Ближний Восток и его соседи

g 158 h David Nicolle Archaeological Evidence for Mamlūk Archery Abstract: Archery is one of the most-studied aspects of medieval Islamic warfare, and this has been even more true of the Mamlūk era. However, such study has focused almost entirely upon the written record which, again for the Mamlūk era, is particularly rich. Over the past few decades, a substantial corpus of archaeological evidence has also come to light, most of it from Syria. Some has been fully published but a great deal remains unpublished and indeed largely unstudied. This article focuses upon three major “hoards” — one from the Euphrates valley and two from Damascus. Reference will also be made to a fourth hoard from Lebanon although this is not one with which the author has been involved. The presentation will in particular look at surviving composite hand- bows, including those where damage has exposed the internal structure, and fragments of bows including pieces which were in the process of manufacture at the time they were discarded. Crossbow staves of composite but entirely different internal structure will also be shown. Arrows for hand- bows and bolts for crossbows will similarly feature, as will arrowheads. The latter, as might be expected judging from Mamlūk and earlier archery texts, are extremely varied will be illustrated along with clay pellets which were almost certainly intended for pellet-bows. The most fragile aspect of any arrow or bolt is its flights, yet we also have surviving examples of these,