LOT 0961

Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade

10TH-13TH CENTURY A.D.

5 in. (660 grams, 12.8 cm).

Piriform body decorated with concentric circles, with sphero-conical filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. [No Reserve]

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'.

Cf. Arendt, W. I., Granaten des 13-14. Jahrhunderts, die an der Wolga gefunden sind, Zeitschrift fur Historische Waffen-und Kostumkunde, 11 (1926-8), p.42; cf. Arendt, W., Die Spharisch-konischen Gefasse aus Gebranntem Ton, ibid; cf. Ayalon, D., Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom, London, 1956, p.16; the shape finds correspondence with a fragment of a clay granade from Rhodes (4th EBA storerooms, inv. ПХ 2832), cf. Various, Byzantium and the Arabs,Thessaloniki, 2011, p.64.

Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.