Shield, helmet and armor

A soldier held his weapon in his right hand and his shield in his left, so a man of rank had a shield-bearer at his unprotected right side, carrying a large shield; Goliath’s went before him (1 Samuel 17:7, 41). Shields were often of wood or wicker covered with leather and were rubbed with oil — by one view to keep the leather supple, by another as a rite before battle; David’s lament says Saul’s shield is “no longer anointed with oil” (2 Samuel 1:21). Solomon had shields of hammered gold for show; after Egypt carried them off, Rehoboam made bronze ones instead.

The first body armor was a long tunic of leather or tough fiber. In the Late Bronze Age came the coat of mail: hundreds of small overlapping metal scales sewn on cloth or leather — texts from Nuzi count 400 to 600 large scales in one coat. Goliath’s bronze coat weighed five thousand shekels, some 57 kg. Saul dressed David in his own tunic, a bronze helmet and armor, but David could not walk in them. Helmets seem to have been rare in Israel’s army until Uzziah supplied them (2 Chronicles 26:14).