然而，在拜占廷之前，此类喷火武器在攻城、水战等场合的应用就屡见不鲜
上图为萨珊波斯在守城战中使用所谓“米底油”亦即“拿法”的记载，摘自普洛科皮乌斯战争史

其后，穆斯林手稿也显示，萨拉森人早已获取或发明了类似喷射技术。而在东方，大食商人传来的猛火油也在五代之际颇为出众




有空会把Konstantin Nossov的Ancient and Medieval Siege Weapons这一部分翻一下
先贴部分原文
Let us now examine the best-known incendiary weapon of the Middle Ages: Greek Fire. Probably no other military invention has been so shrouded in mystery or provoked such disputes as Greek Fire. It should be noted that the term itself only appeared during the Crusades, and then came to be used in Europe. In Byzantium-the motherland of Greek Fire-the term was never used, as the Byzantines called themselves Romans, and the epithet "Greek" sounded almost abusive to them. In Muslim countries, Greek Fire, as well as other incendiary compositions, was called naft (naphtha).
The invention of Greek Fire is attributed to the Greek architect, Kallinicos. It took place in the 7th century, and already in the year 673 an Arab fleet was burned down with the help of Greek Fire. Few inventions have made such a strong impression on their contemporaries. Chroniclers note that the terrific fire turned stones and iron to dust, burned on water, and certainly annihilated all living things. For a long time Greek Fire remained a fearful secret weapon of Byzantium. Emperor Leo wrote in the 9th century:
We possess various weapons, both old and new, to destroy enemy ships and men fighting on board them. Such a weapon is fire prepared for siphons from which it is hurled with thunderous noise and smoke, burning down ships at which we direct it ... Also, place, at the front on the bow [of a ship], a siphon in bronze to hurl fire at the enemies. Above the siphon, make a timber platform surrounded by an oak parapet.There place warriors to fight and shoot arrows ...
You must also prepare pots filled with incendiary mixtures which, breaking in falling down, are to set a ship on fire. You must also make use of small handsiphons, which we make and which warriors keep beyond iron shields: they contain fire, which is hurled into enemy's faces.You can also throw, by means of the manganikon, liquid burning resin and other compositions you have prepared.
In her Alexiad, Anna Comnena says that, when equipping the navy for a campaign against the people of Pisa, the emperor ordered that siphons placed on the bow be mounted like heads of wild beasts, as though hurling fire. "The barbarians were horror-stricken by the fire which they did not know and which, unlike that burning by nature upwards, was thrown at objects as the thrower wished, now downward, now to different sides ..."
A vivid depiction of the effect of Greek Fire is given by Liudprand, describing the destruction of the Kievan Prince Igor's fleet in 941:
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The Muslims were the first to use Greek Fire after the Byzantines. Its use by the Arabs was registered in 835 and 844, but some incendiary weapons had been used by them as early as the 7th century. By the time of the Crusades they had mastered Greek Fire and used it against the Crusaders more than once. The Saracens resorted to Greek Fire at the sieges of Nicaea, Marathus, and Acre, as well as at other places. At the siege of Acre in 1191, a Muslim from Damascus offered the defenders his own recipe for Greek Fire, which proved effective where other mixtures had been unsuccessful-that is, against the siege towers of the Crusaders. Fire born of this mixture soared with a tremendous roar through all the platforms, and the Franks, who had almost deemed themselves victorious, were panic-stricken. The above proves that the composition of Greek Fire was not constant; it was different at different times, and much depended on the individual circumstances.