Bible Dictionaries
Ships, Sailors, and Navigation

Holman Bible Dictionary

Travel by sea in biblical times. People first went down to the sea in anything that would keep them afloat. The early development of the two major centers of civilization along the major river systems of the Near Eastern world, the Tigris/Euphrates and the Nile, surely was not coincidental. Even though the first boats were punted or towed along the shore, such water-borne transportation and movement of goods facilitated the exchange of local products in more distant markets, first along the river banks and then beyond the open seas. From very basic, crude beginnings before 3000 B.C., ship technology and seamanship persistently developed as people strove to overcome the barriers that rivers and seas imposed. Thus Assyrian reliefs depict fishermen afloat on inflated bladders and soldiers lying on them to paddle across the water. In wooded areas, the single log or bundle of reeds to support one person soon developed into the raft of bound logs that could support additional personnel and produce. Along the marshy stretches of the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates, rafts of reed bundles were refined into the reed canoe. The special requirements of rapids and swift waters of the Upper Tigris and Euphrates prompted the development of the buoyed raft, a wooden platform supported on inflated skins that continued in use until very recent times. At the destination downstream, the wooden parts could be disassembled and sold; the deflated skins, easily transported upstream for reuse.

True boats, in their earliest forms, probably consisted of sewn leather stretched and sewn over light frames of branches for ease of transport when necessary. Such boats, essential for river travel, are depicted in detail in Assyrian reliefs between 1000,600 B.C. In water free from rocks, such as the Nile delta where adequate materials for branch frames were lacking, clay tublike boats made their appearance. Where wood was available, the bark canoe (a troughlike strip of bark with clay ends) was followed by the dugout which required a cutting tool or controlled use of fire in its production. Wherever forests supplied the logs from Europe to India, the dugout has been familiar to waterways from the Stone Age into the Late Roman period. Modified dugouts with heightened sides and interior reinforcements were the prototypes of the planked boats with keel, ribs, and strakes.

Inland Waterways Civilization arose along the two waterways that connected territories in major political units and provided internal transportation.

1. Boats on Egypt's Nile The Nile provided 750 miles of unobstructed waterway with a current that carried boats from Aswan and the First Cataract to its mouth and prevailing north winds that brought those boats under sail back again. Such ideal conditions that obviously contributed to the development of water travel and transport unfortunately were offset by a lack of lumber. Thus, the Egyptians turned to the abundant reeds along the Nile to create simple rafts. Before 3000 B.C., those Nile rafts had become long slender and pointed vessels outfitted with paddles and steering oars. Modifications included cabins and a growing number of oarsmen. The shape was bowed, or sickle-shaped, with squarish prow and stern rising almost vertically from the water. A square sail was set well forward above the reed platform that served its passengers and cargo. The light weight and shallow draft made such craft most useful in the canals and marshes of the Nile River system.

Shortly after 3000 B.C., these fragile reed boats, reinforced with planks, ferried the massive granite and stone blocks used for the impressive stone architecture that began to grace the Nile's banks. These planked reed boats provided the forms for Egypt's first true boats—flat-bottomed and square-ended. Soon, however, relieved of the bulky reed bundles, Egyptian boats were outfitted with rounded bottoms, pointed prow, and rounded stern. Pictorial representations in paintings, reliefs, and models indicate that Nile rivercraft primarily constructed of Asia Minor and Lebanon cedar dramatically grew in size and diversity. Cargo boats 150 feet in length requiring 40 to 50 rowers, and, later, massive 200-by-70-foot barges towed by a fleet of oar-powered tugs, shuttled up and down the Nile to the massive building operations between Aswan and the Delta. Smaller vessels were poled, paddled, or rowed, with some also equipped with a sail.

For international maritime trade, Egypt enjoyed a distinct advantage as the only nation with direct access to both the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. As a result, two long-distance maritime routes to Syria and Punt (East Africa) already were established during the Old Kingdom period. The earliest route to Byblos soon was extended to Cyprus, Crete, and possibly other Aegean sites. The earliest seagoing vessel depicted in a relief dated about 2450 B.C. had a spoon-shaped hull with a long, slender overhanging bow and stern and a rope truss that could be tightened by twisting to compensate for any sagging of bow or stern. The ships of Queen Hatshepsut's fleet trading with the East African coast reflect considerable refinement of the general lines. A two-legged forward mast with a tall, narrow rectangular sail had been replaced by a low, wide sail on a pole mast amidships. A single, massive steering oar had replaced smaller steering oars on each quarter. Fifteen rowers a side (requiring a space of not less than 45 feet) would suggest a vessel about 90 feet in length. By the end of the New Kingdom period, the ships used by Rameses III against the invading Sea Peoples (about 1170 B.C.), as depicted in his reliefs, indicate radical changes in construction. See Egypt .

