--- title: "These are History's Most Horrific Weapons" description: "If there's one thing humans can be relied upon to do, it is to come up with more and more ingenious ways of killing or maiming each other. In pursuit of this goal, many horrific weapons have been created. In this article, we will take a look at some of those weapons.\n\n## The Caltrop\n\nAlthough you might think that the military burying things in the ground to provide an unwelcome surprise to anyone trying to cross that ground might be a comparatively new development in the history of warfare, dangerous things you might step on have been around for thousands of years—they just did not explode.\n\nOne such example is the caltrop.\n\nSo, what was it, and how did it work?\n\nBelieved to have been used by the Persian forces of Darius III against those of Alexander the Great back in 331 BCE during the Battle of Gaugamela, the caltrop, although not immediately deadly, was an absolutely savage piece of equipment.\n\nConsisting of four metal spikes joined together in such a way that, however it was placed, there would always be one spike pointing upwards, these could be quickly scattered or sometimes buried across any battlefield to slow down the advance of foot soldiers or cavalry. Not only would these spikes cause a major inconvenience to anyone unfortunate enough to step on one, they also came complete with a large barb that prevented them from being removed without causing catastrophic damage to the victim. Attempting to simply yank them free would result in muscle, bone, and tendons being torn away with them.\n\nBack then, of course, field surgery was, shall we say, slightly less advanced than it is today. So, if you were unfortunate enough to be impaled on one of these devices, you would almost certainly need to have your foot amputated. In the days before anaesthesia or clean operating instruments, the likelihood of dying from severe infection or even from shock was incredibly high.\n\nIf you were a cavalryman whose horse was unfortunate enough to step on one of these during a full charge, your prospects were almost equally bleak.\n\nAlthough the Persians are usually credited with bringing these evil things onto the battlefield for the first time, they were more widely used during the reign of the Roman Empire.\n\n## The Khopesh\n\nAround the middle of the Bronze Age, a new and terrifying tool appeared on the battlefield: the *khopesh*. Although closely associated with Egyptian history, the *khopesh* was first invented by the Syrians, who used the weapon against the Egyptians. Having suffered a terrible defeat, largely attributed to the effectiveness of this new weapon, the Egyptians adopted the design and ran with it.\n\nCombining aspects of both a battleaxe and a sword, the *khopesh* had a short wooden handle and a curved, sickle-like blade. Although the design of the blade changed somewhat over the years, early versions had a fairly straight blade that curved at the end, whereas later versions had a more uniform curve. However, the concept remained largely the same. The outside of the blade was honed to a razor-sharp edge, allowing the user to deliver incredibly powerful strokes without too much physical effort—something that would have been a genuine benefit during a long battle. But that was only one of its advantages over more traditional weapons. It didn't stop there. With the correct training, its wielder could reverse the stroke and use the hook to lock up an opponent's blade during hand-to-hand combat, jerking it from their grasp, or even do the same with a shield.\n\nIn fact, the *khopesh* was so groundbreaking that it transcended the battlefield and became somewhat of an icon of the times. Want to make the slightly underwhelming pharaoh of the day look all-powerful and serious? No problem, just make sure your artwork depicts them holding a *khopesh*.\n\nIn fact, if artwork from the time is to be believed, even the gods were fans of this cutting-edge technology. It appears that it was the weapon of choice for the journey to the afterlife as well. Many of those important enough to have burial vaults or pyramids took one with them after death. Tutankhamun was such a fan that he took two. Although the *khopesh* did eventually fall out of favour, during its prime it helped the Egyptians to become an almost unstoppable force.\n\n## The Macuahuitl\n\nThe obsidian club, or *macuahuitl*, was a handheld weapon used by the Aztecs in battle. Unlike the weapons we have mentioned so far, it required very little in the way of manufacturing skill. It was basically the ancient equivalent of a baseball bat filled with nails.