Scythian Archery

The Scythians were a nomadic nation living on the steppes of what is today southern russia and northern Iran (the map shows where we think Scythia must have been). They were the first eurasian peope to domesticate the horse, and have been credited as being the first to use archery on horseback. Because of the nomadic lifestyle, they fought with most others they came in contact with, and, as such, had developed very sophisticated mounted weaponry.

They were renouned archers, and there extraordinary prowess was recognised worldwide. They used small compound bows and were deadly efficient. The bows were double curved, but not to the extent of some eastern bows, such as the mongols.

Scythian ARchers had gained such renown throughout the world that in Athens around the 5th Century, there was a sort of Police force known as the Scythian Arhcers, though they were neither scythian, nor necessarily archers. The Name Scythian Archers obviously had undertones of power and superiority.

So where did archery all begin?

So I've been doing some research and it seems that archery was probably developed in Africa in the stone age, but the earliest known  archers were the ancient egyptians. The picture shows a rock fresco from Tassili depicting an egyptian archer. It dates from about 7,500BC.

They originally used bows made from rams horns, but by the dynastic times had developed bows made entirely from wood, with animal sinews for the string. It was replaced by the simpler "Self Bow" in the Old Kingdom. This was one long piece of wood, slightly curved at both ends. It was easier to maintain, but required much more effort to draw than the recurve bow used by some other nations, whose second curve doubled the power of the shot. This bow was used right through to the end of the new kingdom, even though by then they had developed compound bows by that stage.

An arrow in flight - 4000fps

Link:

Starting out...

Hi there, I'm doing this blog on Archery, and particularly the geography of Archery. So I want to learn and post about archery in different countries, what different types of bows and arrows they use, how different coutries perform internationally and more. I am doing the blog as an environmental studies project for school, and chose Archery because it is a topic I find very interesting at the moment, having started archery recently. A guy in my archery club uses a traditional turkish bow, and so that got me interested in archery across the world. Hopefully it will be an interesting learning experience, and you will enjoy it just as much as I do!