Greek fire

Greek fire was an incendiary weapon system used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret; historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltpeter, sulfur, or quicklime, but most modern scholars agree that it was based on petroleum mixed with resins, comparable in composition to modern napalm. Byzantine sailors would toss grenades loaded with Greek fire onto enemy ships or spray it from tubes. Its ability to burn on water made it an effective and destructive naval incendiary weapon, and rival powers tried unsuccessfully to copy the material.

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Frameless

An image from an illuminated manuscript showing the Greek fire used against the renegade fleet of Thomas of Sicily

Revue des études grecques, Tome 3, 1890 (page 320 crop)

An image from an illuminated manuscript showing the Greek fire used against the renegade fleet of Thomas of Sicily

Beccafumi - 10 Uses of gunpowder

Whorebab (Book of Revelation)

Hand-siphon for Greek fire, medieval illumination

MadridSkylitzesFol34v

Use of a hand siphon, a portable flamethrower, from a siege tower. Detail from the medieval manuscript Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1605.

Liquid fire granades Chania

Detail of a miniature of a Greek fire burning Turks as a result of a miraculous change of wind, and Robert of Nazareth praying.

• A medieval workshop for producing ‘Greek fire’ grenades - , Q1860, 1988

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
commons	image		An image from an illuminated manuscript showing the Greek fire used against the renegade fleet of Thomas of Sicily		Commons
commons	image		Revue des études grecques, Tome 3, 1890 (page 320 crop)		Commons
commons	image		An image from an illuminated manuscript showing the Greek fire used against the renegade fleet of Thomas of Sicily		Commons
commons	image		Beccafumi - 10 Uses of gunpowder		Commons
commons	image		Whorebab (Book of Revelation)		Commons
commons	image		Hand-siphon for Greek fire, medieval illumination		Commons
commons	image		MadridSkylitzesFol34v		Commons
commons	image		Use of a hand siphon, a portable flamethrower, from a siege tower. Detail from the medieval manuscript Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1605.		Commons
commons	image		Liquid fire granades Chania		Commons
commons	image		Detail of a miniature of a Greek fire burning Turks as a result of a miraculous change of wind, and Robert of Nazareth praying.		Commons