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Archery – ancient sport

Archery - ancient sport

Archery – ancient sport


Archery is the sport of shooting arrows with a bow at a target. For thousands of years people used the skills of archery mostly for war and for hunting.
A bow is a long, thin piece of wood with a string stretched tightly from one end to the other. An arrow is a long, thin piece of wood, which ends in a pointed tip. There is a tail of feathers or plastic fins on the other end of the arrow. It helps the arrow fly straight.
In the 1900s archery became an Olympic event. The Summer Olympic Games feature target archery events for men and women, individually and in teams.

In Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas many peoples made bows and arrows in prehistoric and ancient times. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Chinese practiced archery as a sport. The Huns, the Turks, the Mongols, and other groups used the bow and arrow for wars. Many sources claim that the Mongol archers were able to hit targets located at a distance of 500 m.
Archer by Boris Olshansky

Archer by Boris Olshansky


English soldiers began using a large bow called the longbow in the 1300s.
In the 1500s guns replaced the bow and arrow as the major military weapon.
The Catholic Church forbade the use of crossbows against Christians! Crossbows first appeared in ancient Greece. The Europeans saw them in battle during the First Crusade and were shocked by what they saw. So, crossbows soon began to be widely used in Europe, especially in England and France. Images of crossbows can be found on European miniatures since the X century. If you believe Chinese history, crossbows appeared here in the middle of the first millennium BC. Eastern rulers had a gilded bow as a sign of power.
In Greek mythology, bows were weapons of hunting, heroic deeds and magic. Huntress Artemis was armed with a bow, Hercules killed birds with bronze feathers. And Eros was piercing the hearts of lovers with arrows.
Ancient archer

Ancient archer


Take the bow and you will immediately feel the medieval romance.
First bows and arrows were made of wood, later of wood, bone and metal, today people use valuable woods, super light, strong and elastic metal alloys, polymers, and also use high technologies and high-precision computerized equipment.
During the Vietnam War, an American helicopter was shot down using a bow and arrows. The arrow’s speed is up to 300 km / h.
Archery is the only Olympic sport where disabled people have the same rights and opportunities and can shoot in the general classification.
From: Britannica Student Encyclopedia, About everything magazine.

Archery – ancient sport

Archer by Gilvanov Bulat Alfirovich

Archer by Gilvanov Bulat Alfirovich

Archers, wall painting

Archers, wall painting

Artwork by Michal Ivan Art and Design

Artwork by Michal Ivan Art and Design

Bow and arrows

Bow and arrows

Bow was the main attribute of Artemis, goddess of hunting

Bow was the main attribute of Artemis, goddess of hunting

English longbow

English longbow

Egyptian chariot with archer armed with a simple bow

Egyptian chariot with archer armed with a simple bow

Female archers

Female archers

Frederick Sands Brunner

Frederick Sands Brunner

Girls are shooting arrows

Girls are shooting arrows

Horse warrior statuette

Horse warrior statuette

Horse Warrior with a bow

Horse Warrior with a bow

Jebe, an archer, who shot beloved horse of Genghis Khan

Jebe, an archer, who shot beloved horse of Genghis Khan

Mongolian archers hit targets much better than modern shooters

Mongolian archers hit targets much better than modern shooters

Nancy Siefker shoots arrows with the feet

Nancy Siefker shoots arrows with the feet

Pioneers with bows, Soviet Union

Pioneers with bows, Soviet Union

Robin Hood monument

Robin Hood monument

Wang Kewei

Wang Kewei

Weapons of feminists

Weapons of feminists