By Chris le Roux

Africa, more specifically Egypt and Sudan (ancient Nubia), forms part of the Ancient Near East (ANE), which includes the geographical area covered by other modern states such as Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. This area can generally be referred to as the "lands of the Bible" (the geographical area that forms the backdrop to the Old Testament narrative). It is therefore appropriate that we take note of bows, arrows and archers of ancient north-Africa in a magazine such as ABH&A. While we will be focusing on ancient Egypt and its southern neighbour Nubia (modern day Sudan), we may not see them in isolation. The north-African archery experience surely influenced (and was influenced by) other ancient near-eastern countries such as Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine.

Let us begin with Egypt in the period 4000 to 2100 BCE (before common era), called the Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age by biblical scholars. This was the period before the patriarch Abraham, and included the Late pre-Dynastic period, Old Kingdom as well as the Intermediate period in Egypt. Archaeological finds from this period include bows found in tombs - one being a simple wooden bow, another one made of two Oryx horns joined by a conical wooden handle (the so-called joined bow) and also two composite bows (one of them being 150 centimetres in length). This indicates an interesting array of bows - from a simple single material (wood only) self bow, to a multi-layered (and much more powerful) composite bow (a combination of woods, horn, glue and sinew). The Egyptians seemed to have been a creative bunch, for they also had the angular bow (both simple and composite) (see Figure 1), which later appears in Assyria as national weapon and symbol of power (9th century BCE). Another bow used by the Egyptians was the simple double-convex bow of between 1,5 and 1,7 metres in length.

Five hundred years later, during the Late Bronze Age (1570 to 1200 BCE) Egypt became a mighty political power in the ANE (the time of the stay of the Israelites in Egypt, the exodus and the entry into Canaan, according to the Old Testament narrative). Depictions of Pharoahs, such as Tut-anch-Amon, Seti I and Rameses II riding on their chariots, drawn bow in hand, come mostly from this period (see Figure 2). By this time the composite bow with a slight recurved shape had been well established. High class or royal archers who could afford chariots used them as mobile platforms from which to fight or hunt, while peasant archers, on the other hand, were ordinary infantrymen who fought on foot.

Arrows were fitted first with flint and later with bronze arrowheads and were spined or ribbed to prevent them from being removed easily. They were carried in a cylindrical quiver made of leather with shoulder strap or fitted onto the chariot. Quivers could hold up to 40 arrows. Bows were even carried on the archer's back in a bow case or bag, which could also be attached to the chariot (see Figure 3). The typical arm guard also formed part of the archer's outfit. Practice sessions for archers are clearly depicted on wall paintings, together with scenes of the pharaoh shooting straight through a copper-plated target.

The land to the south of Egypt, Nubia, was known to the Egyptians as Ta-Seti (Land of the Bow). The power struggle between Egypt and Nubia is proverbial, with power changing hands frequently. There were even times when a Nubian sat on the throne of Egypt as Pharoah! The Nubians were very skilled archers and in times of servitude served as mercenaries in the Egyptian army. Their specialist bows were the large single-arc self bow, as well as the simple doubly convex bow. One can imagine that over time they would have adopted the more powerful composite bow used by the Egyptian elite.

From this brief overview of the ancient north-African kingdoms we can conclude that the bow was mainly a weapon of warfare, and therefore a symbol and instrument of political dominance, personal status and economic power.

Sources:
Rausing, G. 1967. The bow: Some notes on its origin and development.
Yadin, Y. 1963. The art of warfare in biblical lands in the light of archaeological discovery.