FReeper Canteen ~ Part V of the Mongols ~ December 7, 2004

www.coldsiberia.org ^ | December 7, 2004 | LaDivaLoca

[LaDivaLoca]

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Part V of The Mongols

Mongolian Bow

Because the Old Mongols lived in an environment where survival skills were always of the utmost importance, it was a matter of course that they should develop excellent tools, both civilian and military. One piece of equipment that was of great significance in war as well as in the daily life of the Mongols was their composite bow. Perhaps this bow is not quite as well-known in the West as the English longbow, which was the best bow ever to emerge in Europe.

Yet the Old Mongolian bow was incomparably superior to everything seen in the West. Not until the advent of breach-loading firearms in the 1800's was the Mongolian bow decisively surpassed as a long-range shooting tool. Still the original Mongolian bow remains a formidable tool for targeting, war or hunting, and the people around the Bajkal sea regularly used these bows for hunting at least up to the twentieth century.

Military Use

When we are talking about Mongolian bows, the first thoughts go the their military use, although hunting and target practice certainly were more prominent activities. Every day was not filled with war, but hunting and the training of skills were part of the daily routine. However, we will start with the military aspect.

In the military, each soldier carried two bows on horseback. One bow was for long-range shooting, another for shooting at close distances. Also, each soldier had two quivers with arrows for different purposes. To mention but a few of these, there were armor-piercing arrows with a particularly heavy arrowhead of tempered steel, there were incendiary arrows for setting buildings afire and spreading fear in the enemy ranks, as well as whistling arrows for signalling. Of course, the most arrows they carried were ordinary arrows where the arrowhead and length of the shaft were adjusted to the normal range at which the particular type arrow was to be used. The standard, according to James Chambers, was that each soldier should have at least sixty arrows with him or her. Yes; it merits mention once more that the strongest and most courageous Mongolian females rode along with the men and fought bravely. Also, the women who did not ordinarily participate in military activity nevertheless had to learn how to wield the bow, a necessary skill for self-defence as well as hunting.

The Construction

We are now going into the details of the Mongolian bow. As already mentioned, it was the best bow in the world, and probably still is. Even though the modern high-tech compound bows are in some ways more convenient to use and can be made equally powerful, the sheer simplicity of the Mongol composite bow with its complete indepencence of foreign equipment and complicated parts that the archer cannot easily repair or replace makes the Mongol bow on balance a superior solution. In order to show the Mongols and their extraordinary bow the proper respect, the story is mostly told in the present tense, which also serves to emphasize the salient point that these things can be done today as well.

The Mongol bow is not as large and long as the English one, but it is vastly more powerful. The draw weight of an English longbow averages around 70-80 pounds, whereas the Old Mongol bow had a pull that, according to George Vernadsky, averaged at around 166 pounds. Chambers states that the pull varied from 100 to 160 pounds. This seeming discrepancy certainly reflects the fact that draw weight varied with the strength of the user, and with what use the bow had been made for. As could be expected, there was a considerable difference in shooting range. Whereas the English longbow could shoot at distances up to 250 yards or around 228 meters, the Mongol counterpart can hit its target at 350 yards or 320 meters and, if the archer is well trained for the task, even beyond that.

There are people who claim that the Old Mongols could shoot and hit their target over truly astonishing distances. Gongor Lhagvasuren, Deputy Director at the Mongolian National Institute of Physical Education, has written an article called "The stele of Chinggis Khan." There, Lhagvasuren refers to an ancient inscription on a stone found in the basin of the river Kharkiraa, a left tributary of Urlengui river which flows into the trans-Bajkal river Erdene. The text of the inscription, supposedly dated from 1226, may be interpreted as follows: "While Chinggis Khan was holding an assembly of Mongolian dignitaries, after his conquest of Sartaul (East Turkestan), Esungge shot a target at 335 alds" (536m). Lhagvasuren draws the conclusion in his article that such feats were rather common for Mongolian archers during the 1200's, and writes: "This case illustrates the strength, accuracy and sharpness, physical prowess of the Mongolians who lived more than 700 years ago." Whether or not we find it likely that Mongolian archers could regularly hit their targets at the distances Lhagvasuren claims they could, there is no question that they and their and bows are outstanding in all of archery's history.