\n\nThe club itself was made of wood, about 70 centimetres in length, with one flat edge. Although this, in and of itself, would probably have made a fairly effective weapon, the Aztecs made a notable modification. Over time, they discovered that obsidian, or black glass, could be sharpened into an exceptionally effective cutting blade. These blades could be used for anything from cutting meat to performing ritual sacrifices (which, we guess, is pretty much the same thing) or attaching to a *macuahuitl* to make it even more devastating than it already was.\n\nIf you were hit by one of these, you would not only sustain blunt force trauma—broken ribs, severe bruising, internal bleeding, et cetera—but also potentially life-ending lacerations. Seriously, we can't overstate the awesome power of this weapon. Over the years, it has been claimed more than once that a skilled *macuahuitl* user could kill a horse with a single stroke. It really does show that you don't have to be an exceptional metalworker to create a truly horrific weapon.\n\n## Cluster Bombs\n\nUp until now, the weapons we have talked about have been both old and suited for close-quarters combat. Sadly, as the human race progresses, so does our ability to kill and maim one another. Few weapons have proved to be as singularly devastating as the cluster bomb.\n\nThe origin of the cluster bomb can be traced back to the 1930s when munitions experts, employed by the Soviet Union, first developed early concepts. However, it wasn't until the Second World War that this devastating technology was used in combat. They were first deployed by Soviet forces in an attempt to destroy large numbers of German tanks.\n\nBut what exactly is a cluster bomb?\n\nAccording to humanityandinclusion.co.uk: \"A cluster munition (or cluster bomb) is a container filled with small explosive bombs called 'sub-munitions'. This container may be a shell, rocket, missile, or other device. Dropped from an aircraft or fired from the ground, it opens in the air and releases the sub-munitions. This scatters a carpet of bombs over a large area without any degree of accuracy.\"\n\nThe blanket coverage provided by these weapons has made them the go-to option for many military forces wishing to clear large areas of vehicles or personnel with minimal effort.\n\nIn addition to their wide-scale slaughtering capabilities, cluster bombs have other useful applications. For example, if your objective is to render an enemy airfield unusable, dropping a conventional bomb onto a runway might create one large crater, which can be quickly filled. However, if a cluster bomb is used, it has the potential to create many smaller craters, making the damage take considerably longer to repair.\n\nUnfortunately, their usage has rarely been confined to such applications. More often than not, they have been used indiscriminately to guarantee the destruction of much smaller targets, which could have been destroyed with a single attack from a more conventional bomb or missile.\n\nOver the years, many people, usually those with a politician's lack of forward thinking, have adopted the \"all is fair in love and war\" policy and continued to use these insane devices. Even if we accept that somewhat questionable premise, the main problem with cluster munitions is not just that many innocent people run the risk of being killed or maimed during an attack, but that sub-munitions have an annoying tendency to turn up long after the end of the conflict in which they were used. Broadly speaking, there are three ways in which these devices can be triggered: on impact, timed detonation, or—and this is the more problematic version—by movement.\n\nPut simply, any movement-triggered submunition has the potential to remain dormant for years, if not decades, until it is disturbed. In places such as Cambodia and Laos, where the United States Air Force dropped hundreds of thousands of these tiny bombs, it is not uncommon for people to sustain fatal or life-changing injuries even to this day.\n\n## Napalm\n\nImagine, if you will, that you are a German soldier during World War II. Although towards the end of the war this was not a particularly enviable position, at the moment you're feeling pretty safe.\n\nYou see, you have had the good fortune to be ensconced in a concrete bunker and, although you can hear the bombs falling outside, there is no way they can penetrate your cocoon of safety. While your faith in the concrete structure is warranted, your belief in your personal safety is not. After one final explosion, everything goes quiet. \"That's it,\" you think to yourself, \"I made it.\"\n\nAfter a few minutes, however, you become aware that the temperature inside your bombproof bunker is rising—not just in the way that any small space heats up when filled with warm bodies, but really, really hot. Before you have a chance to escape, the temperature increase causes you and your comrades to lose consciousness, and by the time you are finally discovered, you have been baked alive. That's right—Napalm has arrived on the battlefield.