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Umayyad Fresco of an Archer, Khirbat al Mafjar, near Jericho, Palestine, 8th century AD


Fig. 10a [reconstruction]
The fragment found in room 2 located in the southern wing of the eastern bloc bears a warrior wearing yellow armor and a helmet. He holds a bow and arrow in his hands. This warrior is about to release the arrow into the upper part of the scene, to a point which is no longer there because of the fragmentary condition of the fresco (fig. 10a). The warrior is the only clear feature in this scene.14

14 Grabar in his discussion of those figures writes: “These yellow bands may represent plate mail … at any rate as far as the piece on the thighs is concerned, (as seen) by a comparison with statues of Roman soldiers which show metal-plated skirts with similar fringes.” See Grabar, “The paintings,” p. 310. In his discussion of Umayyad arms and armor, David Nicolle referred to this archer: “The archer wears early Byzantine style armour and has a broad-brimmed helmet of a type not otherwise seen before the late 10th century. He also shoots ‘under his shield’ probably at a castle,” Nicolle and McBride, Armies of the Muslim conquest, p. 36.
p.259, "Reconstructing the frescoes of Khirbat al-Mafjar" by Tawfiq Da'adli, in JERUSALEM STUDIES IN ARABIC AND ISLAM 46 (2019)



Referenced as figure 127 in The military technology of classical Islam by D Nicolle
127. Fresco from Khirbat al Mafjar, mid-8th century AD, Palestinian, Palestine Archaeological Museum, East Jerusalem (Ham).



See also Umayyad statues from Khirbat al-Mafjir, Palestine, early 8th century AD.
Other Illustrations of Arabian Costume and Soldiers
8th Century Illustrations of Costume and Soldiers




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