Fri, Nov. 30th, 2007, 01:23 pm
Biological Warfare in 1300 BC

Sick Rams Used as Ancient Bioweapons

via Archaeology in Europe
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Fri, Nov. 30th, 2007 10:32 pm (UTC)
[info]redwingkali

I am surprised the article didnt touch on the fact that the dead bodies of the attacking soldiers where often flung over the walls as well to spread disease as well. The holy grail had the right idea of it, though a bit backwards. But that would be consistant with Monty Python anyway.
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Sat, Dec. 1st, 2007 02:51 am (UTC)
[info]gmcdavid

The article was about 1300 BC. I don't think siege engines capable of hurling a body like that can be documented so far back.


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Sat, Dec. 1st, 2007 06:34 am (UTC)
[info]redwingkali

Trebuchet, onager and catapult can... if they can hurl a stone.... The trebuchet is actually a chinese weapon and these where used prior to the crusdades. There is mention in history of these Siege weapons doing just that.. flinging dead carcasses of livestock and bodies 5-6th cent.
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Sat, Dec. 1st, 2007 02:51 pm (UTC)
[info]gmcdavid

5th-6th century is irrelevant. We are talking about 1300 Before Christ, 18 centuries earlier. This war took play before the siege of Troy. I don't recall trebuchets from the Iliad.

According to L. Sprague De Camp's The Ancient Engineers, stone throwing catapults are first documented from 332 BC, when they were used at Alexander the Great's siege of Tyre. Taking them back to the Hittite-Arzawa war, a millenium earlier, seems like a stretch. There was a lot of technological and military change in that period,


Edited at 2007-12-01 02:52 pm (UTC)
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Sun, Dec. 2nd, 2007 02:47 pm (UTC)
[info]redwingkali

My bad ... Consider the time i made the post and the fact I havent slept much in 4 days with a sick kid... I'm a bit punchy and it did not register BC vs AD
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