File:ProbusCoin.jpg|Image of Probus Coin]]</ref>
* Hindu [[Surya]] riding in a chariot drawn by seven horses.

In Chinese culture, the sun chariot is associated with the passage of time. For instance, in the poem ''Suffering from the Shortness of Days'', [[Li He]] of the [[Tang dynasty]] is hostile towards the legendary [[dragon]]s that drew the sun chariot as a vehicle for the continuous progress of time.<ref name="Bien-2012" /> The following is an excerpt from the poem:
{{poem quote|
I will cut off the dragon's feet, chew the dragon's flesh,
so that they can't turn back in the morning or lie down at night.
Left to themselves the old won't die; the young won't cry.<ref name="Bien-2012">{{cite book |last1=Bien |first1=Gloria |title=Baudelaire in China a Study in Literary Reception |date=2012 |publisher=[[University of Delaware]] |location=Lanham |isbn=9781611493900 |page=20}}</ref>
}}