50 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY REVIEW FALL 2022 EVERYBODY KNOWS THE BIBLICAL STORY of David and Goliath. Most will even recall that the young shepherd used a sling to take down the Philistine champion, with a single cast of stone (1 Samuel 17). But how credible is this episode? What do we know about how ancient slings were made, what ammunition was used, how far and accurately they could shoot, and how much damage they could infict? 1 David’s sling was not what we today call a “slingshot”—a Y-shaped stick or other implement to which are attached two elastic cords and a pouch, and which propels an object by stretch- ing and releasing the cords. By contrast, a typi- cal ancient sling was a pouch with a long cord attached at each end, made from some durable, fexible, but non-stretchable material. While holding both cords, the slinger placed an object in the pouch and then created centrifugal force by whirling the sling overhead or to the side. Releasing one cord then launched the projectile through the air. Troughout history, people have made slings from some type of fexible, natural material— typically from animals (hair, wool, leather) or plants (hemp, fax). Logically, David would have woven his sling from the wool of the sheep he was herding, and his sling may have followed the simple, classic pattern of a woven pouch con- nected to two cords. Often, one cord ended in a loop that the slinger slid over a fnger on the slinging hand, so that when the other cord was released, the sling stayed attached to the hand. Made of organic materials, most ancient slings decomposed over time, leaving only artistic and literary evidence to inform us about their Taking a Sling How David Defeated Goliath BOYD SEEVERS AND VICTORIA PARROTT