When picturing warfare of time’s long passed, it’s easy to imagine people using crude and unsophisticated weaponry. But, looking back at various era’s, it’s plain to see that some weapons were more complicated than we imagined and advanced for the times they were in. Here are the top 3weapons ahead of their time in history:
3. Flamethrowers
After creating the infamous invincible Greek fire in 673, the main concern of the Greeks was developing new ways to use it during battles. After years of bottling it and throwing it aboard enemy ships, the Greeks stumbled across the first flame-thrower. Through the use of a siphon (hose) the Greek army would funnel fire onto the enemy’s ship. The truly amazing part is that the design the Greeks used was almost identical to its modern counterpart. Adding to the horror reports from the time also claim that the Greek fire could not be put out! The combination of the advanced flame blasting siphon and the unstoppablefire allowed the Greeks to be the masters of the sea, for many years.
2. Fire Resistant Clothing
Although unheard of as an offensive weapon now, fire resistant clothing was designed for use as a weapon and as defensive armour. During the 12th century, most battles were won or lost depending on your creative use of flammable liquids and explosives. Warriors at the time were incredibly vulnerable since they were often either a- naked or b-wearing a flammable tunic. To stop the burning of their fighters the Muslims created fire retardant outfits that consisted of a silk shirt, cotton robe and a tunic that guarded against chemicals and fire. The tunic was supposedly similarly designed to the Nuclear, Biological, and chemically protecting suits that we have in use today. Offensively they used this by attaching gunpowder packs to their backs, lighting themselves on fire and running like madmen towards their enemies. The gunpowder once caught in flame would ignite into a small explosion, and the soldier would be unscathed thanks to the fire retardant clothing.
1. Multistage Rocket
Sometime during the 14th century the Chinese military stumbled across missiles that could fire rockets. The missile would climb several hundred feet into the air and begin to descend ferociously over the heads of the enemies. While hurtling towards the ground, the main rocket booster from the missile would fall off, and the miniature rockets on the inside would ignite causing an explosion and raining fire onto the opposition. For maximum effectiveness, these rockets were packed with 750g of high-quality gunpowder and weighed about 20 pounds each. Upon its invention the Chinese’s beloved “ho long chi shui” was the most advanced weapon people had seen to date.
Sources and Citations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_warfare
ancientnuclearwar.com
http://www.cracked.com/article_18880_7-insanely-advanced-weapons-history-somehow-forgot-about.html
http://www.mredepot.com/servlet/the-719/chemical-suit-gear-trousers/Detail
