Medieval Islamic Fire Grenades
Further Evidence from a Military Context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.v3i2.32824Keywords:
Al-Maḥzūn fī jāmīʾ al-funūn, Ibn ʿAranbughā al-Zardkāsh, karrāz, karrāz shāmī, Kitāb al-ʾanīq fīʾl-manājīq, Kitāb al-Furūsiya wa al-manāṣib al-ḥarbīya, manjanīq, misʾāyir, MMuḥammad Ibn Yacqūb, muḥriqāt, naffāṭah, naffaṭīn, nafṭ, Najm al-Dīn Ḥassan al-Ramm, Islamic, Fire grenades, Medieval, Islamic Military EquipmentAbstract
Some fragments of broken sphero-conical vessels were found in one of the southern Towers of the Citadel of Damascus. Though not unusual in themselves, these fragments are of particular interest because they formed part of a cache of Islamic military equipment dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. Such an association might lend weight to the theory that such vessels had a military function; for example being used as incendiary or even semi-explosive grenades. This article considers such a possibility and compares the fragments with others found across a large part of the medieval Islamic world, and indeed beyond. The article also offers a survey of historical, archaeological and iconographic evidence for the use of incendiary grenades within medieval Islamic military tradition and technology.
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2008. “Trésors oubliés: Dépôts d’armes et d’armures médiévales en Syrie.” Histoires et Images Médiévales: Thématiques 14 (August-October 2008): 26–33.
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2016a “Maml?k saddles: Surviving fragments in their historical context.” In Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Eras VIII, edited by U. Vermeulen, K. D’Hulster and J. Van. Steenbergen, 463–491. Leuven: Peeters.
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Pryor, J. and E. M. Jeffreys.
2006. The Age of the ??????: The Byzantine Navy ca. 500–1204. Leiden: Brill.
Raban, A.
1972–1975. “The Mercury Carrier from the Red Sea.” Sefunim Bulletin 4: 28–32.
Sezgin, F.
2004 Science et Technique en Islam, Tome V: Physique et Technique, Architecture, Technique Militaire, Objets Antiques. Frankfurt: Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität.
?ars?s?, al- .
1947–1948. “Un traité d’armurerie composé pour Saladin.” Edited and translated by C. Cahen. Bulletin d’Etudes Orientales 12: 103–160.
Us?mah Ibn Munqidh
1929 Kit?b al-I?tib?r. Edited by P. K. Hitti. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Vegatius.
2001. Vegatius: Epitome of Military Science. Translated by N. P. Milner. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Published
2017-02-15
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Nicolle, D. (2017). Medieval Islamic Fire Grenades: Further Evidence from a Military Context. Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 3(2), 153-162. https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.v3i2.32824
