| The Bow is bent and drawn;make from the shaft" | | | | been immense because the rest of the ancient world |
| Lear, Act 1, scene 1 | | | | soon adapted the bow as a main part of their forces. |
| Archery is almost as old as man himself. Ever since | | | | The Old Testament refers to the skill of the Hebrews |
| man began to hunt, he has used bows and arrows in | | | | in archery and the Assyrians and Babylonians used the |
| some form. Arrowheads have been discovered in | | | | bow extensively in their armies. |
| Africa indicating that bows were used there 50000 | | | | The Chinese may have invented gunpowder but their |
| years before the birth of Christ. Nobody knows what | | | | earlier civilization adopted archery as one of their main |
| those early bows looked like but it's unlikely that they | | | | fighting arms as well as a sport to show off the skill of |
| resembled the sophisticated bows that the English | | | | warriors. Chinese war chariots at the time of the |
| archers used to great effect thousands of years later. | | | | Shang dynasty around 1500 years BC were manned |
| They would probably have been like the bows used | | | | with three warriors, a driver, a spear thrower and an |
| by Amazonian Indians today. Small so they can be | | | | archer. |
| used effectively in wooded areas. Far more versatile | | | | The great war machine of the Ancient Romans was |
| than a long spear and easier to shoot birds from the | | | | defeated numerous times by armies of skilled archers, |
| tree. | | | | the Goths, Huns and Vandals all inflicted huge defeats |
| In Europe, bows have been found that have been | | | | on the might of Rome by the use of skilled archery. |
| dated to 8000BC. These bows were made from Elm | | | | The early European adventures all reported that the |
| or Yew trees and had an even bend from the top to | | | | bow was the main weapon used by the civilizations |
| the bottom. In the ancient world, archery was used as | | | | they encountered in Asia, Africa and the Americas, |
| a weapon of war to great effect. The ancient | | | | each civilization adopting the bow to their own specific |
| Egyptians used bows in their armies. In their wars | | | | circumstances to great effect. Inevitably, man's |
| against the Persians the Egyptians used archers | | | | ingenuity would find a more effective weapon than the |
| against the Persians spear throwers and sling shots. | | | | bow and this came with the invention of gunpowder. |
| Its effectiveness as a weapon of war must have | | | | |