Helmet

A helmet is a hard covering worn on the head for protection in battle.

A soldier’s head was one of the most easily injured parts of the body. For this reason, soldiers have used helmets for protection since at least the end of the fourth millennium BC.

Goliath and Saul both wore bronze helmets (1 Samuel 17:5, 38). For many centuries, helmets were standard equipment for heavily armed soldiers in foreign armies. However, helmets do not seem to have been common in Israel’s army during the time of the united kingdom.

King Uzziah later provided helmets for the army of Judah as part of his military reforms (2 Chronicles 26:14).

See also Armor and Weapons.