\n\nAlthough Napalm became a catch-all term for most incendiary bomb mixtures (in much the same way that all Jacuzzis are hot tubs but not all hot tubs are Jacuzzis), the original mixture was, according to HowStuffWorks.com, \"made from aluminum soap mixed with naphthenic acid from crude oil and palmitic acid from coconut oil. (Take the 'na' from naphthenic and 'palm' from palmitic, and you have 'napalm').\"\n\nNot only can it burn at more than 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius), its sticky, gel-like substance allows it to attach to almost any surface, making it incredibly difficult to remove or extinguish.\n\nAlthough introduced during the Second World War, Napalm became particularly infamous during the Vietnam War, when it was used by U.S. forces to burn huge swathes of forest where Vietnamese soldiers concealed themselves.\n\nThe UN has banned its use on or around civilian targets, but—as so often seems to happen—the United States has not officially signed up to this ban.\n\n## Biological Weapons\n\nAlthough biological weapons might seem like a comparatively modern idea, the use of communicable diseases against opponents in warfare goes back centuries. According to many historians, during the siege of Caffa (modern-day Ukraine) in 1346, the attacking Tartar forces—who had been suffering from an outbreak of the plague—used catapults to throw infected corpses over the city walls to even the playing field.\n\nReports indicate that this tactic was incredibly successful, leading to the city's abandonment. It's possible that it may have been far more effective than the attacking army could have ever imagined. There is at least one school of thought that suggests those who fled the city may have transmitted the plague by boat to many other locations.\n\nBut that's not the only example of this sort of thing.\n\nIn 1495, the Spanish mixed blood taken from sufferers of leprosy into wine that was then sold to their French enemies.\n\nObviously, biological warfare has advanced significantly since then. The idea that individuals or groups could use biological agents such as ricin toxin or anthrax spores in a large-scale attack is one of the many things we are constantly warned to remain vigilant about.\n\nThe biggest problem with such weapons is that they are even more unpredictable than the cluster bombs we spoke of earlier. Once one of these agents has been released, its spread is entirely dependent on weather conditions. In dry, windy environments, attacks of this nature have the potential to spread over hundreds of miles, with the added problem that it can be exceptionally difficult to decontaminate the affected areas later on.\n\nIn fact, biological weapons may very well have the potential to be the most horrific weapons of all time.\n\n## Key Takeaways\n\n- The caltrop, used since ancient times, was designed to maim soldiers and horses with its sharp spikes.\n- The khopesh, a Bronze Age weapon, combined sword and axe features, making it versatile in combat.\n- The macuahuitl, an Aztec weapon, used obsidian blades to cause severe lacerations and blunt force trauma.\n- Cluster bombs, developed in the 1930s, scatter sub-munitions over large areas, posing long-term risks.\n- Napalm, introduced in WWII, burns at extremely high temperatures and adheres to surfaces, making it hard to extinguish.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions\n\n### What is a caltrop and how was it used in ancient warfare?\n\nThe caltrop is a weapon consisting of four metal spikes joined together so that one spike always points upwards. It was used to slow down the advance of foot soldiers or cavalry by scattering or burying them on battlefields, causing injuries that were difficult to treat and often fatal.\n\n### Who first used the khopesh and how did it become associated with Egyptian history?\n\nThe khopesh was first invented by the Syrians. The Egyptians adopted it after suffering a defeat attributed to its effectiveness and made it a symbol of power, often depicted in artwork and taken to the afterlife by important figures like Tutankhamun.\n\n### What is the macuahuitl and how was it used by the Aztecs?\n\nThe macuahuitl is an obsidian club used by the Aztecs. It was a wooden club with obsidian blades attached, causing both blunt force trauma and severe lacerations. It was so effective that it was claimed a skilled user could kill a horse with a single stroke.\n\n### What are cluster bombs and how do they work?\n\nCluster bombs are containers filled with small explosive bombs called sub-munitions. They scatter a wide area with bombs, making them useful for clearing large areas of vehicles or personnel. However, they often leave unexploded sub-munitions that can cause injuries long after conflicts end.