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Des centaines de gravures rupestres sur les rives du Nil, en Haute-Égypte et en Nubie, représentent de très nombreux bateaux. Ces gravures ne firent l’objet de recherches systématiques qu’au début des années 1930 puis, en prévision de la mise en eau du lac Nasser, les recherches internationales promues par l’UNESCO permirent la documentation systématique de ces gravures promises à une submersion définitive. Ainsi, un grand corpus d’iconographie navale d’époque prédynastique, allant du Ve millénaire jusqu’à la Ire dynastie (vers 3100), fut sauvegardé et rendu disponible aux chercheurs.Dans cet article, c’est le bateau du début du Ve millénaire dit « bateau-boomerang » qui sera analysé et comparé avec d’autres documents iconographiques afin d’en cerner les caractéristiques et en suivre les évolutions postérieures. L’hypothèse d’une identification avec une représentation d’une barque divine sera aussi discutée. Numerous boats are represented on hundreds of wall engravings along the banks of the Nile in Upper Egypt and Nubia. These engravings only became an object of systematic research at the beginning of the 1930s and then, in advance of the flooding of Lake Nasser, international, research promoted by UNESCO led to the systematic documentation of these engravings before they disappeared under the waters. In this way a great corpus of nautical iconography of the Predynastic period, from the 5th millennium until the 1st Dynasty (circa 3100), was preserved and made available to scholars.In this article we shall examine a boat from the beginning of the 5th millennium, the so-called “boomerang boat”, and compare it with other iconographic documents in order to define the characteristics and follow later evolutions. The theory of possible identification with a representation of a divine barque will also be discussed.

Ένα πήλινο ομοίωμα πλοίου, μήκ. 42 εκ., που σήμερα ανήκει στη συλλογή του Ιδρύματος Πιερίδη, ανασύρθηκε από έναν ψαρά στα ανοιχτά της Αμαθούντας. Επτά πρόσωπα βρίσκονται πάνω στο πλοίο. Χάρη στη φροντίδα και στις γνώσεις του κοροπλάστη, το ομοίωμα, που διατηρείται σε εξαιρετική κατάσταση, παρέχει χρήσιμες πληροφορίες για την κυπριακή ναυπηγική της εποχής γύρω στο 600 π.Χ., όπου πιθανώς χρονολογείται το εύρημα. Η θέση και τα σύμβολα των προσώπων οδηγούν στην υπόθεση ότι τρία από αυτά συμμετέχουν σε τελετουργία για τη θρησκευτική προστασία του πλοίου και των άλλων τεσσάρων επιβατών, που αποτελούν το κυρίως πλήρωμα. Εξάλλου, η απουσία πλήρους καταστρώματος, γεγονός που απαντά και σε άλλα δύο ανάλογα ομοιώματα, θέτει το πρόβλημα της χρήσης ορισμένων κυπριακών ομοιωμάτων πλοίων : πρόκειται άραγε για θήκες προσφορών σε κάποια θαλάσσια θεότητα, που τις πετούσαν στη θάλασσα ως αφιερώματα, A terracotta ship model, 42cm long, the property of the Pieridis Foundation in Cyprus, was found by a fisherman in the sea off Amathus. Seven people are represented in it. Thanks to the coroplast's knowledge and care, the model, which is remarkably well-preserved, has provided useful information about Cypriot naval architecture in around 600, the probable date when it was made. The positions and attributes of the persons make it probable that three of them are taking part in a ritual religious ceremony for the protection of the ship and its four other occupants forming the crew. On the other hand, the absence of a full deck, also noted in two related models, casts doubt on the function of some of the models of Cypriot ships; were they repositories of offerings to a maritime deity, sometimes cast into the sea in the manner of ex-votos?, Un modèle de navire de terre cuite, long de 42 cm, propriété de la Fondation Piéridis, à Chypre, a été trouvé en mer par un pêcheur au large d'Amathonte. Sept personnages y sont représentés. Grâce au soin et aux connaissances du coroplaste, le modèle, dont l'état de conservation est remarquable, fournit d'utiles informations sur l'architecture navale chypriote vers 600, date probable de son exécution. La position et les attributs des personnages permettent de penser que trois d'entre eux participent à une cérémonie rituelle de protection religieuse accordée au navire et à ses quatre autres occupants, formant l'équipage proprement dit. Par ailleurs, l'absence d'un pont complet, constatée aussi sur deux modèles apparentés, incite à s'interroger sur la fonction de certains modèles de navires chypriotes : réceptacles d'offrandes à une divinité marine, parfois jetés à la mer en guise d'ex-voto ?, Basch Lucien. Un modèle de navire chypriote du VIe siècle av. J.-C. trouvé en mer au large d'Amathonte. In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. Volume 123, livraison 1, 1999. pp. 43-64.

