3000 year old bows from Moses era

[KSdan]

Thought you guys may like this.  Just got back from Egypt/Ethiopia trip.  Stopped in Cairo Museum- unbelievable!  3000-4000 year old stuff from the era of Ramses/Pharaoh during Moses' time.  This is a photo of bows!  Hard to believe all the stuff preserved including taxidermy dogs, goats, etc.

[KSdan]

[23feetupandhappy]

Wow that is so cool!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing!

I see a couple of split limb bows in there..............and those compound guys were trying to lead us to believe they came up with that idea!!!              

Cool lookin' sticks!

Bisch

[Tim Finley]

Actually some pretty nice looking bows and very decorative . What were they made from and what were the strings and arrows made from ? Thanks for sharing...

[Pine]

Wow ! Thanks for sharing .    

[KSdan]

Did not have time to really inquire about details-it was a quick stop on a more serious trip. Though it was amazing what was preserved from 3000+ years ago. You will all laugh though. . . they even had a Pharaoh's contraceptive device!  Crazy!!

Dan in KS

[8upbowhunter]

Man that is so cool, thanks for sharing.

[Steve Jr]

That is so cool!

[Duker]

C   :cool:   :   :cool:   L!!!

[McDave]

They all seem to have string follow. Must have been well used in their day.

[Pat B]

That's not string follow, it's reflex. Some of the Egyptian "angular" bows were composite with horn bellies and sinew backs and were wrapped with birch bark and other materials.
Cool stuff, KSdan. I love to look at ancient archery equipment.

[mlsthmpsn]

Originally posted by McDave:
They all seem to have string follow. Must have been well used in their day.

My hunch is that these were found in tombs or underground, and when they were placed there, they were strung up....a couple decades of centuries of being strung up will cause a bit of string follow.    


Pretty cool to see. Thanks for sharing Dan.

[mlsthmpsn]

Originally posted by Pat B:
That's not string follow, it's reflex. Some of the Egyptian "angular" bows were composite with horn bellies and sinew backs and were wrapped with birch bark and other materials.

Here's a brief video I found about Egyptian composite bows....   PBS Nova  

Unstrung it looks like the pictures above.

[mlsthmpsn]

These look familiar.

[Pat B]

In the second video he is shooting Mediterranean style with split fingers and the arrow on the left side of the bow. Originally they used a thumb ring and shot off the right side of the bow giving a cleaner release and better, faster arrow flight.

[mlsthmpsn]

This post has me thinking about books on archery history....anyone have any favorites or must-reads?

I'm currently gearing up for deer season with "On the Hunt: The History of Deer Hunting in Wisconsin" by Robert Willging.

[CRM_95]

Awesome. If those bows could talk...

[gifford, MO]

Thanks for sharing the pictures from the Museum.

And thanks for the Nova Clip on making Egyptian composite bows.

[Shadowhnter]

Too awesome! They certainly dont look as primitive as one might expect. Seems they had it down pat.