Is this the REAL Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?

Ancient weapons part of trove given to Israeli authorities.

Is this the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch? A suspicious object which archaeologists say is a hand grenade, has been publicized by Israeli antiquities curators. The object was retrieved from the Mediterranean coast by a power plant worker.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - An Israeli family has handed over a trove of artifacts recovered from the sea by Marcel Mazliah. Mazliah worked at a powerplant on the Israeli coast and often retrieved interesting artifacts he discovered.

One of the artifacts appears to be a hand grenade. The object is made of heavy clay, is shaped like a large acorn, and has a small hole in the top, ostensibly for a fuse.

There is some debate if the object is a grenade, or a vessel for holding precious liquid, such as perfume.

Grenades have been in use since ancient times, having been invented by the Byzantines around the seventh century AD. The small clay objects were packed with flammable liquid and thrown at enemy ships to catch them on fire. They could also be loaded into catapults and thrown in great numbers.

The Chinese eventually made them from cast iron and filled them with gunpowder for use against soldiers on land.

The Israeli grenade is ornate and large. It is very similar to others from the period that have been recovered with fuses still inside them. Such weapons were relatively common and could vary in size from a tiny weapon perhaps the size of a thumb, and a larger one such as this, the size of a fist.

The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch is a satirical object invented for the movie "Monty Python and  the Holy Grail."

Other artifacts were also turned over including a knife and a hair pin which is thought to be at least 3,500 years old.

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