The Naval Museum of Istanbul possesses in its collection a 40 m long oared ship, referred to as the « Sultan's calque» and carrying the name Kadirga. In fact it is not a calque at all, whatever the meaning of this term, but it is a real galley, the only existing one, and Kadirga is not a name, but a Turkish word designating a particular type of galley. It is often dated back to Mehmet IH's reign (1595-1603), but oral tradition dates it further back to Mehmet II Fatih, the conqueror of Constantinople in 1453. certain elements support this tradition, even if the galley has obviously been subjected to several modifications. One hypothesis is that the Kadirga was one of the four «fustes» belonging to the last Byzantine Emperor and which later became his conqueror's trophy. The aim of this paper is not to exhaust this subject by any means, but on the contrary, to show that such a task can only be achieved by a pluridisciplinary team consisting of, at least, a naval architect (no reliable plan ofthe Kadirga exists: one shows a curved keel, another a straight keel) and a specialist in the following disciplines: comparative galley architecture, Ottoman archives, the history ο f Byzantine and Ottoman art and ergonomy. Considerable sums of money are paradoxically spent each year on certain expensive excavations with chance results or on questionable « reconstructions », whereas the Kadirga, even if only dating back to thè 18th century, would stili remain the oldest ship in the world whose conservation is not due to excavation (and, moreover, is thè last survivor of a line ofships going back at least three thousand years), and which has never been the subject of a thorough study. Should it be scuttled to the bottom ofthe Bosphorus in order to arouse, as a shipwreck, the slightest interest?

Discussion a propos de la fonction et de l'usage des ancres de pierre et des pierres percees egyptiennes

In 1994 Elmar Edel published and commented on a clay tablet inscribed in Akkadian, found somewhere in Hattusas, the capital of the Hittite kingdom (Hatti), addressed to the king of the Hittites, probably Hattusilis III, dealing with an Egyptian ship the pharaoh had sent to him (tablet KUB III 82). The tablet which originally contained at least 20 lines was broken at one end and what remained was severely damaged: Only one third, at the most, on the right-hand side could be read without restoration. Patrice Pomey concludes that the tablet KUB III 82 is fundamental as a testimony for the use of drawings in naval architecture. To be sure, the Egyptians of the New Kingdom were certainly able to draw accurately a plan view of a ship which might have been more useful for the Hittites than a kind of sketch. Keywords: Egyptian ship; Elmar Edel; king of the Hittites; naval architecture; Patrice Pomey

Notice necrologique consacree au Vaisseau Punique, mis au jour a Marsala (Sicile, Italie), victime de la signature d'un decret (juillet 1995) annulant les credits aloues au Musee archeologique de Marsala destine a la conservation de cet important vestige de la navigation antique

Sommaire Une inscription a bard de la galere Kadirga, au Musee de la Marine d'Istanbul, attribue le navire a Mehmet II, le vainqueur de Constantinople. Cette inscription remonte, au plus tot, du debut du 17 e s. et ne prouve que l'existence d'une tradition remontant a cette epoque. Toutefois un dessin de la collection de N. Witsen, vers 1670, represente la Kadirga, en la designant comme le navire personnel de la Sultane Valide (reine mere). Le navire beneficiait donc deja d'un prestige considerable. Enfin une miniature conservee au Musee de Topkapi represente Soliman le Magnifique a bord d'une galere qui peut etre identifiee comme l'actuelle Kadirga. L'attribution de la Kadirga a Mehmet II (qui pourrait l'avoir prise, comme butin, au dernier basileus byzantin) est done peut-etre digne de foi. L'examen de cette hypothese fera l'objet d'un prochain article.

