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Photos of intentionally deflexed bows?

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lonbow:
https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/archers-ancient-greece/

https://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K6.1.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%ADtati#/media/File:A_group_of_Egyptian_soldiers_and_Nubian_mercenaries_holding_axes,_bows,_and_quivers_of_arrows._From_the_mortuary_temple_of_Hatshepsut_at_Deir_el-Bahari,_15th_century_BCE._Neues_Museum,_Berlin.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/24729615@N00/35814436512

https://verlag.wiethase.de/?page_id=189

Aksel:
Lonbow & Organic archer, I´d be very interested in seeing a build of this style of bow !

 If I had a very dry or weak wood, I´d for sure make it longer than depicted on vases etc in the links. Those bows are short with an extreme deflexed tip- very interesting to see and thanks for sharing.
I wonder if they were all self bows or also composite?

organic_archer:
Thank you for the links, Lonbow! Very interesting!

Askel. The Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen was buried with “a plethora of archery equipment”. The selfbows look to be long. Maybe 5.5 to 6 feet, but I can’t find measurements. The majority were “composites of wood, horn, sinew and bark” shaped in more recognizable D/R and R/D.

Good read about the excavation:

https://lithub.com/a-brief-excavation-of-the-bows-arrows-and-chariots-in-king-tuts-tomb/

The Maasai still use a bow very much akin to the Egyptian selfbow and count on its ability to provide.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/bow-and-arrow-class-and-maasai-mara-spear-throwing--667799450978516277/

A friend of mine who lives with the Hadza for several months each year said they almost never unstring their bows. They just replace it when it becomes “tired”. He’s doing some great work documenting their archery practices, hunting and craftsmanship. I believe the team ran a bunch of the bows through a chrono and noted that although usually quite heavy, they “weren’t very fast”.

His Hadza friend gifted me a half dozen mixed arrows and a longbow with a zebra hide wrap over its entire length and a giraffe sinew string. It has considerable string follow and would be nearly at rest when strung. Their families rely on these bows (that people might assume western bowyers would scoff at if you spend enough time on forums) as the primary source of procuring game. I’ll have to post it sometime. It’s a cool bow.

I’d guess the Maasai never unstring either, based on the bow’s shape. I have no first-hand witness to any of this by the way. Just forwarding what I’ve heard from people who know.

Aksel:
There are rock carvings in Sweden dating to the Bronze age depicting double convex bows similar to the ones in lonbows link´s. We know they made efficient & long selfbows from elm and yew etc in Sweden at the time, but we also know that they travelled to the Mediterranean sea and it would surprise me if the double convex bows depicted where inefficient short selfbows they´ve seen on travels, but more likely quite amazing composite bows they´ve seen and brought home with them.

Selfbowman:
You mean like this African poacher bow.

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