Incendiary Ammunition: How Early?

I was wondering how early you could plausibly get incidiary ammunition, especially for artillery. It doesn't seem too difficult to do, but I'm not a chemist.:eek:
 
Fire arrows go back to prehistory.

Greek fire and flaming pitch have been used in ballistae since classical times.

For gunpowder artillery, It was common practice for napoleonic-era naval defenses to fire heated shot - and by this period you have explosive shells, which are incendiary in their own way.
 
Has there ever been any sort of self-contained greek-fire weapon? Besides a simple thrown jar with a burning rag? Early molotov cocktail?
 
Has there ever been any sort of self-contained greek-fire weapon? Besides a simple thrown jar with a burning rag? Early molotov cocktail?

Not that I know of. The only methods of delivery I've read about are the classic siphons and jars thrown from the decks.

Incendiary are actually a lot easier for catapults and what have you than artillery. I mean with a catapult you can just fill a barrel with something flammable, stick a burning rag in and presto!

As for artillery my first thought was a magnesium coating for canon balls. The problem is magnesium wasn't produced as a metal until 1808. Phosphorus seems to be abetter alternative as it was first discovered in 1669. Then again it might be the best route is to fill a mortar round with black powder or some other flammable substance. I don't know when metallurgy advances enough to make this possible though.
 
One thing they did was fill a hollow, cagelike cannonball (a carcasse) with rags soaked in pitch and oil. THat seems to have worked halfway satisfactorily.
 
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