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General >> Project Goliath - The History of The Sling >> 9th century Turkish Slinging
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Message started by StaffSlinger on Sep 25th, 2008 at 9:52pm

Title: 9th century Turkish Slinging
Post by StaffSlinger on Sep 25th, 2008 at 9:52pm
I found this reference  on the 'net just today.  "The book's mythic narrative is part of the cultural heritage of Turkic states some of those are Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, as well as to a lesser degree Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan."  The book was written somewhere around the 9th century...

Several English language translations are available...


Book of Dede Korkut

“In the meantime, Salur Kazan and Karajuk the Shepherd suddenly reached that place. The leather of the shepherd's sling was made of the skin of a three-year-old calf. The strings of his sling were made of the hair of three goats, and its ring was made of the hair of one goat. It was capable of hurling twelve batmans of stone at each shot. The stone it hurled seldom fell to the ground, and, when it did, it would fly as dust and bum as fire. For three years no grass grew at the place where it fell. Fearing his sling, the wolf would not approach the fat sheep and the weak Iamb to eat them when they were left in the wilderness. When Karajuk the Shepherd released his sling, the whole world was darkened to the eyes of the infidel.

Title: Re: 9th century Turkish Slinging
Post by funda_iucunda on Sep 26th, 2008 at 3:10pm
Hi folks,

take your slings and try to live up to that level of destructive force!  ;D

funda

Title: Re: 9th century Turkish Slinging
Post by StaffSlinger on Sep 26th, 2008 at 9:59pm
Depending on tribe, region and era, the 'batman' as a unit of weight varied from about 11 lbs to about 175 lbs. :o

No matter how you define it that's a LOT of weight to be slinging around!  That Karajuk - man, he sounds like John Henry and Paul Bunyan all rolled into one!!

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