Ближний Восток и его соседи

g 169 h Archaeological Evidence for Mamlūk Archery Handbow arrows 16. Being long and slender, arrows for a hand-held bow are, almost by definition, so fragile that their survival in an archaeological context is extremely rare. This arrow was found during the exploration and excavation of the cave fortress, or more correctly the Lebanese cave sanctuary of Asi'l-Hadath which fell to Mamlūk assault in 1283 AD. One could imagine that it was one of many arrows shot into the cave complex by the at- tackers. However, the fact that the arrow has paper flights which were certainly inferior to "proper" flights made from bird feathers, might suggest that it was made and used by the local Maronite Christians who had taken refuge in the Asi'l-Hadath caves. On the other hand, the Mamlūk army which stormed these barely accessible caves would not have included many of the Mamlūk military cavalry elite. One might also therefore assume that the rank-and-file on both sides of this local struggle were “local” militias, volunteers or tribesmen. In fact, somewhat rough and ready arrows with paper flights were probably more common than we realize. (Photograph courtesy of Fadi Baroudy, Abdo Badwi, Paul Khawaja & Joseph Moukarzel). 17. Other rare surviving complete arrows were found in the Citadel of Aleppo and were, for many years, displayed in the Citadel Museum. They were described as 11th– 12th century, Saljūq, Atabeg or Ayyūbid. However, their general appearance and the archaeological context makes it more likely that they date from the late Ayyūbid or Mamlūk eras. The flights are missing but in most cases their iron heads were still at- tached. (Aleppo Citadel Museum; author’s photograph).