Maritime History Archive
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Rare bronze rams from the First Punic War discovered
Posted on April 22, 2013 | No CommentsThe ten rams (Latin rostra), each weighing around 125 kilogrammes and made of bronze, were mounted on the prow of the warships (ancient triremes or quinquiremes), and were used to ram the enemy ships. -
Research sheds light on ancient Egyptian port and
Posted on March 27, 2013 | No CommentsNew research into Thonis-Heracleion, the remains of a port-city that served as the gateway to ancient Egypt, has revealed dozens of sunken ships, which may help give us a better understanding of how maritime trade operated in the Eastern Mediterranean. -
Stone ships show signs of maritime network in Baltic Sea region 3,000 years ago
Posted on March 25, 2013 | No CommentsIn the middle of the Bronze Age, around 1000 BC, the amount of metal objects increased dramatically in the Baltic Sea region. Around the same time, a new type of stone monument, arranged in the form of ships, started to appear along the coasts. -
The Sea, the River and the Lake: All the Waterways Lead to Alexandria
Posted on January 27, 2013 | No CommentsAncient Alexandria was located on the northwestern edge of the Nile Delta, opposite to, and protected by, a relatively large offshore island, the Pharos Island, which had made the area suitable for being utilised as a harbour since the pre-Hellenistic period. -
Building pharaoh
Posted on January 15, 2013 | No CommentsIn this paper, Egypt is considered in its role as a seafaring nation influencing and interacting with other groups through the perspective of the major tool required: the seagoing ship. -
From the Roman Red Sea to beyond the Empire: Egyptian ports and their trading partners
Posted on January 15, 2013 | No CommentsGiven that their sole purpose was as outlets for trade with the East, their harbour facilities are of particular interest in understanding the organisation of the trade. -
The ploion hellenikon of Roman Egypt: What was Greek about it?
Posted on January 15, 2013 | No CommentsThe ploion hellenikon, ?????? ????????? or -
The Circumnavigation of Africa
Posted on December 5, 2012 | No CommentsIt is commonly believed that the first circumnavigation of Africa was made by the Portuguese under Vasco da Gama in A.D. 1497-99. However a closer look at the records will reveal that they in fact were not the first people to do so. -
The Significance of the Naval Triumph in Roman History (260-29 BCE)
Posted on December 2, 2012 | No CommentsThe chronological distribution of the naval triumphs supports the assertions of Polybius and other ancient sources that the Romans only undertook serious naval combat from the First Punic War. -
The Levanzo I Wreck, Sicily: a 4th-century AD merchantman in the service of the annona?
Posted on November 14, 2012 | No CommentsThe Levanzo I shipwreck provides insight into a fundamental component of the Roman annona system in the 4th century: individual merchant-ship cargos.