\n\n### What is napalm and how was it used in warfare?\n\nNapalm is a gel-like incendiary substance that burns at extremely high temperatures and sticks to surfaces, making it difficult to extinguish. It was used in World War II and became infamous in the Vietnam War for burning large areas of forest where enemy soldiers hid.\n\n### What are biological weapons and how have they been used historically?\n\nBiological weapons use communicable diseases to harm opponents. Historically, examples include the Tartar forces using plague-infected corpses during the siege of Caffa in 1346 and the Spanish mixing blood from leprosy sufferers into wine sold to French enemies in 1495.\n\n### What is the origin of the cluster bomb?\n\nThe origin of the cluster bomb can be traced back to the 1930s when munitions experts employed by the Soviet Union first developed early concepts. They were first deployed by Soviet forces during the Second World War to destroy large numbers of German tanks.\n\n### What are the dangers of unexploded sub-munitions from cluster bombs?\n\nUnexploded sub-munitions from cluster bombs can remain dormant for years or decades until disturbed, causing fatal or life-changing injuries. This is a significant problem in places like Cambodia and Laos, where many sub-munitions were dropped.\n\n### How did the khopesh transcend the battlefield and become an icon of its time?\n\nThe khopesh became an icon of its time by being depicted in artwork to make pharaohs look powerful and by being taken to the afterlife by important figures. It was also the weapon of choice for the journey to the afterlife, with many burial vaults or pyramids containing a khopesh.\n\n### What is the composition of the original napalm mixture?\n\nThe original napalm mixture was made from aluminum soap mixed with naphthenic acid from crude oil and palmitic acid from coconut oil. The name 'napalm' comes from taking the 'na' from naphthenic and 'palm' from palmitic.\n\n## Sources\n\n- [Original Side Projects video: These are History's Most Horrific Weapons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7-pEyCvQs0)\n- [Hero image source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Fort_Howe_2024_%28cropped%29.jpg) by Cam Steeves / openverse, by.\n\n## Related Coverage" url: https://sideprojects.pub/article/historys-most-horrific-weapons.md canonical: https://sideprojects.pub/article/historys-most-horrific-weapons datePublished: 2024-10-13 dateModified: 2026-07-28 author: - name: Simon Whistler url: https://sideprojects.pub/author/simon-whistler publisher: Side Projects image: "https://media.sideprojects.pub/cdn-cgi/image/width=1600,height=900,fit=cover,quality=80,format=auto/articles/O7-pEyCvQs0/hero.jpg" type: NewsArticle contentHash: b6d7c6d146d069a0d2d4237a3d149399bd2705bd47628ece4745a56e1bef6a27 tokens: 4147 summaryUrl: https://sideprojects.pub/article/historys-most-horrific-weapons.md.summary.md --- If there's one thing humans can be relied upon to do, it is to come up with more and more ingenious ways of killing or maiming each other. In pursuit of this goal, many horrific weapons have been created. In this article, we will take a look at some of those weapons. ## The Caltrop Although you might think that the military burying things in the ground to provide an unwelcome surprise to anyone trying to cross that ground might be a comparatively new development in the history of warfare, dangerous things you might step on have been around for thousands of years—they just did not explode. One such example is the caltrop. So, what was it, and how did it work? Believed to have been used by the Persian forces of Darius III against those of Alexander the Great back in 331 BCE during the Battle of Gaugamela, the caltrop, although not immediately deadly, was an absolutely savage piece of equipment. Consisting of four metal spikes joined together in such a way that, however it was placed, there would always be one spike pointing upwards, these could be quickly scattered or sometimes buried across any battlefield to slow down the advance of foot soldiers or cavalry. Not only would these spikes cause a major inconvenience to anyone unfortunate enough to step on one, they also came complete with a large barb that prevented them from being removed without causing catastrophic damage to the victim. Attempting to simply yank them free would result in muscle, bone, and tendons being torn away with them. Back then, of course, field surgery was, shall we say, slightly less advanced than it is today. So, if you were unfortunate enough to be impaled on one of these devices, you would almost certainly need to have your foot amputated. In the days before anaesthesia or clean operating instruments, the likelihood of dying from severe infection or even from shock was incredibly high. If you were a cavalryman whose horse was unfortunate enough