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Basic diagram of an onager, a type of catapult. A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. [1] A catapult uses the sudden release of stored potential energy to propel its payload.
Similar weapons mounted on elephants were used by the Khmer Empire. [3] Onager: 353 BC Rome: The Onager was a Roman torsion powered siege engine. It is commonly depicted as a catapult with a bowl, bucket, or sling at the end of its throwing arm. Trebuchet: 4th Century BC China: Similar to the catapult, but uses a swinging arm to launch ...
Onager with a bowl bucket Sketch of an onager with a sling, a later improvement that increased the length of the throwing arm, from Antique technology by Diels.. The onager (UK: / ˈ ɒ n ə dʒ ə /, / ˈ ɒ n ə ɡ ə /; US: / ˈ ɑː n ə dʒ ə r /) [1] was a Roman torsion-powered siege engine.
A slingshot or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two tubes or strips made from either a natural rubber or synthetic elastic material. These are attached to the upper two ends. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pouch that holds the projectile. One hand holds the ...
A trebuchet [nb 1] (French: trébuchet) is a type of catapult [5] that uses a rotating arm with a sling attached to the tip to launch a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weights and further distances than that of a traditional ...
The earliest documented occurrence of ancient siege-artillery pieces in China was the levered principled traction catapult and an 8 ft (2.4 m) high siege crossbow from the Mozi (Mo Jing), a Mohist text written at about the 4th – 3rd century BC by followers of Mozi who founded the Mohist school of thought during the late Spring and Autumn ...
The mangonel was most efficient as an anti-personnel weapon, used in a supportive position alongside archers and slingers. Most accounts of mangonels describe them as light artillery weapons while actual penetration of defenses was the result of mining or siege towers. [57]
Many historians have argued for the continued use of onagers into medieval times on the basis of terminology. For example at the end of the 19th century, Gustav Köhler contended that the petrary was a traction trebuchet, invented by Muslims, whereas the mangonel was a torsion catapult. [45]