Scale from a Suit of Armour
Unknown · Late Bronze Age, circa 1550 to 1150 BC
A single plate of bronze, eight centimetres long and about three wide, hammered thin and pierced with small holes along its edges. Hundreds of such scales, laced together with cord onto a leather or linen backing, made up the scale armour worn by the chariot warriors of the Late Bronze Age. Look at the slight ridge and the curve of the plate, designed to overlap its neighbours like the scales of a fish so that a blow would glance off. It is in good condition, and the holes for lacing are clearly visible.
The scale was excavated at Ras Shamra, ancient Ugarit, during the eighth campaign of the French mission in nineteen thirty-six, and came to the Louvre in the division of finds. Ugarit's texts speak of chariot forces equipped by the palace, and lists of armour and horses were kept by the royal administration. A full coat could require several hundred scales and a great deal of bronze, so this small plate stands for an expensive military technology shared by the great powers of the day, from Egypt and the Hittites to Mycenaean Greece. Try to picture the whole suit from this single fragment.
Did You Know? A complete Late Bronze Age coat of scale armour could contain several hundred plates like this one, each laced to its neighbours.
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