Homeric Seafaring

272 Pages·2005·6.621 MB·English

by  Samuel Mark

Homeric Seåfåring
Ed Rachal Foundation
Nautical Archaeology
Series
in Association with
the Institute of
Nautical Archaeology
Homeric
Såmuel Mårk
Seåfåring
Texas A&M University Press college station
Copyright © 2005 by Samuel Mark
Manufactured in the United States of America
All rights reserved
First edition
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48-1984
Binding materials have been chosen for durability
o
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mark, Samuel (Samuel Eugene)
Homeric seafaring / Samuel Mark.—1st ed.
p. cm. — (Ed Rachal Foundation nautical archaeology series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-58544-391-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Homer—Knowledge—Naval art and science. 2. Naval art and science in literature.
3. Naval art and science—Greece. 4. Homer—Characters—Sailors. 5. Seafaring life in
literature. 6. Greece—History, Naval. 7. Ships, Ancient—Greece. 8. Sailors in literature.
9. Navigation—Greece. 10. Ships in literature. I. Title. II. Series.
PA4037.M323 2005
623.82'00938—dc22 2004015208
To my mentors:
George F. Bass
Donny Hamilton
J. Richard Ste¬y
Frederick H. van Doorninck

Contents
List of Figures viii
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction 1
2 The Cultural Context of the Iliadand the Odyssey 8
3 Society, Economics, and Trade 17
4 Hull Construction 25
5 Odysseus Builds a Seagoing Vessel 70
6 Homeric Ships 97
7 Seafaring on the Wine Dark Sea 138
8 Anchoring and Anchorages 153
9 Geography 161
10 Summary 179
Abbreviations 189
Notes 191
Glossary 219
Bibliography 223
General Index 235
Greek Index 245
Index of Citations 249
Figures
1. Warship versus merchant ship? 5
2. Warship versus warship engraved on a catchplate 6
3. Single-banked or two-banked ship? 6
4. Mortise-and-tenon joinery 26
5. Kyrenia ship 27
6. Laced joinery 28
7. Cross section of the royal barge of Cheops 31
8. Map of Mediterranean shipwrecks 36
9. Uluburun wreck 36
10. Canaanite ship from the tomb of Kenamun 38
11. Mazarrón wreck 39
12. Lacing and wadding on the Mazarrón wreck 39
13. Giglio wreck 43
14. Planking from the Bon Porté I wreck 44
15. Framing from the Bon Porté I wreck 44
16. Gela wreck 46
17. Ma’agan Michael wreck 47
18. Bon Porté I mast step 47
19. Midship section of the Ma’agan Michael wreck 48
20. Table from Mycenae with pegged tenon legs 53
21. Sketch of a laced ship laden with amphorae 63
22. Classical framing 66
23. Evolution of mortise-and-tenon joinery 67
24. Odysseus’s raft 72
25. Kelek 73
26. Qu¬a 73
27. Herakles jar raft 76
28. Odysseus’s raft of jars? 76
29. Clay boat model from Molchos 77
30. Adze 82
31. Egyptian shipwrights with various sizes of adzes 82
32. Greek carpenter using an adze to shape a timber to the line 83
33. Greek carpenter using a bow drill 85
34. Auger 86
35. Creating an arc with a line and stake 88
36. Geometric ship 98
37. Oculi on Archaic ships 101
38. Oculus from a Classical merchant ship 102
39. Oculus possibly from a Classical warship 103
40. Sailor’s knee through an oculus 103
41. Warrior standing on the cutwater of a Geometric ship 105
42. Sailor defecating on the cutwater of an Archaic ship 105
43. Ship painting on a vase from Asine 107
44. Ship painting on a pyxis from Tragana 107
45. Gra~to no. 13 from Kition 108
46. Ship paintings on a krater from Fortetsa, Crete 109
47. Geometric ship with quarter rudder 110
48. Boat model from Oropos, Attica 111
49. Ship engraved on a catchplate 111
50. Proposed ramming scene 112
51. Geometric aphract 114
52. Possible plan view of a Homeric galley 116
53. Storage of spears at the bow of a Geometric ship 117
54. Stern storage of spears on a Geometric ship 117
55. Sail and rigging 125
56. Model of an early-Egyptian riverboat 127
57. Mast support 129
58. Mast assembly 130
59. Geometric ship with gangplank 133
60. Comparison of Homeric pike and spear to warriors 147
61. Geometric shipwreck 150
62. Mooring cable for one of Queen Hatshepsut’s ships 155
63. Sketch of stone anchor from Uluburun shipwreck 156
64. Ma’agan Michael anchor 157
65. Killick 158
66. Catenary anchors attached to an anchor cable 159
67. Sketch of three proposed routes of Odysseus’s wanderings 162