Tuthmosis III’s son Amenhotep II (1450-1397BC) also took up his father’s activity of being driven around in a chariot and shooting arrows at copper targets. Here is a picture of Amenhotep II at Karnak Temple, Egypt enjoying his target practice:

amenhotep II target practice

In some reliefs we can see that both Tuthmosis and Amenhotep used the self bow along with the composite – suggesting that the self bow (made from a single piece of wood) had not been wiped out by the introduction of the more advanced powerful composite type (made from several pieces and glued together using sinew). Amenhotep II was found buried with a composite bow.

Amenhotep II claimed to have learned archery in his youth from the god Min who taught him to draw his bow to his ear. (How far you draw your bow is important and I’ll deal with it in later blogs).

The Stela of Amenhotep II (this is a large block of stone with information about the king written on it) tells us how the pharaoh drew three hundred bows in order to examine the workmanship. This is similar to the story of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey when he chose a perfect bow that only he was able to draw.

Here is a picture of the head of Amenhotep II made from black granite:

amenhotep II