Composite bow
Arco compuesto
- Date
- c. 2200 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Mesopotamia (Stele of Naram-Sin, Akkad) and the Eurasian steppes
- Credited to
- Akkadians; steppe peoples
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Laminated bow of wood, horn (compression) and sinew (tension) glued together, short but with great power and range. Its manufacture required a year of curing, which made it an elite weapon.
The Stele of Naram-Sin (c. 2250 BCE) shows the earliest identifiable recurved composite bow; some place its origin on the Asian steppe.
What it led to
- The combination of composite bow and chariot that defined 2nd-millennium warfare
- Mercenaries and specialised archer troops (Nubians, Scythians)
- The military advantage of steppe and Central Asian peoples for millennia (Huns, Mongols)
Built on
- War chariotc. 1900 BCE
- Simple bow
- Sinew and fish glue
- Horn-working
Made possible
- War chariotc. 1900 BCE
- Crossbow with bronze trigger mechanismc. 450 BCE
- Gastraphetes (belly bow)c. 399 BCE
- Catapult and torsion ballista399 BCE
- War chariot (as a shooting platform)
- Mounted archery
- Turco-Mongol recurve bow