Th e fi rst helmets were worn by the Sumerians and
were either cloth or leather caps. Th e Sumerians eventually
began using headgear made from copper that looked like
metal caps. Bronze helmets appeared later. Th e Assyrians
were among the fi rst to wear iron helmets, although both
copper and bronze helmets would remain in use in the an-
cient Near East throughout the last millennium b.c.e. Th e
Assyrian helmets were noteworthy for their conical shape.
Th ey were designed so that a blow by a sword or ax, un-
less aimed directly, would slide down the side of the hel-
met. A curtain of scale mail also hung from these helmets.
Modifi cations of this design would be adopted later by the
Parthians (250 b.c.e.–226 c.e.) and the Sassanian Persians,
among others.
Achaemenid Persian troops generally wore tight-fi tting
helmets, when they wore any headgear at all. Indeed, it was
not unusual for ancient Near Eastern warriors to fi ght with-
out helmets or armor. Th is was particularly true of archers,
who might be hampered by the weight of protective gear.
Instead of armor worn on the body, these troops were pro-
tected by shields, oft en carried for them by others known as
shield-bearers. But armored and helmeted troops also gener-
ally carried shields. Th e earliest shield, and one that would be
used as late as Sassanian times, was the wickerwork shield.
It was made of woven reeds or twigs, supported by a wooden
frame and sometimes lined with leather for extra protection
and given additional strength by bands of metal. Even the As-
syrians, with their iron scale armor and helmets, used these
wickerwork shields because they were lightweight. Metal
shields, made fi rst of bronze and then of iron, also existed
during this period. Shields were rectangular, circular, or
oval and could be small (no more than 2 feet across) or large
enough to tower above a warrior’s head. Th e smallest shields
were normally made of metal, but large metal shields were too
heavy to carry into battle.ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
BY AMY HACKNEY BLACKWELL
Th e basic weapons in ancient Asia were spears, swords of
various designs, and bows and arrows. In prehistoric times
weapons were made of wood, bone, horn, stone, and hide;
bones and stones can be fashioned into very sharp points.
As people learned how to work metals, they started makingweapons out of them. Bronze weapons appeared during the
early second millennium b.c.e. Iron weapons gradually re-
placed them in the next millennium, although people con-
tinued to make bronze weapons until the early years of the
Common Era. Chinese weapons makers became experts at
metallurgy; weapons produced during the Qin Dynasty (221–
207 b.c.e.), for example, are made of carefully composed al-
loys of copper, nickel, chrome, iron, and several other metals.
Some arrowheads contain lead, presumably for its poisonous
eff ect. Chinese weapons makers of this period coated their
blades with a thin layer of chromic salt oxide to prevent rust;
this coating has preserved many weapons in good condition
for more than 2,000 years.
Most ancient weapons were meant for hand-to-hand
combat. Projectile weapons were harder to use and supply
because they needed a stream of ammunition in battle. Th e
sling was the most basic projectile weapon; throughout an-
cient Asia people used slings made of leather or some other
fl exible material to fl ing rocks or other projectiles. Bows and
arrows were more eff ective and could propel weapons far-
ther than slings, but the simplicity of the sling kept it in use
throughout the ancient period, especially in the more remote
islands of the Pacifi c.
Th e spear, or qiang, is one of the oldest Chinese weap-
ons. Spears were simple to make; affi xing a small, sharp tip
to a long shaft did not require technological expertise. Chi-
nese warriors began using spears in prehistoric times. Spears
with bronze tips became popular starting in the 17th century
b.c.e. Weapons makers started using steel instead of bronze
for spear tips during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770–256
b.c.e.). Th e qiang spear was the most important long weapon
of the Western Han Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–9 c.e.).
One of the classic Chinese weapons was the saber, or dao.
Th ese early dao were more l i ke k n ive s , w it h a st r a ig ht or sl ig ht ly
curved blade. Th e oldest dao were made of bronze. Smiths be-
gan to make them of iron and steel between the sixth and third
centuries b.c.e. As the dao evolved, its blade became curved,
and it was oft en attached to a long handle, though many types
of dao existed. Th e dao was especially popular during the late
Qin Dynasty and early Han Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty
cavalry became more important, and warriors took to carrying
long dao that had single-sided blades attached to long shaft s,
which they could wield on horseback. Infantrymen of this time
oft en carried short dao or broadswords.Short sword of steel, bronze, and gold from east-central Asia, ca. fourth to fi rst century b.c.e. (Copyright the Metropolitan Museum of Art)weaponry and armor: Asia and the Pacific 11650895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1165 1165 10/10/07 2:31:18 PM