What an interesting and informative (and fun) book! Cantrell is an expert in horses and has worked with them all her life, as well as an archaeologist and scholar in the fields of ancient Near Eastern and biblical studies. This combination is what makes this book worth the read. She corrects misunderstandings about horses and about care for horses throughout the book, and she argues that Monarchic Israel and Judah likely had a large number of horses and chariots at their disposal throughout the Iron Age. Her chapter “The Nature of the War-Horse” was fascinating, and her chapter on the stables in Megiddo—in which she argues that the stables were, in fact, stables, rather than storehouses, marketplaces, or barracks—was well-argued and convincing. Cantrell does a good job of mixing technical jargon with an easy-to-read writing style.

The overall structure of the book is a little disjointed, and the varying length of the chapters is a bit odd (chapters 6 and 7 probably could have been just one chapter). Chapter 5, on the Megiddo stables, is the strongest chapter, which is not surprising considering that it is based primarily on Cantrell’s earlier work on the subject (especially an article she co-authored with Israel Finkelstein). Considering Cantrell’s archaeological experience and expertise, I was surprised by her lack of engagement with the oft-discussed Iron Age terracotta horse/horse-and-rider figurines found throughout Judah. Devoting even a small section to these important archaeological discoveries would have been helpful.

I liked this book a lot more than I expected! If you’re a horse girl/cowboy with an interest in Iron Age Israel and the Bible, you’ll like it too!