011 Assyrian Slingers

Museum Description: Assyrian Slingers in Action

Room: 10/Case: None/Number: WA 124775

Scripture: 2 Kings 3:25

We can see in this frieze how the sling was used in ancient warfare.  One string of the sling would be tied around the wrist or around a finger.  The other string would have been held in the palm of the same hand.  A stone would be placed in the sling and held out directly in front of the slinger with the free hand.  As they released the stone and it fell, they would swing their arm backwards in a circle.  At exactly the right moment, probably the moment we can see in this frieze, they would release the unattached string in the palm of their hand.  This would send the stone flying forward.  A stone thrown this way would travel with such force it could have punched a hole through a modern car door!  The left-handed tribe of Benjamin had seven hundred slingers and "every one of these men could sling a stone to within a hairbreadth and would not miss".