Ближний Восток и его соседи

g 197 h Archaeological Evidence for Mamlūk Archery 84–85. The 13th century “Euphrates Hoard” produced an even greater number of complete or almost complete crossbow bolts. All had paper flights, where elements of such flights survived, but most have lost their iron heads. Some shafts were slender and look as if they would have been shot from relatively small, hand-held crossbows. Other shafts were considerably bulkier and may have been intended for heavier weapons spe- cifically designed for use in siege warfare, particularly in defence of a fortification. They may even have been for the almost static, frame-mounted crossbows shown in military manuals. The long missile with an apparent nock at the end (fourth from the bottom in photo 84) is probably an arrow rather than a crossbow bolt, but in both these images one crossbow bolt clearly has a nock rather than a flat butt (nineteenth from the left in photo 85; fifth from the top in photo 85). This remains something of a mystery because a crossbow bolt lay on top of the stock before release or shooting. Its rear end or butt rested against a release mechanism which was usually in the form of a revolving nut, behind which was the weapon's spanned string. (Author’s photograph; reportedly now in the National Museum store, Doha, Qatar).