to step on one of these during a full charge, your prospects were almost equally bleak. Although the Persians are usually credited with bringing these evil things onto the battlefield for the first time, they were more widely used during the reign of the Roman Empire. ## The Khopesh Around the middle of the Bronze Age, a new and terrifying tool appeared on the battlefield: the *khopesh*. Although closely associated with Egyptian history, the *khopesh* was first invented by the Syrians, who used the weapon against the Egyptians. Having suffered a terrible defeat, largely attributed to the effectiveness of this new weapon, the Egyptians adopted the design and ran with it. Combining aspects of both a battleaxe and a sword, the *khopesh* had a short wooden handle and a curved, sickle-like blade. Although the design of the blade changed somewhat over the years, early versions had a fairly straight blade that curved at the end, whereas later versions had a more uniform curve. However, the concept remained largely the same. The outside of the blade was honed to a razor-sharp edge, allowing the user to deliver incredibly powerful strokes without too much physical effort—something that would have been a genuine benefit during a long battle. But that was only one of its advantages over more traditional weapons. It didn't stop there. With the correct training, its wielder could reverse the stroke and use the hook to lock up an opponent's blade during hand-to-hand combat, jerking it from their grasp, or even do the same with a shield. In fact, the *khopesh* was so groundbreaking that it transcended the battlefield and became somewhat of an icon of the times. Want to make the slightly underwhelming pharaoh of the day look all-powerful and serious? No problem, just make sure your artwork depicts them holding a *khopesh*. In fact, if artwork from the time is to be believed, even the gods were fans of this cutting-edge technology. It appears that it was the weapon of choice for the journey to the afterlife as well. Many of those important enough to have burial vaults or pyramids took one with them after death. Tutankhamun was such a fan that he took two. Although the *khopesh* did eventually fall out of favour, during its prime it helped the Egyptians to become an almost unstoppable force. ## The Macuahuitl The obsidian club, or *macuahuitl*, was a handheld weapon used by the Aztecs in battle. Unlike the weapons we have mentioned so far, it required very little in the way of manufacturing skill. It was basically the ancient equivalent of a baseball bat filled with nails. The club itself was made of wood, about 70 centimetres in length, with one flat edge. Although this, in and of itself, would probably have made a fairly effective weapon, the Aztecs made a notable modification. Over time, they discovered that obsidian, or black glass, could be sharpened into an exceptionally effective cutting blade. These blades could be used for anything from cutting meat to performing ritual sacrifices (which, we guess, is pretty much the same thing) or attaching to a *macuahuitl* to make it even more devastating than it already was. If you were hit by one of these, you would not only sustain blunt force trauma—broken ribs, severe bruising, internal bleeding, et cetera—but also potentially life-ending lacerations. Seriously, we can't overstate the awesome power of this weapon. Over the years, it has been claimed more than once that a skilled *macuahuitl* user could kill a horse with a single stroke. It really does show that you don't have to be an exceptional metalworker to create a truly horrific weapon. ## Cluster Bombs Up until now, the weapons we have talked about have been both old and suited for close-quarters combat. Sadly, as the human race progresses, so does our ability to kill and maim one another. Few weapons have proved to be as singularly devastating as the cluster bomb. The origin of the cluster bomb can be traced back to the 1930s when munitions experts, employed by the Soviet Union, first developed early concepts. However, it wasn't until the Second World War that this devastating technology was used in combat. They were first deployed by Soviet forces in an attempt to destroy large numbers of German tanks. But what exactly is a cluster bomb? According to humanityandinclusion.co.uk: "A cluster munition (or cluster bomb) is a container filled with small explosive bombs called 'sub-munitions'. This container may be a shell, rocket, missile, or other device. Dropped from an aircraft or fired from the ground, it opens in the air and releases the sub-munitions. This scatters a carpet of bombs over a large area without any degree of accuracy." The blanket coverage provided by these weapons has made them the go-to option for many military forces wishing to clear large areas of vehicles or personnel