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There were also the skilled slingers which are mentioned in the Bible.
“Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss” (Judges 20:16).
“And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it” (2 Kings 3:25).
“And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones” (2 Chronicles 26:14).
“In Old Testament times, slingers were regular components of an army and were often used together with archers; during siege warfare their role was to pick off the enemy from the besieged city’s ramparts. Such slingers were capable of hurling a projectile at over one hundred miles an hour and their effective range was well in excess of one hundred yards” (Alfred Hoerth, Archaeology and the Old Testament).
The most famous slinger in history is David.
“And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. ... And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David” (1 Samuel 17:40, 49, 50).
The Victory of Utu-hegal, which dates to about 2100 BC, describes ancient warfare as follows:
“From the city it rained missiles as from the clouds; slingstones like the rain falling in a [whole] year whizzed loudly down from the walls of Aratta” (Reading Sumerian Poetry, p. 130).
Consider the following description of sling warfare which describes the potential power of this weapon:
“A sling works by increasing the effective length of a stone-thrower’s arm. Modern cricket bowlers or baseball pitchers can achieve maximum ball velocities of over 150 kilometres per hour. A slingshot as long again as the thrower’s arm will double the projectile’s speed, making the velocity of the bullet when it leaves the sling nearly 100 metres per second. This is already considerably greater than that of a longbow arrow, at only about 60 mps. Intensively trained from childhood onward, there is no reason to believe that a professional slinger could not beat 100 mps (meters per second) fairly easily and perhaps even begin to approach the muzzle velocity of a .45 calibre pistol round: about 150 mps. What is more, a smooth slingshot projectile has a far greater range than an arrow, as much as half a kilometre, because an arrow’s flight feather’s produce so much drag. The modern world-record distance for a stone cast with a sling was achieved by Larry Bray in 1981, who managed 437 metres, and thought in retrospect that he could surpass the 600-metre mark with a better sling and lead projectiles” (Paul Kriwaczek, Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization, Kindle location 1633).
Ancient projectiles discovered at Hamoukar (in northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border) were actually egg-shaped, but more pointed, and made out of clay. More than 2,000 of these sling bullets were found in 2005 in excavations co-sponsored by the Oriental Institute and the Syrian Department of Antiquities. One of the stones had pierced into a mud brick wall (“Evidence of battle at Hamoukar,” University of Chicago Chronicle, Jan. 18, 2007).
Excavators found a room in which new sling bullets were made and two dozen of the projectiles were found lined up ready to use; apparently the city fell before they could be fielded.
“[The pointed shape of the Hamoukar projectiles] tells us two things: that they could be armour-piercing; and that the slingers must have had a technique for sending them off with a spin, like a rifle bullet, so as to keep them properly oriented during their flight to the target” (Kriwaczek, Kindle location 1633).
The Greeks and Romans used lead sling projectiles made in molds.
“Writers tell of the terrible wounds that slings would inflict, especially [lead] bullets. The Romans developed a special pair of tongs designed for getting bullets out of people. ... Pompey in the civil wars favoured the use of very large units of slingers. They were used beside archers, at sea, and in sieges. Scipio used them against elephants, and Caesar comments that the sling was particularly effective against them” (“Great Weapons of the ancient World: The Sling”).
Whistling sling projectiles have been discovered in southwestern Scotland dating to the second century AD. They were used by Roman soldiers in an attack against a hilltop fort. The cast lead bullets were drilled with a 0.2-inch (5mm) hole that caused them to make a sharp buzzing or whistling noise. Archaeologist John Reid calls them a “terror weapon” (“Whistling Sling Bullets,” Archaeological News, June 13, 2016).
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The above is excerpted from the chapter on “Assyria” in BIBLE TIMES AND ANCIENT KINGDOMS: TREASURES FROM ARCHAEOLOGY. ISBN 978-1-58318-121-8. This is a package consisting of a book and a series of PowerPoint and Keynote (Apple) presentations which are a graphical edition of the book. The PowerPoints are packed with high quality color photos, drawings, historic recreations, and video clips. Bible Times and Ancient Kingdoms is a course on Bible geography, Bible culture, and Bible history and has a two-fold objective: to present apologetic evidence for the Bible and to give background material to help the student better understand the setting of Bible history. We cover this fascinating history from Genesis to the New Testament, dealing with the Table of the Nations in Genesis 10, the Tower of Babel, Ur of the Chaldees, Egypt, Baal worship, the Philistines, the Canaanites, David’s palace, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Ahab and Jezebel, the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel, the Assyrian Empire, Hezekiah and his times, Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylon, the Medo-Persian Empire, Herod the Great and his temple, the Roman rule over Israel, and the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. Many of the archaeological discoveries from the past 200 years, which we relate in the course, are so fascinating and improbable that they read like a novel. It is easy to see God’s hand in this field, in spite of its prevailing skepticism. The course also deals with Bible culture, such as weights and measures, plant and animal life, Caesar’s coin, the widow’s mite, ancient scrolls and seals, phylacteries, cosmetics, tombs, and the operation of ancient lamps, millstones, pottery wheels, and olive presses. The course begins with an overview of Israel’s geography and a timeline of Bible history to give the student a framework for better understanding the material. Each section includes maps to help the student place the events in their proper location. The course is packed with important but little-known facts that illuminate Bible history and culture. The preparation for the book is extensive, the culmination of 40 years of Bible study, teaching, and research trips. In this context the author built a large personal library and collected information from major archaeological museums and locations in North America, England, Europe, Turkey, and Israel. We guarantee that the student who completes the course will read the Bible with new eyes and fresh enthusiasm. 500 page book + DVD containing 19 PowerPoint presentations packed with more than 3,200 high quality color photos, drawings, historic recreations, and video clips.
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