(1986). THE AEGINA PIRATE SHIPS OF c. BC 1700. The Mariner's Mirror: Vol. 72, No. 4, pp. 415-437.

(1985). THE ISIS OF PTOLEMY II. PHILADELPHUS. The Mariner's Mirror: Vol. 71, No. 2, pp. 129-151.

Sommaire L'examen des mosaiques des thermes de Themetra (Tunisie), datant du 3e s. apres J-C, demontre que la coque des galeres de guerre romaines etait doublee de metal. Plusiers representations de pseudo-barques de peche, parmi les mosaiques de l'epoque romaine de Tunisie, montrent, en realite, des navires de guerre en reduction; ces navires ont une coque doublee de metal, ce qui confirme le temoignage des galeres de Themetra.

In November, 1980, the eastern shallows of the Mediterranean near the village of Athlit, Israel, yielded a remarkable artifact of ancient military history: the bronze ram and connecting bow timbers of an oared warship. It was the first ram ever discovered and thus provided the first evidence for the warships hitherto known only through literary and iconographic references. Recent archaeological studies have provided much information on merchant ships of antiquity, but the discovery of the Athlit ram now provides detailed evidence for the very different construction of warships. Experts on ancient naval construction and tactics, bronze casting methods and metallurgy, and classical symbols useful in determining the date and provenience of the ram have thoroughly studied every aspect of the ram and its timbers. Their research and conclusions are reported here in full. Conclusions indicate that ancient shipwrights and armaments experts came up with an effective, if expensive, design for the ship's hull and ram. The strong hull of the ship was the actual weapon used against other ships; the half-ton bronze ram served as the warhead. A heavy ramming timber and side timbers gave the ship the necessary momentum for ramming. The blunt end of the three-finned ram would splinter and split an adversary's hull timbers and seams without bending, breaking off, or becoming stuck in the other hull. Fully illustrated with detailed drawings, photographs, and radiographic images for a unique view of the ram, this volume is an invaluable record for anyone interested in classical art or military history and for those who specialize in the technology of ancient maritime construction and modern methods of investigation.

Sommaire L'obsession de la question de l'arrangement des rames a bord de la triere athenienne a longtemps laisse dans l'ombre deux autres questions: celle de la date de son invention et surtout celle de savoir si l'antiquite n'avait connu qu'un seul type de navire a trois rangs de rames. Ces deux dernieres questions doivent etre traitees separement et seule la seconde est abordee ici. Divers documents iconographiques romains (relief funeraire de Cartilius Poplicola a Ostie, plats de Cales, fresques) demontrent que l'arrangement des rames de la trireme romaine n'avait absolument rien de commun avec celui de la triere athenienne des 5 e et 4e s. Il convient de s'en souvenir avant d'utiliser pour l'etude de la triere athenienne les textes des auteurs latins ou des lexicographes. L'examen des monnaies pheniciennes auy type du navire, de meme que celui du modele de trireme en terre cuite dit ‘d'Erment’, au Musee National de Copenhague, demontre que les Pheniciens ont utilise une trireme qui differait a la fois...

SUMMARY 1. Under Ramses II and Ramses III, the Egyptians used for their maritime expeditions to distant parts, a type of merchant ship called mns that was likely to have been built in their own shipyards. Close examination of the hieroglyphs at Karnak and Abydos does, however, show these mns ships to be foreign to the local tradition; they are indeed Syrian in design. 2. Ship graffiti from Karnak and Dendera point to a greater complexity in the development of Egyptian shipping than one might have expected from the stereotyped vessels that are shown in Pharaonic representations. Some surprising types of ships appear in the graffiti, but unfortunately they are not easy to date. 3. A relief in the Temple of Horus at Edfu brings complete confirmation of certain peculiarities of Egyptian rigging as described by Herodotus (11, 36). 4. There is a stone-anchor in the Temple of Amon at Karnak which should be considered as an ex voto. Its characteristics evoke, in particular, a type of anchor that has, for instance...