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There are records of friction fire in many ancient texts, one of the oldest translated texts mentioning friction fire may be the Theology of the Phoenicians (photo obviously of a modern reprint😀)
From Wikipedia: Phoenicia was an ancient Semitic-speaking thalassocratic civilization founded 2500BC that originated in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon. It was concentrated along the coast of Lebanon and included some coastal areas of modern Syria and Galilee, reaching as far north as Arwad and as far south as Acre and possibly Gaza. At its height between 1100 and 200 BC, Phoenician civilization spread across the Mediterranean, from the Levant to the Iberian Peninsula. THEOLOGY OF THE PHŒNICIANS FROM SANCHONIATHO is one of 3 lost works originally written in the Phoenician language and surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Greek translation by Philo of Byblos, according to the Christian bishop Eusebius. These few fragments comprise the most extended literary source concerning Phoenician religion in either Greek or Latin: Phoenician sources, along with all of Phoenician literature, were lost with the parchment on which they were written.” Quoted from Theology of the Phoenicians (sacred-texts.com): “ Afterwards by Genus the son of Æon and Protogonus were begotten mortal children, whose names were Phôs, Pûr, and Phlox. These found out the method of producing fire by rubbing pieces of wood against each other, and taught men the use thereof.” I came across this a round about way via Pliny (79Ad) - see the blog post on Pliny Fire origin stories are common across most cultures , and friction fire rather than percussion is the one most mentioned. As part of this "project" I'm collecting stories, myths and legends of the origins of fire, there are many out there, and many variations of similar stories within the same cultures and different cultures. Common themes also run through many of the stories, such as fire being hidden away in trees and it can only be released through friction. I plan to collect as many stories as possible and validate each one. This is my list so far of stories , but I'm sure there are many more out there. I have not yet found any from Celtic traditions. Australian Aboriginal:
Crocodile took the fire stick How the Wongaibon obtained fire How the Kamilaroi acquired fire Water rat and fire ... and many more India - Hindu : Rig Veda (3:9.5), the hero Mātariśvan recovered fire through friction Judaism - In the Book of Enoch, the fallen angels and Azazel teach early humanity to use tools and fire. Chinese - Sui Drilling Wood to make fire Greek - Prometheus stole fire and hid it in a fennel stalk Africa - The San of South Africa believe that Ostrich guarded fire under his wing until a praying mantis stole it. and many more Bumba showed the people how to make the firedrill South America Indians of the Amazon River basin in - Aboy stole a hot coal from the Jaguar's fire Pacific Legends in the Caroline Islands of the Pacific link fire to Olofat, a mythical trickster hero Maori\Polynesian - How Maui brought fire to the world Native American How Coyote Stole Fire Cherokee - Grandmother Spider According to some Yukon First Nations people, Crow stole fire from a volcano in the middle of the water. According to the Creek Indians, Rabbit stole fire from the Weasels. In Algonquin myth, Rabbit stole fire from an old man and his two daughters. In Ojibwa myth, Nanabozho the hare stole fire and gave it to humans. and many more Norse\Viking - The Theft of Fire by Loki The Myths of the Origins of Fire by James Frazer contains many stories from around the world including Tanzania, New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, South America, Central & North America, Pacific/Polynesia, Australia |
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