Bow from Samarkand

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:48 pm

I would like for everyone to see this bow. It was dispalyed at the main History museum in Samarkand. This is the first bow that I know of which has good Central Asian provenience published here on ATARN.

I went one day to the museum and found this bow in a case accompanied by four arrow shafts. I wanted to examine it but the curator was not present so an appointment was made for the next day. I hired a technical translator to meet us there so nothing would be missed. The curator was in her office and she pulled the provenience information on the bow and told me the short story.

She called it a Kaman; it had been brought to the museum in 1930 by a man named Zaripov. It had been brought from Hazorasp in Khorezm, now a province of Uzbekistan. The arrows were collected at the same time in the countryside and are not associated with the bow.

She indicated that there were more bows in the basement and possibly some thumb rings and/or other materials.

Then we went up and the bow was taken out of the case and I blueprinted it and made some close up pics while my friend stood over the scene and continued to take pictures. We did this on the carpeted floor of one of the museums main rooms while being watched by the curator, director of publicity, the custodian of the display, my translator, and my traveling companion.

S

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:55 pm

The bow laid out for a pic of the bend. The scaled out overall length was later determined to be 54" along the belly. At midlimb the back was nearly flat and the belly radiused, 1/2" X 2" exactly. I took very careful measurements.

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:57 pm

This bow of Hazorasp is covered completely in sinew, almost the entire surface.

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:59 pm

Limb back. Neat but not perfect.

robno · Post by **robno** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:47 am

So what do they know about the bow (age, most importantly)?

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:13 am

Robno; The curator told me "The bow is made of wood. On the top it was covered with cloth..." They also had it strung backwards with an arrow in place. The so-called caretaker tried to draw the bow backwards as she took it from the case. So you can see that they do not know anything about bows. But after a discussion here we will probably decide more.

I will post the bow's plan before long.

It had once been painted yellow and black. It hung on a wall while the wall was painted around it; once blue and once barn red.

Sinew on the extreme tip is spiraled. There is a slip of horn inserted into the tip, just visible.

Stephen Selby · Post by **Stephen Selby** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 8:56 am

My guess: 18th century and not earlier.

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:26 pm

Stephen; How do you base your opinion?

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:27 pm

Last pic. There developed a lively discussion in the beckground which I ignored as I examined the bow. By the time I had finished, the museum folks were most irate with eachother, blaming eachother in Russian.

The bow was returned to the case while the drama continued. We left the scene as my opportunity to examine the other materials evaporated. My translator was friends with the staff and would not offer an explanation. Our itinerary required us to leave the next morning.

So a treasure trove of material still remains for some other atarnite to investigate.

I will post the plan soon. Hope you enjoyed. jack

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:12 am

Please copy this for your personal use. Others please credit me. Enjoy.

Redhorse · Post by **Redhorse** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:22 am

Thank you for this. For my eyes this look as a well balanced bow.
If I'm not very wrong the limbs are set in front at the handle splice. And the bending limb is almost straight, and about 14" long. At brace the limbs has some early draw weight but to get full weight, how long can the full draw length be? 30-32"?

Metin Ates · Post by **Metin Ates** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:32 pm

Dear Jack,
That was amazing. This bow looks like Crimean Tartar style. But I'm not sure because of siyahs are shorter and back looks like a wider.

http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/grayso ... arbow.shtm (courtesy: Dr. Grayson)

I'm not a bow expert. And we have only two bowmaker who are Mr. S. Cem Donmez and Y. Metin Aksoy in here. They are already members of ATARN and the best critical will come from them.

On the other hand I like your examination lab

Thank you for your effort to share it!

M Hardman · Post by **M Hardman** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:36 pm

A very nice looking bow. It is such a pity that some curators do not know about their pieces. I quite like the low angle between the siyah and the rest of the limb. I may try this for my next bow. Thanks for the dimensions.

arsilan · Post by **arsilan** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:38 pm

Hi everybody
in my opinion bash(tip) lims and grip are from ıran

arsilan · Post by **arsilan** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:40 pm

but kuram (form) is Tartar