Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade

A (reiterhammer) head made as a single solid iron bar, one end shaped as a squared hammer and the other as a pointed curved spike; the head showing a strong quadrangular outline; the spike is a 'raven beak' shape of pointed section, oval socket with saltire cross flanked by two vertical lines on either side. 174 grams, 14.2 cm



From a North American collection formed in the 1970s-1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

This war hammer is of the type used by European cavalry in the 16th century, represented in iconography (battle of San Romano, painting by Paolo Uccello of 1455 AD; portrait of Maurice of Saxony made in 1578 AD by Lucas Cranach the Younger) and showing parallels with similar examples in the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin. Reiterhammers of this type are called ‘raven’s beak’ (bec de courbin) in the sources; the shaft was originally a wooden shank reinforced by metal shafts with one-handed handle, but in the later models, like our specimen, the astile could be entirely in metal, thinner than the wooden one, with guard and knob to better ensure the grip on the handle for a user wearing a glove. The war hammer was developed to counter the protection offered by plate armour, which made simple cutting weapons useless. In a military context dominated by the figure of the knight in plate armour, the sword lost its status as a weapon par excellence. The evolution of this offensive weapon ran in parallel with that of complete armour. When the latter developed ridges to limit the damage from thrusting hits, the war hammer gained prominence as a penetrating weapon. Weapons capable of concentrating a considerable force on a narrow target, a joint or a precise point of the armour proved to be more effective in the fray. As much as the mace of arms and the archer’s axe, the war-hammer became a decisive melee weapon for the knight. The weapon, descended from the East-Roman akouphion, began to be used by armoured knights in the 14th century, due to the need to better the axe and the mace of arms with a piece of equipment capable of inflicting injuries through armour. It reached its full development only at the end of the 15th century, but its wide use in the 16th century is widely documented by archaeological artefacts and iconography, like the one representing the battle of Dreux, in an engraving of 1588 AD, one of the first clashes of the Wars of Religion in France, where knights are visible fighting on horseback with such weapons in their hands. The war hammer was often visible in tournaments, and, much like sword hilts, war hammers became richly decorated with etching and gilding, often appearing to be works of art. However, they never lost their primary function as dangerous weapons (Edge-Miles Paddock, 1988, p.149). With the seventeenth century and the establishment of portable firearms (pistol and petronel) as weapons of the new heavy cavalry (Cuirassiers and Reiters) the war hammer disappeared from western battlefields. In Eastern Europe, its variants, such as the Polish nazdiak, remained in use among cavalry forces until the 18th century, when it finally fell into disuse along with the axe and mace, starting from the Napoleonic Wars, when the model of the horseman armed only with sabre and pistol became dominant.

Piriform in profile with domed mouth; the lower body with three standing birds, concentric circles to the upper body; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 685 grams, 14.5 cm



From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s onwards. 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'. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

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.

Polyhedral weight bearing Insular Style inlaid decoration in the form of serpentine creatures in tondos, on a silver inlaid background. 176 grams, 38 mm



Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

These weights were adopted by the Vikings from Middle Eastern examples and appear to have become a typical weight standard for traders. They are, in archaeology, an important form of evidence for the Viking commerce. Many of them, like those found in Ireland and of Arabic type, suggest a standardised system of weights in different areas.