Monday

Egypt:

5000 years ago (around 2800 BC), the Egyptians (a group named Hyksos) created the composite bow. This is the forerunner of today's recurve/Olympic bow.

Not only did the Hyksos introduce the composite bow into Egypt, they also introduced the horse. Eventually this would lead to the invention of the horse drawn chariot which was the most crucial adaptation to Egyptian warfare.

Each chariot had a driver and a soldier who was armed with a spear, shield and composite bow. On the chariot was a quiver full of arrows for fast reloading, together with axes and javelins.

In some ancient reliefs we see that the driver of the chariot also served as an archer and therefore had to be protected by a shield. The reigns of the chariot are shown strapped around the waist of the driver-come-archer.

The chariot gave battlefield mobility and allowed them to chase after the retreating enemy - the killing ability was enhanced by the archer. In 1209BC, (New Kingdom) Merneptah, son of Ramses II used his archers, both on foot and mounted on chariots, to defeat the Libyans killing approximately 9,400 Libyans in the battle.