Archery is a skill for which the Mongols of antiquity were famous.
The Mongol empire at its zenith owed its success to the bow and the hoof.
The image of Mongol soldiers astride their mounts raining waves of arrows
down upon their enemies is recorded in many histories throughout the
Eurasian continent.
No account of Mongolian archery is complete without first examin-
ing the construction of the bow (num). The steppe bow, which shares some
design features with the Turkish bow and is sometimes called the Chinese
bow, was the primary weapon of the nomad. The steppe bow is what is to-
day called a recurve or a reflex bow. This means that both ends of the bow
curve back forward away from the archer. This feature greatly increases the
power of the bow. The bow is made from composite materials of different
types of wood, bone, and sinew, and is held together by a protein-based
glue. The handle is made from lacquered birch bark.
According to bow makers, each material adds specific qualities to the
bows: “wood for range, horn for speed, sinew for penetration, glue for
union, silk bindings for firmness, lacquer for guard against frost and dew.”
By the Han period, the nomads of Central Asia were employing bows of
this design. The extremes in temperature found on the steppe would
quickly warp other styles of bows, especially single-material bows.
The steppe bow was short, about 4 feet long, and had an extreme
Mongolia 347Two Outer Mongolian wrestlers in the middle of a tournament. (Courtesy of Aaron Fields)