Turkish Traditional Archery related pictures

A very nice site you've all started there, highly enjoyable!

What a great site! Very interesting information and pictures. Turkish archery is one of the most interesting types of ancient archery and I always welcome anything related. I specially appreciate the pictures and detailed information in English. I{m looking forward for the section on equipment. Thank you

Many thanks for good words about the site and specially Turkish Archery.
Your suggestions and opinions are very important to shape the site.

Really nice site,
I especially enjoyed the Flight Stones photo album, surprising. It's great to see them documented. It's a great sight all of them still standing in those now completely changed places, now they are really Monuments :)

And it's sad to hear that some of them disappear...

Thank you for sharing

I wonder what is the device depicted on pictures nr. 3,4,5 and 6 from Topkapi Palace Museum pictures album.
http://www.turkisharchery.info/?p=!phot ... 6500738385
It drew my attention because of its unstrung bow-like shape. Is it some bow form perhaps?

That is a Persian strength testing bow sent by the Shah to the Sultan as a challenge. It was braced and drawn by Deli Hasan in the Persian ambassador's presence much to everyone's amazement. Some metal fittings were added later.

Deli Hasan went on to be a Pasha and eventually was executed as a rebel.

Thank you Bede, that's quite interesting. Your knowledge is truly amazing.

I would never think of that above thing as a bow before. Even Chinese strenght bows look like 'regular' bows but that Persian one is really surprising, a strange 'split limb' construction. Assuming it's strongly reflexed it's 'limbs' are made with horn and sinew?

I would like to see the Persian ambassador's face when Deli Hasan had sucesfully drawn that 'monster' :D .

It is a composite.
The full story of Deli Hasan is quite funny. He was a gardener, working for a government minister, who took a shortcut through one of the rooms of the house when he saw the unstrung bow on the wall. He thought it would be good to find out is he could brace and did so. Then he heard the noise of someone coming and put the strung bow back on the wall and ran out of the room so he would not get in trouble.

When he saw the bow strung, his master lined up all the servants and asked who had done it. Deli Hasan eventually admitted he did it and was taken before the Sultan not to be punished, but to become a hero.

Sorry it is a little bit off topic

I wonder about the triple snake at the At Meydan of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Does anybody of you know where it comes from and what is the meaning of it?

See front...
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It was brought to Constantinople to adorn the Hippodrome and was originally the support for the cauldron at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The seeress used it as part of the process of producing oracles.

The Hippodrome was for chariot races and had a number of famous artworks as part of its decoration.

Two heads of the serpents were struck down by arrows, apparently served as an archery target. I think I saw an old Ottoman drawing depicting this event.

Adam