Woods Used in Egyptian Bows and Arrows *

Abstract

Presentation of the results of botanical analyses of wood from ancient Egyptian bows and arrows in the collections of four museums, together with comments on the possible sources of the timbers, their qualities and some of their other uses. Most of the pieces (including all the bow fragments) came from indigenous trees. Five arrows made from imported wood are dated to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, but three others, also imports, are assigned to the Protodynastic Period.