Turco-Mongol 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade

With a short blade flaring towards the cutting edge, rounded projection to the butt, rolled ridge around the shaft hole. 192 grams, 75 mm



UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman.

The type corresponds to the Gernez type H.2.Fa, of axes with symmetrical collar, rear hump and rectangular blade. The exact provenance of only three axes of this type outside Luristan are known, mainly in Elam: one was found at Tepe Giyan, a second comes from a pit tomb in Susa and the last, a miniature, belongs to level VI of Tepe Gawra, dated to the last third of the 3rd millennium B.C. All the others are known as originating from Luristan.

Piriform body with segmented shoulder and impressed roundels, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 294 grams, 91 mm



From a military inspired collection formed from the 1990s. 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'.

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.

Piriform body decorated with concentric circles inside a pointed star pattern, with domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 610 grams, 11.5 cm



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.

The Arabs, following the Roman examples, made great use of these weapons. The efficiency of the weapon appears, for example, from the account of the siege of Akka in 1189, given by the contemporary historian Ibn al-Athir. He tells how the Christians exercised their engineering skill and built mighty beffroys. The situation was hopeless for the defending Arabs until a man from Damascus showed up, because he knew how to produce Greek Fire: ‘To trick the Christians he first threw some vesseIs with naptha and other things, which were not set on fire, upon one of the beffroy’s, and it was without power. The Christians...climbed the top of the beffroy...the man from Damascus waited until the contents of the vessels were spread all over. When the moment came, he threw a new pot, which was set on fire. In a few moments the fire was spread all over, and the beffroy was eaten up by the flames. The fire was spread in such a hurry that the Christians could not manage to climb down from the beffroy. Men, weapons, everything was eaten up by the flames.’