A COMBAT ARCHAEOLOGY VIEWPOINT ON WEAPON REPRESENTATIONS IN NORTHWEST ARABIAN ROCK ART

Abstract

This paper seeks to define how far we can associate weapon representations in rock art of northwest Arabia

with the technological changes and the artists’ perceptions about violence and warfare. In the pursuit of this

goal, various representations of weapons and copper alloy weapons from northwest Arabia are discussed

with emphases placed on design and use. The rock art representations of bows, daggers, swords, shields and

body armours are categorised in respect of their typological features that can be derived from scenes of con

flict and hunting. These groupings suggest no detailed typologies can be drawn from the rock imagery of

weapons; instead, it is possible entertain only a few typological parallels in respect of the material evidence

and imagery from the Arabian Peninsula and Mesopotamia. On the other hand, complex scenes of conflict

enable us to explore perceptions about the uses of different types of weapons. Among the twenty-seven ex

amples of complex conflict scenes in my rock art sample, three combinations of weaponry are detected in the

setting of combat on foot: (1) bow and dagger, (2) spear and round shield, (3) sword and round shield. These

weapon combinations are mostly observed in melee scenes and they reflect versatile combat skills that might

have existed or been expected among Pre-Islamic warriors.