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Thing

Mantelet

Human-made Things in the Bible

The soldiers who operated a battering ram were exposed to attack from above by the defenders of the city. In order to protect them, there was a large protective shield (called a mantelet) over their heads. Sometimes the mantelet was part of the mechanism that carried the battering ram; sometimes it was formed by other soldiers who overlapped individual shields (see Large shield) above their heads.

Pictures

Soldiers form a mantelet with their shields for group protection
Soldiers form a mantelet with their shields for group protection© Ziko, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In the Bible

The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used

סֹכֵךְ sokek · 1 verse

Word page ›

Also in Siege instruments

Siege wall12 versesSiege ramp, siege mound11 versesFiring platform, siege tower4 versesLadder1 verseFire thrower1 verseCatapult, ballista3 versesBattering ram6 verses

Sources

Plants and Trees in the Bible, Animals in the Bible and Human-made Things in the Bible © United Bible Societies, 2025 (adapted from Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible by Robert Koops, All Creatures Great and Small: Living Things in the Bible by Edward R. Hope, and The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible by Ray Pritz), CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted for eRhema