The archer’s instruments

As in the saddlery, the instruments here are a library: each one teaches a movement. This page lists the archer’s kit according to the discipline described in the chapter on archery→, and names the workshop for each: the bowyer, the smith, the saddler.

The objects will be made in the house workshops, to the measure of whoever uses them. The forms shown here are the working basis from which the masters will start.

The archer’s kit

The bow (qaws)

Wood, horn and sinew joined in one flexible body. It is the central instrument of the discipline, chosen to match the archer’s strength.

The string (watar)

Braided, waxed fibre, always kept in pairs: one on the bow, one in the quiver. Wax protects it from damp and friction.

The arrows (sahm)

A straight, trued wooden shaft, natural feathers, a cut nock, an iron head. Weight and stiffness are matched to the bow.

The quiver (kinana)

Leather sewn by the house saddlery, worn at the side or on the back. It protects the feathers and keeps the arrows in order, ready to hand.

The thumb guard

A leather ring or stall on the thumb that holds the string. The saddler will make it to fit each hand.

The bracer

A leather band on the bow arm that shields it from the string at release and holds the sleeve in place.

The belt

Loose, plain clothing, sleeves that clear the string, a belt that carries the quiver: dress made for the movement, like the attire of Al-Kiswa.

The bow in the hand

The grip is bound in leather, thread or silk: it gives the hand purchase and protects the wood. Each archer feels it differently, and the saddler rebinds it when it wears.

The quiver in the workshop

The quiver is born in the saddlery: the leather is cut, dry-tooled with the house patterns, sewn round a rigid base and finished with a reinforced mouth. Once made, it stands beside the bow, lies with the spare string, hangs on the armoury wall.

Bearing

Bow in hand and quiver at his side, the archer stands upright, weight on both feet, shoulders loose. It is the posture every shot begins from, and the first the master corrects.

Care and upkeep

A composite bow fears damp and swings of heat: it rests unstrung in its leather case, away from the sun and from cold walls. The string is checked at every session and changed at the first sign of wear; arrows are inspected along the shaft, the feathers and the nock. The bowyer, the smith and the saddler will mend what breaks, and the pupil, watching them, learns how the things he uses are made.

Sources

For the history of the discipline and the thirty-four points of the body, see the chapter on archery→.

N. A. Faris, R. P. Elmer, Arab Archery, Princeton, 1945