2. Mesopotamian Shipping Mesopotamian kings and merchants also operated long-distance maritime routes in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean from several inland cities that were accessible along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. By 3000 B.C., overseas trade was a thriving aspect of regional economy. Maritime ventures included royal and private efforts at supplying metals, timber, and luxury items the Mesopotamian economy lacked.

A clay model of a bowllike boat, with slight evidence of prow and stern, possibly made of skins and dated about 3400 B.C., is our earliest evidence of Mesopotamian vessels. The existence of a mast and use of sails was possible, though firm evidence of sailing boats comes much later. Earliest representations on seals suggest the use of squarish reed crafts similar to Egyptian types. A prevailing north wind and rapids in the Upper Tigris and Euphrates Rivers diminished the development of commercial shipping and the need for larger vessels. As a result, early light craft propelled by paddles or oars gradually evolved into wooden craft with sail as well as oars. The largest vessels appear to carry less than eleven tons with most half that size, usually constructed of edge-joined planks with framing inserted for stability. Square-ended, these boats carried a single sail of cloth or reed matting with the largest powered by eleven oarsmen.

Between 3000,2000 B.C. overseas trade with East Africa and India flowed through the Persian Gulf on relatively small seagoing vessels, the largest known with a capacity of only about twenty-eight tons.

International Travel and Trade Sea routes opened opportunities for evolving nations to gain wealth and explore the mysteries of far-off lands.

1. The Eastern Mediterranean: 3000-1000 B.C. Major developments of maritime travel between (2000,1500 B.C.) must be attributed to the island world of the Aegean and the coastlines of the eastern Mediterranean. There the Minoans of Crete especially developed an impressive naval fleet and a merchant marine that linked their island world. Ultimately, however, the Mycenaeans—Greeks from the mainland—overpowered Crete, forming an Aegean confederacy. From 1500 to 1200 B.C. they claimed control over the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Cretan ships with their rounded hulls, portrayed on seals about 1500 B.C., were quite distinct from the Aegean straight-lined angular-ended vessels. Though the engravings obviously are stylized, the slender rounded hull, in some cases almost crescent-shaped, supported a pole mast with stays fore and aft and a high square sail. These Cretan vessels with ten or fifteen oars to the side were about 50,75 feet in length, respectively. Passenger vessels were outfitted with a cabin or shelter on deck.

An Egyptian wall painting in a 1400 B.C. tomb depicts a Syrian fleet of merchant ships with spoon-shaped hulls, with straight stempost, deck beams through the sides, and a broad square sail very much like Egyptian vessels of the period. (The Egyptian vessels were braced with a rope truss.) The representation of the sailors (their beards, profile, and clothing) clearly suggests their Syrian origin. (It is unlikely, though the evidence comes from Egypt, that these are Egyptian vessels manned by Syrians.) The rounded hulls are best related to Crete from about 1600 B.C. onwards. These merchantmen with their deck and roomy hold grew in size. By about 1200 B.C., an Ugaritic tablet suggests their size in referring to a single shipment of grain of 450 tons.

The war fleets of the Levant in 1200 B.C. were impressive in number and design. The fighting craft lost their spoon-shaped hull which was elongated and rounded. They were undecked with the oarsmen protected behind a high bulwark. The mast with an adjustable sail was crowned with a lookout. The naval battle (depicted on the Medinet Habu temple walls) between Aegean (“Sea Peoples”) and Egyptian ships indicates the clear similarity of construction and design apart from ornamental or cultic aspects. The only offensive weapon appears to be the grappling irons for boarding enemy vessels. Aside from the tactical maneuvering of the vessels, sea battles were fought with bow, sword, and pike as on land. The modification of the bow for ramming appears to have been a later development.

