Ближний Восток и его соседи

g 175 h Archaeological Evidence for Mamlūk Archery 30. In addition to properly conducted archaeological excavations and the earlier discovery of “military hoards” such as that probably from Qal c at al-Rahba, chance finds have added a number of interesting arrowheads to the corpus of known examples. Sometimes these have been found in reasonably dateable contexts such as castles or battlefields. Others can only be given provisional dates and origins on the basis of com- parison with archaeological finds and the known history of the location where they were found. The four very different arrowheads seen in this photograph are all chance finds: left and right — crossbow boltheads from Qal c at al-Subayba (occupied Golan Heights), probably Mamlūk 14th-15th centuries; lower centre — from the Jordanian slopes of the lower Yarmouk Valley, probably 11th-12th centuries; upper centre — from the Zolo- tarevskoe fortified settlement near Penza, Russia, which was overrun by the Mongols in 1237 AD. (Private collection; author’s photograph). 31–32. Pointed copper object, possibly a socketed arrowhead, from Sadr Castle (Qal c at al-Jindi), Egyptian Sinai, late 12th-early 13th century. Copper would never- theless seem an unlikely and somewhat expensive material from which to make an arrowhead during this period. (P-J. Jehel photographs [J-M. Mouton, ed., Sadr: Une forteresse de Saladin dans le Sinai. Paris, 2007]).