An Analysis of a Persian Archery manuscript written by Kapur Čand (original) (raw)
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Persian archery manuals provide lots of useful information on shooting with a Persian composite bow. The main aim of this article is to provide, for the first time, a full annotated translation of an undated Persian archery manual written by Mohammad Zamān known as Čerāq Beg from the family of Kāmrān Beg Qarānāj. The manual is handwritten and consists of twenty four pages which include twelve chapters. Despite the occasional confusion, the obscure vocabulary, and the odd clumsy description, the text is a mine of information. It shows the continuity of the Persian archery tradition at least to the end of the eighteenth century and increases our knowledge of some of the details once commonplace that are now obscure. The gradual increase in our knowledge of Persian archery is progressing through the discovery and translation of works like this one of Mohammad Zamān. Such manuals introduce new techniques and also confirm the pervasiveness of the basic forms of this ancient art.
2016
SUMMARY This thesis shall identify the date origin of the composite bow within Mesopotamia and Elam. and both identify and quantify the design factors which lead to increased performance possible with composite construction. To accomplish this, the thesis begins by summarizing the problems and flaws that currently exist in the field of history as it applies specifically to archery and bow use. With problems identified, the thesis will then introduce the reader to the basics of bow mechanics, thereby laying the basis for physical testing. This in turn will empirically demonstrate flaws in the current iconographical method of bow identification. The thesis will then devise a new method for iconographic identification of composite construction that has greater proven accuracy, based upon proportional length, which will link extant artifacts with both physical test results and iconographic evidence. The reader shall then be led through a complete reevaluation of iconographical evidence for Mesopotamia and Elam starting at the beginning of the second millennium BCE and working backwards using this new method of iconographic evaluation to determine the point at which composite bow technology first appears in the ancient Near East. The thesis will finish with an overview of the above accomplishments and their potential impact on the study of ancient and military history. KEY TERMS Ancient History, Military History, Archery, Bow, Composite, Experimental Archaeology, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Elam, Arrow
Acta Militaria Mediaevalia IX (Kraków-Rzeszów-Sanok), 2013
The aim of the paper is to enhance our understanding of bow finds unearthed in burials in Eurasia in the first millennium A.D. General terminological, methodological and source critical problems are concerned in order to define the information value of the two main sources, i.e. rigid bow applications and well-preserved bows. Hence, an attempt is made to find a suitable, unambiguous term for the bows surveyed, through an epistemological analysis of the terminology of bows in general. As the structure of the arms (complex or simple) and the reflex or deflex of the bow cannot be unequivocally ascertained on the base of archaeological data alone – considering our first and abundant group of rigid bow applications, the initiation of the ‘rigid’ term seems appropriate, as it properly describes the main characteristic of the archaeological record. Concerning the terminology of rigid bow applications, Russian, English, German and Hungarian terms of different meanings are unified into a coherent system, emphasizing certain related theoretical problems of function (strengthening versus decoration or structure) and material (bone versus antler). Thus an objective terminology is proposed, which besides the main formal characteristic of the application (plate or rod) also indicates its location (grip or tip) and position (frontal, dorsal or lateral). Dealing with issues of source criticism and research methods, the usage of artistic sources is also challenged here. In order to demonstrate the general unrealism, abstraction and thus inapplicability of the artistic depictions, the finds from Kurgantepe (Uzbekistan) are analyzed, where both pictorial and archaeological evidence were unearthed in the same grave. The types, quality and general ‘worth’ of information (fabrication, structure, function, use-wear traces, etc.) derived from the archeological record (i.e. rigid bow applications) are discussed in greater length. Furthermore, it is noted that rigid bow applications once were part of a complicated & complex mechanical machine, thus the epistemological question arose, whether the applications can be understood and discussed separately or only as parts of the whole entity, i.e. the bow. For it makes real difference, if one classifies and evaluates the applications or only the bow itself. The aim of the prolonged theoretical discussion is to provide a firm methodological basis for further analysis of the archaeological material unearthed throughout Eurasia. At last, to demonstrate the enormous importance of well-preserved bow finds, i.e. the ultimate source of the research, a list of all pre-Mongol period rigid bow finds in Eurasia is compiled and evaluated. Thus the chronological and chorological aspects of well-preserved bows are given, while overall source critical problems (archaeological context, available information, state of preservation, etc.) are also concerned.
Composite archery bows have been well known and used by Asiatic societies for thousands of years. The Turkish composite bow, made of wood, horn, sinew and glue is one of the most famous and powerful bows in the world. Because of its high draw weight and mechanical efficiency, the Turkish composite bow became a powerful weapon in the Seljuk and the Ottoman empire. In addition to being a powerful weapon of war, at the same time the bow and arrow (archery) continued to be a sport of Ottoman (sultans, state officials, janissaries) until the late Ottoman period. In this study of the Ottoman composite archery bows in the collections of Izmir Ethnography Museum, a small wood sample was investigated on the basis of its wood anatomy. The results showed that it was made of maple wood (Acer sp.) and some of its qualitative and quantitative anatomical properties are presented here. One of the key properties for the identification of maple wood is the helical thickening throughout the body of the vessel element. Helical thickenings in vessel elements in cutting surfaces of maple-wooden core increase the bonding surface between the wood and sinew-horn. In most of the woods preferred traditionally for bow-making, helical thickenings in tracheids, vessel elements or ground tissue fibres should be taken into account at a hierarchy of cellular structures for elucidating the efficiency of Ottoman composite-wooden bow.