2. The Eastern Mediterranean: 1000-500 B.C. During this period the Phoenicians gained a reputation as the ablest of seamen and maritime traders. Their primary challenge came from the Greek world where merchantmen and war vessels controlled the northern Mediterranean shoreline and the Black Sea. The low sleek “hollow” hull, with only a scant deck forward for the outlook and a slightly larger one aft for the captain and passengers, was constructed low and long primarily for speed. Several standard-sized galleys included the 20-oared dispatch and local transport, the 30-oared “triaconter” galley, the 50-oared “penteconter” for troop transport, and the 100-oared large transport. They were constructed of oak, poplar, pine, and fir, with the oars and masts of fir. A single, large-bladed steering car was replaced after 800 B.C. by double steering oars that became standard thereafter. A single square sail on a mast amidships could be raised and lowered. Sails of sewn patches of woven linen were controlled with lines of twisted papyrus and leather. Other equipment included stern mooring lines, stone anchors, punting poles, long pikes for fighting, and bags and jars for holding provisions. Screen along the sides could be closed during heavy weather.

The introduction of the ram was a dramatic innovation that revolutionized ship construction. The pointed cutwater for puncturing the hull of the enemy vessel required construction with heavier materials to withstand contact, especially in the bow area. The open or latticed bow area gave way to a cumbersome superstructure for sustaining the ram. This represented the first period of specialization in the construction and class of vessel: the open galley with a lighter hull for carrying dispatches and personnel and the galley with superstructure, including relatively high platforms as fighting stations at bow and stern, for combat. The invention of the two-banked galley soon followed to increase the number of rowers and the speed of the vessel without increasing the length and reducing the seaworthiness of its hull. The Phoenician shipwrights should be credited with many of these important innovations.

The rigging for most war galleys during this period was standard: a single square sail amidships with a retractable mast. After 600 B.C., single-banked and double-banked galleys appear in all sizes up to 100 oars.

The first Mediterranean merchant ships probably were oar driven. Plagued by calm waters during the summer months when maritime activity probably was at its peak, only oared ships could have provided the reliability and speed required for prompt delivery of merchandise. Later, as the volume of cargo grew, larger seaworthy sailing ships came into use. The merchantman was only slightly modified from the warship design to include a roomier and stronger hull and a sturdier mast for a bigger sail. Ultimately, however, the sailing ship with a rounded hull and a single square sail became the primary cargo ship from Phoenicia to Italy.

3. The Age of the Trireme: 500-323 B.C. The galley rowed by three more or less superimposed banks of oarsmen came into vogue after 500 B.C. and maintained its prominence into the later Roman Empire. The additional power and speed required by the ram seemed to outweigh the relatively unseaworthy hull of this oar arrangement. As a result, sea battles were carefully scheduled near land during the mild summer months to avoid adverse weather conditions. While the first two lines of rowers worked their oars through ports in the hull and on a second line on or just below the gunwale, the third line worked from an outrigger projecting laterally above and beyond the gunwale. Corinth appears to have been the first to launch such a fleet sometime after 700 B.C.; and a century later, it appears to have been accepted generally. Athenian naval records suggest that such ships were built with great care, and, despite their fragile construction, remained in service for an average of twenty years. The Phoenician shipwrights increased the height of their vessels to accommodate three-level rowing.

4. Warships of the Hellenistic Period: 323-31 B.C. In both Phoenician and Greek navies of the period, the primary innovation was the construction of larger and larger vessels, though the exact nature of oaring is not clearly understood. Generally, the greater power and speed was achieved with longer oars and a double banking of the rowers, while the oversized ships relied on a variety of oaring arrangements. Ramming remained a standard naval tactic, though gradually subordinated to the firing of missiles, the heaving of grapnels, and boarding. Darts and grapnels were fired from catapults at longer range, while short-range battles included archers and the slinging of javelins and stones. Shortly after 200 B.C., the Rhodians introduced the fire pot, slung from long poles (extending over the bow) onto the enemy vessel.

To complement these larger ships, light vessels such as skiffs with speed and maneuverability made their appearance for express transport and the carrying of dispatches. Some were equipped with rams, while others were intended to disrupt the tactics and break the oars of the larger vessels. Later, the Roman imperial navy would not only add to the variety of vessels, but their architects would introduce significant defensive innovations.

