03-02-2013, 01:05 AM
Dear Alanus,
I've heard about the Dura thumb ring, but Bede has burst my bubble about that too. He assured me it has been challenged, as it is morphologically suspiciously similar to the thumb rings of the Muslim period.
I had always assumed that the thumb ring appeared as part of the package of the straight-eared -"Hun"- reflex bow, but I now know that cannot be true. The gear for the Sasanid draw - which is still shown on the Taq-i Bustan walls dating to the late Sasanid period - that have been found - a kind of metal timbles for the index and middle finger, attached with tiny chains to the hand - are of a very late date, so at least in pre-Muslim Iran the thumb draw was not used.
The thumb draw is not described in the anonymous peri toxeias either, dating to about 600 AD, though probably with an origin in the early 5th century CE.
So it would be very interesting if this artefact is indeed a thumb ring.
Regards,
Eduard
I've heard about the Dura thumb ring, but Bede has burst my bubble about that too. He assured me it has been challenged, as it is morphologically suspiciously similar to the thumb rings of the Muslim period.
I had always assumed that the thumb ring appeared as part of the package of the straight-eared -"Hun"- reflex bow, but I now know that cannot be true. The gear for the Sasanid draw - which is still shown on the Taq-i Bustan walls dating to the late Sasanid period - that have been found - a kind of metal timbles for the index and middle finger, attached with tiny chains to the hand - are of a very late date, so at least in pre-Muslim Iran the thumb draw was not used.
The thumb draw is not described in the anonymous peri toxeias either, dating to about 600 AD, though probably with an origin in the early 5th century CE.
So it would be very interesting if this artefact is indeed a thumb ring.
Regards,
Eduard