with minimal effort. In addition to their wide-scale slaughtering capabilities, cluster bombs have other useful applications. For example, if your objective is to render an enemy airfield unusable, dropping a conventional bomb onto a runway might create one large crater, which can be quickly filled. However, if a cluster bomb is used, it has the potential to create many smaller craters, making the damage take considerably longer to repair. Unfortunately, their usage has rarely been confined to such applications. More often than not, they have been used indiscriminately to guarantee the destruction of much smaller targets, which could have been destroyed with a single attack from a more conventional bomb or missile. Over the years, many people, usually those with a politician's lack of forward thinking, have adopted the "all is fair in love and war" policy and continued to use these insane devices. Even if we accept that somewhat questionable premise, the main problem with cluster munitions is not just that many innocent people run the risk of being killed or maimed during an attack, but that sub-munitions have an annoying tendency to turn up long after the end of the conflict in which they were used. Broadly speaking, there are three ways in which these devices can be triggered: on impact, timed detonation, or—and this is the more problematic version—by movement. Put simply, any movement-triggered submunition has the potential to remain dormant for years, if not decades, until it is disturbed. In places such as Cambodia and Laos, where the United States Air Force dropped hundreds of thousands of these tiny bombs, it is not uncommon for people to sustain fatal or life-changing injuries even to this day. ## Napalm Imagine, if you will, that you are a German soldier during World War II. Although towards the end of the war this was not a particularly enviable position, at the moment you're feeling pretty safe. You see, you have had the good fortune to be ensconced in a concrete bunker and, although you can hear the bombs falling outside, there is no way they can penetrate your cocoon of safety. While your faith in the concrete structure is warranted, your belief in your personal safety is not. After one final explosion, everything goes quiet. "That's it," you think to yourself, "I made it." After a few minutes, however, you become aware that the temperature inside your bombproof bunker is rising—not just in the way that any small space heats up when filled with warm bodies, but really, really hot. Before you have a chance to escape, the temperature increase causes you and your comrades to lose consciousness, and by the time you are finally discovered, you have been baked alive. That's right—Napalm has arrived on the battlefield. Although Napalm became a catch-all term for most incendiary bomb mixtures (in much the same way that all Jacuzzis are hot tubs but not all hot tubs are Jacuzzis), the original mixture was, according to HowStuffWorks.com, "made from aluminum soap mixed with naphthenic acid from crude oil and palmitic acid from coconut oil. (Take the 'na' from naphthenic and 'palm' from palmitic, and you have 'napalm')." Not only can it burn at more than 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius), its sticky, gel-like substance allows it to attach to almost any surface, making it incredibly difficult to remove or extinguish. Although introduced during the Second World War, Napalm became particularly infamous during the Vietnam War, when it was used by U.S. forces to burn huge swathes of forest where Vietnamese soldiers concealed themselves. The UN has banned its use on or around civilian targets, but—as so often seems to happen—the United States has not officially signed up to this ban. ## Biological Weapons Although biological weapons might seem like a comparatively modern idea, the use of communicable diseases against opponents in warfare goes back centuries. According to many historians, during the siege of Caffa (modern-day Ukraine) in 1346, the attacking Tartar forces—who had been suffering from an outbreak of the plague—used catapults to throw infected corpses over the city walls to even the playing field. Reports indicate that this tactic was incredibly successful, leading to the city's abandonment. It's possible that it may have been far more effective than the attacking army could have ever imagined. There is at least one school of thought that suggests those who fled the city may have transmitted the plague by boat to many other locations. But that's not the only example of this sort of thing. In 1495, the Spanish mixed blood taken from sufferers of leprosy into wine that was then sold to their French enemies. Obviously, biological warfare has advanced significantly since then. The idea that individuals or groups could use biological agents such