Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant
2003, Journal of Near Eastern Studies
https://doi.org/10.1086/375916…
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Abstract
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This paper provides a comprehensive examination of Bronze Age seafaring in the Levant, focusing on ship construction, navigation, trade, and maritime law. It highlights the complexities of ancient maritime practices, using detailed analyses of archaeological evidence and iconography. Despite recognizing gaps in the current understanding of shipbuilding techniques, the author presents a nuanced view of the critical role that seafaring played in the economic and cultural exchanges of the time.
Key takeaways
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- Wachsmann catalogues archaeological evidence of seafaring in the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean.
- Key shipwrecks like Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya date around 1306 BC and 1200 BC.
- Ship construction insights rely on iconographic studies due to limited hull remains.
- The text discusses maritime trade, piracy, and navigation, showcasing a complex seafaring world.
- A glossary and extensive bibliography enhance the volume's scholarly value for experts.
Related papers
Wachsmann, S., 1982. The Ships of the Sea Peoples (IJNA 10.3: 187-220): Additional Notes. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 11: 297-304.
Aegean Studies, 2014
The appearance of the brailed rig and loose–footed sail at the end of the Late Bronze Age revolutionized seafaring in the eastern Mediterranean. The most famous early appearance of this new technology is found in history’s first visual representation of a naval battle, on the walls of Ramesses III’s mortuary temple at Medinet Habu. In this monumental combat scene, both Egyptian and Sea Peoples ships are depicted with this new rig, as well as top–mounted crow’s nests and decking upon which shipborne warriors do battle. The identical employment of these innovative components of maritime technology by opposing forces in this battle suggests either some level of previous contact between the invaders and those responsible for designing and constructing Egypt’s ships of war, or shared interaction with a third party, perhaps on the Syro–Canaanite coast. This article examines the evidence for the development of the brailed rig in the eastern Mediterranean, and explores the possibility that at least one group of Sea Peoples, who may have comprised a key part of the international economy of the Late Bronze Age in their role as “pirates, raiders, and traders” (Georgiou 2012: 527) – Artzy’s “nomads of the sea” (1997) – played a similarly integral role in the transference of maritime technology between the Levant, Egypt, and the Aegean.
2009
This article presents a fuller archaeological and pinacological discussion of two Pylos texts that might deal with materials for Mycenaean ship construction. It should be read in conjunction with the articles by Palaima and van Effenterre cited at the end of note*, both of which made clear the need to call upon a specialist in nautical archaeology to provide an expert commentary on tech nical aspects of Bronze Age ship construction and to sketch out the current archaeological context for the kind of «nautical» interpreta tion of these two tablets first suggested as a possibility by van Effenterre. The fullest discussion of the alternative interpretation of Vn 46 and Vn 879, that the two texts refer to materials for the construc-
Seafaring and Mobility in the Late Antique Mediterranean, 2022
Part III Braving the Sea in the Later Empire 7 'Washed by the Waves': Fighting against Shipwrecking in the Later Roman Empire Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz 133 38257.indb 5 04/02/22 10:35 PM Contents 8 Upwind Sailing Capabilities of Square-Rigged Ships in Late Antiquity and the Ramifications for Trade Networks Doug Forsyth 149 9 On the Byzantine Tradition of D. 14.2.9 (Maec. Ex Lege Rhodia): A Note concerning the Emperor as Ruler of the Sea Valerio Massimo Minale 167 Bibliography 181 Index 209 vi 38257.indb 6 04/02/22 10:35 PM ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 Cylinder seal impression 2.1 A second-century mosaic still-life with fish (xenia style). Isola Sacra Necropolis (Ostia) 2.2 A late third-or early fourth-century mosaic of Oceanus. Bardo National Museum (Tunisia) 2.3 A first half of the sixth-century Constantinople mosaic. Great Palace Mosaic Museum (Turkey) 2.4 An end of the second-early third-century mosaic of Oceanus (detail). Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (Rome) 2.5 A second-third century mosaic of a shaggy Oceanus. Antakya/Hatay Archaeological Museum (Turkey) 2.6 A 160-190 ce mosaic of Oceanus. Verulamium Museum (St. Albans, UK). 2.7 A 234 ce mosaic of Oceanus (detail). Bad Kreuznach, Germany (in situ) 2.8 A fourth-century mosaic of Oceanus. Eugène-Camoreyt Museum (Lectoure, France) 2.9 A mid-second-century mosaic of Oceanus. Sousse Archaeological Museum (Tunisia) 2.10 A 234 ce mosaic of Oceanus, marine fauna (detail). Bad Kreuznach, Germany (in situ) 2.11 A badly damaged end-of-the-second-century mosaic. Found in Bad Vilbel, a reconstructed copy in situ. The original is in Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt (Germany) 2.12 A late fifth-early sixth-century mosaic of baptism of Christ. The Arian Baptistery (Ravenna, Italy) 5.1 Survey projects included in the SouthEast Naxos Survey 5.2a-b Ad-hoc wooden structures used to ease the access to a sand beach on Kato Kouphonisi with the help of a few boulders fallen from the escarpment behind and the limestone rocks at the foot of Dhaskalio 5.3a-b Grammata Bay, Syros. Euploia by Eunomios, identifying as a Jewish sailor from Naxos (possibly first c. bce) and a fourth-fifth century Christian invocation by Eulimenios from Ephesus (Photo: Rebecca Sweetman.) 