\b0 In the \b \cf4 \ATXht70203 Bible\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 in chapter 17 of the
first book of Samuel, the story is told of the duel between the young \b \cf4 \ATXht70400 David\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 and a Philistine warrior of enormous size called Goliath. The Bible even tells us the height of this giant (six cubits and a span) which woul
d correspond to about three meters. Little wonder then that no-one had the courage to confront a man of this size. Goliath was, moreover, clad in armor similar to that of the Greek heroes described in HomerÆs Iliad and possessed weapons that were probabl
y made of iron, a material that was still very rare at the time. He was, therefore, a practically invincible war machine. David managed to defeat him by striking him on the forehead with a stone launched from a catapult or sling, a primitive weapon that
was effective only if one possessed exceptional skill in using it.\par
