Archeology vs Sources

[Pattus Magnus]

There’s another advantage of cavalry over chariots - the number of active combatants. A unit of cavalry had 1 combatant rider per horse, but each chariot needs a driver, reducing the number of effective fighters. For ex. a 2- horse chariot has 1 driver and 1 combatant, effectively half as many as an equivalent number of cavalry horses with a combatant rider on each. Even if we’re generous and assume that the driver can use a shield or do something to help defend the chariot, it is a less efficient method of using horses in combat than cavalry, and that’s before taking into account the added expense in material and labour of maintaining the chariot (compared to the tack needed for a cavalry horse). The chariot itself may have had some psychological impact on enemies (ex Caesar’s soldiers encountering Celtic chariots) or physical utility (heavy or scythed chariots), but those don’t seem to have offset the overall greater efficiency of using the horses for cavalry. So, by about 600 BCE in Europe and Western Asia chariots were largely abandoned, except as an occasional showpiece for commanders to use, or in specialized roles or in marginal areas.

[Easy E]

No argument from me, but you have to recall that "Late-Period Egyptians" are 664-332 BCE after a period of foreign occupation and domination.  We are still pretty early, and the chariot was still in use all over the world.  As one example, we have documentation about Carthaginian forces in Sicily around 580 BCE still using Chariots.  Another is Darius using one as a command vehicle against Alexander late in the period.       

That said, it is not 100% clear if the Late-Period Egyptians ever really used chariots.  We know earlier periods did.  We know they existed in the region.  We know groups who had political control of the area prior to the Late-Period used chariots.  However, there is no evidence (that I could find) that the Late-Period Egyptians used them. 

However, rule-of-cool is that the Egyptian commanders were probably mounted in a chariot for the Late-period.  This could be to mimic the former Persian overlords, or a throw-back to Nationalistic symbols of authority in Egypt?  Who knows, but it looks cool on the table and really makes the command model stand-out for easy identification!   

[Rick]

Although the chariot went completely out of fashion as a weapon of war it did still linger on in ceremonial duties - Darius' chariot was one of several he used as ceremonial transport (think of it as a VIP's armoured limo) so it's perfectly feasible to have one on the table. Chariot burials have been dated to centuries after the war chariot stopped being used, although even they fell out of favour in the West after christianity became practically universal.