5.4a-b Aerial view of Panormos bay and Irokastro and Aerial orthophoto of the ballast piles in shallow water in the bay of Panormos 5.5. Dressel 2-4 similis amphorae on the sea floor at Panormos reef 38257.indb 7 04/02/22 10:35 PM Illustrations 5.6. Travel time to reach Naxos in summer, based on ORBIS (http://orbis. stanford.edu) 5.7. Graphic rendition of the route descriptions in the Stadiasmus of the Great Sea for the South Aegean. Black showing through routes, grey links to Delos 8.1 Wind roses in the Mediterranean for April, July and October 8.2 Close hauled and close reach sailing angles 8.3 Diagram of sailing angles relative to wind direction viii 38257.indb 8 04/02/22 10:35 PM ABBREVIATIONS The abbreviations used in this volume generally conform with the conventions of Oxford Classical Dictionary (fourth edition) and in the case of Byzantine sources and journals of Byzantinology, Lexicon zur byzantinischen Gräzität. Abbreviations for works not found in either, or those where we have decided to deviate from them, are given below. AG Anno Graecorum (Seleucid Era) AJA American Journal of Archaeology a.m. anno mundi ARS African Red Slip ware AUPA Annali del seminario giuridico dell'Università di Palermo B. Libri Basilicorum BAR British Archaeological Reports BIDR Bullettino dell'Istituto di diritto romano Blockley Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire
Journal of Roman Archaeology, 2021
The 21st c. finds maritime archaeology burgeoning on a global scale. Maritime archaeologists, now fully integrated into academia and current scholarly dialogue, are exploring new paths through and beyond integral subjects of our domainnamely, iconography, harbors, and shipbuilding. New theoretical and technological challenges, such as digital applications and, more recently, network analysis, lead to intriguing new ideas and open new paths for exploring the past. As a maritime archaeologist who works in the eastern Mediterranean, I opened this book with great interest and with a genuine incentive to sail into the "Roman seas" of "Eastern Mediterranean economies." The book is divided into six chapters, accompanied by two appendixes and an index. The first three chapters (109 pages, almost half of the main text), are well-researched introductions to the main components of maritime archaeology treated in this book. Comprehensive overviews of previous scholarship, based on a copious and up-to-date bibliography, can be used with confidence by scholars who need a kick start in this area of research. Certain sections on the applications and potential of network theory in maritime archaeology, in particular, are very informative and create a robust theoretical context. The first chapter, "Maritime interaction and Mediterranean communities," sets the scene for what is to follow and establishes the goal of the booknamely, "to identify patterns and densities of connections through the movements of people and goods, between the 2nd century BC and the 7th century AD" (5). Four short but well-explained sections discuss basic concepts and research areas: "movement, connectivity, and economic history," "Roman maritime economies," "shipwreck data sets"and they introduce the "Eastern Mediterranean case studies." Overarching themes that the reader encounters throughout the booksuch as regionalism, the necessity for a multiscalar approach to Roman maritime economies, and the significance of small ships and portsare first addressed here. The second chapter, "Topography and tools of interaction," focuses on ancient seafaring and navigation. The rich literature on the subject is well handled, and the author deftly summarizes the results of previous research. Some topics could have been covered more thoroughly, such as the history of shipbuilding, where an opportunity is missed to better contextualize the social aspects of various traditions by elaborating on Pomey's idea of different structural families of boats and ships. 1 But the overall discussion is well structured, and what the reader takes away is another key theme of this book: the significance of the
2019
The present thesis offers a comprehensive study of ships and nautical technology in the Eastern
In: N. Raad and C. Cabrera Tejedor, Ships, Boats, Ports, Trade, and War in the Mediterranean and Beyond Proceedings of the Maritime Archaeology Graduate Symposium 2018. BAR publishing, 2020
This study aims to address lacunae in research relating to prehistoric boatbuilding traditions and seafaring in Aegean, bridge gaps in our current knowledge and challenge misconceptions of interpretation through a reassessment of extant evidence by implementing new evidence. The broader implications of these new data also have bearing on interpretations of economy, trade and exchange, the nature of maritime communities and the structure and organisation of the Neolithic-Early Bronze Age Aegean communities. Until recently, due to the lack of evidence, many scholars wrongly attributed functions to the longboats that probably go beyond their actual capabilities. Moreover, attempts to “reconstruct” these vessels, were either meagre and based on limited data or they derive from inconclusive interpretations that do not reflect realities of prehistoric technology. Thereby, I argue that this particular type of boat was incorrectly assigned the role of a seagoing ‘commercial’ ship when it was, in fact, capable of limited sea routes and used in specific operations. In order to support my argument, the main purpose is to yield a database comprised of direct-indirect evidence, various ethnographic parallels and the essentials of traditional boatbuilding. This made possible their 3D digital reconstruction through the software MAXSURF, 3dsMAX, Rhinoceros 3D and its plugin Orca, that allowed to test the seafaring properties of the watercraft as far as the hydrostatics, stability, seakeeping and performance are concerned.
The Pictorial Exegisis of the Archaic Greek boats, their Zoomorphic Figureheads and symbolism, 2005

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