Hear me out; this *is* a chemistry question

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The discussion centers on the chemical properties of a mixture of pitch, fat, and hair as described in The Book of Bel and The Dragon from the Apocrypha. The user speculates whether this combination could exhibit explosive tendencies, given its historical context. The inquiry highlights the potential for early references to explosive materials in religious texts, prompting a deeper examination of the chemical reactions involved in such mixtures. The user seeks insights from those with more advanced knowledge in chemistry, particularly in organic chemistry.

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  • Basic understanding of organic chemistry principles
  • Familiarity with the properties of pitch and its applications
  • Knowledge of fats and their chemical behavior
  • Awareness of historical uses of materials in explosive contexts
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I understand that religious discussion is not want is wanted here, but it's just the pretext to my question that's religious based.

I recently decided to read the Apocrypha. Sounded interesting. Anyway, when I got to The Book of Bel and The Dragon, there was this verse, which struck me as particularily interesting:

1:27 Then Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and did seethe them together, and made lumps thereof: this he put in the dragon's mouth, and so the dragon burst in sunder : and Daniel said, Lo, these are the gods ye worship.

Now, what I'm wondering (and the only reason I'm bringing this up here), is what would this do? It seems to be an extremely early reference to use of explosives, which is fascinating in a purely historical sense, but what sort of material would actually be formed by boiling a mixture of pitch, fat, and hair? Would this have some explosive tendency, as can be interpretted from the passage?

I'm a chemistry major, but I haven't even gone through Organic yet, so if any of you know anything about the properties this would (or would not) have, I would greatly appreciate the knowledge.
 
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Pitch, fat, and hair? Sounds like a good way to caulk a hollow casting to get a boiler explosion (vapors from assorted sacrificial offerings furnishing the trapped gases).