When we take a closer look at the Mongolian bow, we see that it is an intriguing construction indeed. The backbone of the bow is a wooden frame, which will typically be birch, because that wood is resilient and is also readily available. The total length of the frame is 150-160 cm. When the bow is unstrung, it looks like a semi-circle with a beautifully curvaceous shape, but when a string is attached the whole thing is stretched out so that its limbs are bent inward. Even so, these limbs with string attachments are bent slighly away from the archer, forming a double curve. It is this double curve that delivers explosive acceleration and awesome velocity to the arrow. From these limbs or bends of the bow behind the string attachments where the impact is greatest, the frame is covered with elongated and flattened pieces of mountain sheep's (or other wild or domesticated ungulate's) horn or/and bone which adds snapping power to the resilient wood in the frame. These hard parts form a layer that covers the whole area of the so-called belly, which is the part between the grip and the limbs. Chambers describes how the back parts of the bow, nearest the archer, were those covered with horn and/or bone while the sinew layer was applied to the outer side.

The reader will have noticed that I use the term horn and/or bone. This is because the precise details of how the bows were built could vary over the Siberian area, although the main features are clear. The bone elements, when added, are no more than a small part at the center of the bow, and may originally have served mainly ornamental and possibly magical purposes.

source: http://www.coldsiberia.org/monbow.htm

Next Tuesday Part VI of The Mongols

[StarCMC]

He'll be 7 weeks tomorrow! He's smiled at me - 1st time on Sunday, but I was waiting for repeat to see if it was real. Smiled at hubby last night and bubba and sis today, as well as me!! :o)

[HiJinx]

Alright! Happy baby!

That's good news...and that little face ought to just light up when he smiles.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

How sweet, Gods little blessings are...
Ms.B

[StarCMC]

Right-o!

[Kathy in Alaska]

YIPPEE!!! Jacob is smiling!! How cool.

[Kathy in Alaska]

TROOP VISIT — Vice President Dick Cheney addresses troops at Bagram Airfield's Viper Dining Facility Dec. 7. Pictured at left is 1st Sgt. Curtis Arnold, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army photo

I see a few soldiers that are enjoying their Vice President's visit.

[HiJinx]

Yeah, why is it that we never saw smiles like that when x42 visited the troops?

Those kids are just tickled pink to be in the company of the Veep.

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Baldwin (DD-624)

Gleaves class destroyer

Displacement. 1630 t.
Lenght. 348'3"
Beam. 36'1"
Draft. 17'5"
Speed. 35 k.
Complement. 276
Armament. 4 5", 6 .50cal mg, 10 21" tt.

USS Baldwin (DD 624) was launched 14 June 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co., Seattle, Wash.; sponsored by Mrs. Ida E. Crawford, daughter of Acting Master's Mate Baldwin; commissioned 30 April 1943, Lieutenant Commander G. Knuepfer in command, and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.

Between 13 August 1943 and 25 January 1944 Baldwin made three trans-Atlantic convoy escort crossings to Casablanca, French Morocco. She also acted as a fire support, patrol, and escort vessel during the invasions of Normandy (5 June-15 July 1944) and southern France (13 August-25 September). She sustained slight damage from two small caliber shells off Normandy 6 June. Between 21 January and 27 February 1945 Baldwin escorted USS Quincy (CA-71) carrying President Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference.

Upon her return to the United States Baldwin carried out patrol and plane guard duties off the east coast until July 1945, when she departed for the Pacific. Between August 1945 and January 1946 she acted as flagship for the minesweeping operations off the Korea and China coasts.

Returning to the east coast in January 1946, Baldwin served with the Atlantic Fleet until placed out of commission in reserve at Charleston SC, 20 June 1946.

Though she had no further active service, Baldwin suffered a notable accident at sea in mid-April 1961, when she broke loose while under tow between Reserve Fleet facilities and went ashore off Montauk Point. Though refloated a few weeks later, she was not worth repairing. USS Baldwin was stricken from the Navy list at the beginning of June and scuttled at sea on 5 June 1961.

Baldwin received three battle stars for her World War II service.

[StarCMC]

Headed out to the grocery store - I'll see ya'll later on tonight!! HUGS!!

[HiJinx]

That seems to be a daily activity...

Oh, wait a minute, I forgot what it was like to have little ones running around...!

What's for dinner?

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Dat's cute!
;0)
Ms.B

[Lady Jag]

When John Kerry is on the campaign stump, his frequent trips across the U.S. are symbolic of his stances on the issues. He goes back and forth a lot.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

From the men in the Military and the Canteen

[luvie]

Hi, y'all! The fire looks so cosy after a "hard" day's work. It is good to be back at the Canteen! How 'bout a nice cup of tea to go with it?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Judy Garland ~ Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

[Kathy in Alaska]

This is Northern Lights Blvd, the road I drive to and from work, but to the west
You are looking due east, and are about a 1/2 mile beyond where I live.
ms feather, the pic is from just past Boniface, kinda like we forgot to turn into our neighborhood.

[Soaring Feather]

Gorgeous picture Kathy, and I do recall the area well. Thank You.

[Soaring Feather]

MINE!!

[Soaring Feather]

MINE!!

[Soaring Feather]

MINE!!