page_title: Archery
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Archery / History
caption_attribution_description: English: the archery champion practices for the next championship This is an image with the theme "Africa on the Move or Transport" from: Benin
context_page_description: Archery is the practice of using a bow to shoot arrows. Archery has historically been used in hunting and combat and has become a precision sport. A person practicing archery is called an archer, and one who enjoys or is an expert at archery is sometimes called an toxophilite.
context_section_description: The earliest evidence of archery dates back more than 9,000 years. The bow probably was used in hunting first and later adopted as a tool of warfare. It was one of the earliest forms of artillery. 
  Classical civilizations, notably the Persians, Macedonians, Nubians, Greeks, Parthians, Indians, Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans, had large numbers of archers in their armies. Archers in chariots were especially important in armies of ancient Egypt. Arrows were very destructive against massed formations, and the use of archers helped win battles. The army of the Mongol Empire was mostly archers on horseback.
caption: Female archer in Benin.
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