5. Greek and Roman Shipbuilding The Greco-Roman shipwrights, aware of the ancient Egyptian method of edge-joining planks in the construction of the hull, created their own form of ship carpentry in which they locked the shell of planks together with mortises and then reinforced that hull with interior framing. This method was consistently used in the construction of all vessels from the smallest lake skiff to the largest seaworthy freighters. In larger vessels, massive cables for undergirding the ship during emergencies were kept on board. It was usual to smear seams and sometimes the whole hull with pitch or pitch and wax as a protective coating. Though fir, cedar, and pine appear to have been preferred for planking and frames, local availability of lumbers finally determined the choice.

The ancient Mediterranean sailor knew only the side rudder, an oversized oar pivoted in a slanting position near the stern. The pushing or pulling of a tiller bar socketed into the upper part of the loom adjusted the blade of the oar at an angle to the hull and thus maneuvered the ship. A series of ropes with individual functions fitted the mast and sail. Navigational aids were limited and simple. Handbooks with brief notes on distances, landmarks, harbors, and anchorages were available. There are no historical references to the use of charts. Soundings were taken. Flags and lights were used for signaling. Anchors were large and numerous.

The ideal sailing season in the Mediterranean was from May 27 to September 14 with an extension to outside limits from March 10 to November 10. As a result, sailing during the late fall and winter was reduced to bare essentials such as the carrying of vital dispatches, the transport of essential supplies, and urgent military movement. The severity of winter storms and the poor visibility due to fog and cloudiness made navigation before the compass most difficult.

Mediterranean currents generally are too weak seriously to affect sea travel. However, prevailing wind direction produced a definite pattern with ships traveling in most southerly directions, from Italy or Greece to Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Africa, anticipating a quick and easy voyage with the aid of northerly winds. The return, on the other hand, was difficult against the prevailing winds, and thus a course near the coastline at times provided quieter waters and periodic shelter. The ancient square-riggers were designed for traveling with the wind astern or on the quarters. Roman ships appear to have logged four and a half to six knots with the wind. Tacking, or using the familiar zigzag course, at best was difficult and slow. When rowing was unavoidable, the oarsmen were divided into squads for rotation or given regular short rest periods.

Organizational structure and rank on the earlier, smaller vessels of the Greek and Roman navy was limited to the commanding officer who manned the helm, the rowing officer who maintained the oarsmen's beat, and the bow officer (“lookout”) who was responsible for the course and well-being of the ship. Around 400 B.C., when the Athenian trireme had a crew of two hundred, the officers numbered five: the executive officer or captain; the commanding officer; the rowing officer, responsible for the training and morale of the oarsmen; subordinate officer, with important administrative duties such as paymaster, purchasing, and recruiting officer; and officer of the bow. Other personnel included the ship's carpenter, flutist (to time the rowers' stroke) or time beater, side chiefs (to set the stroke), deckhands, oar tenders, and ship's doctor, among others. The number of fighting personnel (marines) varied according to strategy: the Athenian ships that relied primarily on the ram had as few as ten; others intent on boarding tactics had as many as forty. A few archers (four to six) usually were on board, together with some catapult operators.

A seagoing merchantman was controlled by its owner or charter, usually with a hired professional captain with total authority over the vessel and its crew. Under way the “sailing master” was usually in command. Two officers were in charge of operations (first mate) and administration (maintenance). The large merchantmen also had quartermasters, carpenters, guards, rowers to man the ship's boats, and others. The sailors generally wore limited or no clothing when aboard ship and wore a tunic but no sandals when ashore.

A wide variety of smaller craft, usually driven by oars and a small auxiliary sail, were prevalent in every harbor to provide various services. River and coastal craft provided towing services and transfer of cargo and merchandise to harbor warehouses and points inaccessible to the larger ships. Man-made harbors with artificial sea walls to create protected anchorage appear before 700 B.C. Gradually, quays, warehouses, and defensive towers were added to create a secure commercial port. By 400 B.C., the Piraeus harbor was surrounded by an extensive covered emporium to facilitate the handling of import and export merchandise. By Roman times, both sea and river were well endowed with harbors, with smaller ports benefiting from coastal shipping by becoming distribution centers for inland areas removed from major land routes. Unfortunately, the decline of the late Roman Empire and political weakness with a recurrence of piracy on the high seas led to a marked decline of commercial shipping in the Mediterranean. With the ultimate fragmentation of the Roman Empire, barbarian invasions in the east, and the shift of the economic center to the west, the Mediterranean, devoid of large ships, slowly was reduced to small local craft with minimal economic impact beyond the patron port.

George L. Kelm