weaponry and armor: Asia and the Pacific The fi rst helmets were worn by the Sumerians and were either cloth or leather caps The Sumerians eventually began using headgear made from copper that looked like metal caps Bronze helmets appeared later The Assyrians were among the fi rst to wear iron helmets, although both copper and bronze helmets would remain in use in the ancient Near East throughout the last millennium b.c.e The Assyrian helmets were noteworthy for their conical shape They were designed so that a blow by a sword or ax, unless aimed directly, would slide down the side of the helmet A curtain of scale mail also from these helmets Modifications of this design would be adopted later by the Parthians (250 b.c.e.–226 c.e.) and the Sassanian Persians, among others Achaemenid Persian troops generally wore tight-fitting helmets, when they wore any headgear at all Indeed, it was not unusual for ancient Near Eastern warriors to fight without helmets or armor This was particularly true of archers, who might be hampered by the weight of protective gear Instead of armor worn on the body, these troops were protected by shields, often carried for them by others known as shield-bearers But armored and helmeted troops also generally carried shields The earliest shield, and one that would be used as late as Sassanian times, was the wickerwork shield It was made of woven reeds or twigs, supported by a wooden frame and sometimes lined with leather for extra protection and given additional strength by bands of metal Even the Assyrians, with their iron scale armor and helmets, used these wickerwork shields because they were lightweight Metal shields, made first of bronze and then of iron, also existed during this period Shields were rectangular, circular, or oval and could be small (no more than feet across) or large enough to tower above a warrior’s head The smallest shields were normally made of metal, but large metal shields were too heavy to carry into battle ASIA AND THE PACIFIC BY AMY HACKNEY BLACKWELL The basic weapons in ancient Asia were spears, swords of various designs, and bows and arrows In prehistoric times weapons were made of wood, bone, horn, stone, and hide; bones and stones can be fashioned into very sharp points As people learned how to work metals, they started making 1165 weapons out of them Bronze weapons appeared during the early second millennium b.c.e Iron weapons gradually replaced them in the next millennium, although people continued to make bronze weapons until the early years of the Common Era Chinese weapons makers became experts at metallurgy; weapons produced during the Qin Dynasty (221– 207 b.c.e.), for example, are made of carefully composed alloys of copper, nickel, chrome, iron, and several other metals Some arrowheads contain lead, presumably for its poisonous effect Chinese weapons makers of this period coated their blades with a thin layer of chromic salt oxide to prevent rust; this coating has preserved many weapons in good condition for more than 2,000 years Most ancient weapons were meant for hand-to-hand combat Projectile weapons were harder to use and supply because they needed a stream of ammunition in battle The sling was the most basic projectile weapon; throughout ancient Asia people used slings made of leather or some other flexible material to fling rocks or other projectiles Bows and arrows were more effective and could propel weapons farther than slings, but the simplicity of the sling kept it in use throughout the ancient period, especially in the more remote islands of the Pacific The spear, or qiang, is one of the oldest Chinese weapons Spears were simple to make; affi xing a small, sharp tip to a long shaft did not require technological expertise Chinese warriors began using spears in prehistoric times Spears with bronze tips became popular starting in the 17th century b.c.e Weapons makers started using steel instead of bronze for spear tips during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770–256 b.c.e.) The qiang spear was the most important long weapon of the Western Han Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–9 c.e.) One of the classic Chinese weapons was the saber, or dao These early dao were more like knives, with a straight or slightly curved blade The oldest dao were made of bronze Smiths began to make them of iron and steel between the sixth and third centuries b.c.e As the dao evolved, its blade became curved, and it was often attached to a long handle, though many types of dao existed The dao was especially popular during the late Qin Dynasty and early Han Dynasty During the Han Dynasty cavalry became more important, and warriors took to carrying long dao that had single-sided blades attached to long shafts, which they could wield on horseback Infantrymen of this time often carried short dao or broadswords Short sword of steel, bronze, and gold from east-central Asia, ca fourth to first century b.c.e (Copyright the Metropolitan Museum of Art)