18. Bow of Ibi

This self (or simple) bow is the same type held by Nenu (no. 17). Made from a fine-grained wood in one piece, it was commonly used in Egypt and Nubia for war and hunting. Estimated to have a range of 107-150 yards, it was the main bow used in the Egyptian infantry until the New Kingdom, when it was replaced by the Syrian composite bow. It continued to be used in Nubia as late as the Meroitic era, however, and is indistinguishable from later bows of Africa known from ethnographic contexts. The bowstring was made of woven animal gut or sinew tightly looped around the stave leaving marks on the wood. Arrows used with such bows were sometimes found to have tips poisoned with plant substances of Sudanese origin. Not all bowmen were from Nubia or connected with the army, however. This particular bow was found on top of the coffin of a man, Ibi, who held the honorific titles ‘count’, ‘sealer of the king’, and ‘sole companion’. The bow demonstrates the social prestige of archery in both Egypt and Nubia.