as ricin toxin or anthrax spores in a large-scale attack is one of the many things we are constantly warned to remain vigilant about. The biggest problem with such weapons is that they are even more unpredictable than the cluster bombs we spoke of earlier. Once one of these agents has been released, its spread is entirely dependent on weather conditions. In dry, windy environments, attacks of this nature have the potential to spread over hundreds of miles, with the added problem that it can be exceptionally difficult to decontaminate the affected areas later on. In fact, biological weapons may very well have the potential to be the most horrific weapons of all time. ## Key Takeaways - The caltrop, used since ancient times, was designed to maim soldiers and horses with its sharp spikes. - The khopesh, a Bronze Age weapon, combined sword and axe features, making it versatile in combat. - The macuahuitl, an Aztec weapon, used obsidian blades to cause severe lacerations and blunt force trauma. - Cluster bombs, developed in the 1930s, scatter sub-munitions over large areas, posing long-term risks. - Napalm, introduced in WWII, burns at extremely high temperatures and adheres to surfaces, making it hard to extinguish. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is a caltrop and how was it used in ancient warfare? The caltrop is a weapon consisting of four metal spikes joined together so that one spike always points upwards. It was used to slow down the advance of foot soldiers or cavalry by scattering or burying them on battlefields, causing injuries that were difficult to treat and often fatal. ### Who first used the khopesh and how did it become associated with Egyptian history? The khopesh was first invented by the Syrians. The Egyptians adopted it after suffering a defeat attributed to its effectiveness and made it a symbol of power, often depicted in artwork and taken to the afterlife by important figures like Tutankhamun. ### What is the macuahuitl and how was it used by the Aztecs? The macuahuitl is an obsidian club used by the Aztecs. It was a wooden club with obsidian blades attached, causing both blunt force trauma and severe lacerations. It was so effective that it was claimed a skilled user could kill a horse with a single stroke. ### What are cluster bombs and how do they work? Cluster bombs are containers filled with small explosive bombs called sub-munitions. They scatter a wide area with bombs, making them useful for clearing large areas of vehicles or personnel. However, they often leave unexploded sub-munitions that can cause injuries long after conflicts end. ### What is napalm and how was it used in warfare? Napalm is a gel-like incendiary substance that burns at extremely high temperatures and sticks to surfaces, making it difficult to extinguish. It was used in World War II and became infamous in the Vietnam War for burning large areas of forest where enemy soldiers hid. ### What are biological weapons and how have they been used historically? Biological weapons use communicable diseases to harm opponents. Historically, examples include the Tartar forces using plague-infected corpses during the siege of Caffa in 1346 and the Spanish mixing blood from leprosy sufferers into wine sold to French enemies in 1495. ### What is the origin of the cluster bomb? The origin of the cluster bomb can be traced back to the 1930s when munitions experts employed by the Soviet Union first developed early concepts. They were first deployed by Soviet forces during the Second World War to destroy large numbers of German tanks. ### What are the dangers of unexploded sub-munitions from cluster bombs? Unexploded sub-munitions from cluster bombs can remain dormant for years or decades until disturbed, causing fatal or life-changing injuries. This is a significant problem in places like Cambodia and Laos, where many sub-munitions were dropped. ### How did the khopesh transcend the battlefield and become an icon of its time? The khopesh became an icon of its time by being depicted in artwork to make pharaohs look powerful and by being taken to the afterlife by important figures. It was also the weapon of choice for the journey to the afterlife, with many burial vaults or pyramids containing a khopesh. ### What is the composition of the original napalm mixture? The original napalm mixture was made from aluminum soap mixed with naphthenic acid from crude oil and palmitic acid from coconut oil. The name 'napalm' comes from taking the 'na' from naphthenic and 'palm' from palmitic. ## Sources - [Original Side Projects video: These are History's Most Horrific Weapons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7-pEyCvQs0) - [Hero image source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Fort_Howe_2024_%28cropped%29.jpg) by Cam Steeves / openverse, by. ## Related Coverage