Ancient Mediterranean

Digital Project

Ship model fragment

Cat. No.

C26

Date

Cypro-Archaic

Findspot

Amathus, tomb 83

Dimensions

L: 9 cm; H: 9 cm

Medium

terracotta boat model fragment in bichrome ware. Reddish clay, black and red paint decoration

Accession Number

British Museum 1894,1101.188

References

Basch 1987: 258, 260, no. 561; Dolan 2023: 437-439, no. 47; Göttlicher 1977: 38, no. 176, pl. 13; Gray 1974: G. 31, 3. e); Hermary 1996: 16-17; Karageorghis 1996: 75, no. V(a):16, pl. XLII: 5; Murray et al 1900: 113, fig. 164, 24; Walters 1903: 36, A 211; Westerberg 1983: 34, no. 38, fig. 38

Fragment of the bow showing a crescentic hull with a flat gunwale and a vertical stempost. Below the gunwale on the exterior there are moulded ribs running in two horizontal parallel bands all the way around the stem, interpreted as reinforcement planks. A clay projection (1.5 cm) from the upper plank some 4 cm aft of the stem is possibly a cathead for securing the anchor. Large black painted eye on either side of the bow. On either side of the hull below the gunwale are two parallel bands in red paint. Two oblique lines from the gunwale downwards are possibly oars. There are traces of black paint on the stem. The register of the excavations notes no fewer than six complete boat models and a seventh fragment from tomb 83.

Basch, L. 1987. Le musée imaginaire de la marine antique. Athens: Institut Hellénique pour la preservation de la tradition nautique.

Dolan, M. 2023. Ceci n'est pas un bateau: Reassessing terracotta boat models in Late Bronze and Iron Age Cyprus. University of Southhampton. Unpublished DPhil Thesis.

Göttlicher, A. 1978. Materialien für ein Korpus der Schiffsmodelle im Altertum. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.

Gray, D. 1974, Seewesen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.

Hermary, A. 1996. "Figurines en terre cuite des fouilles Anglaises d’Amathonte 1893-4," Cahiers du Centre d’Études Chypriotes 26: 13-22.

Karageorghis, V. 1996. The coroplastic Art of ancient Cyprus. VI. Monsters, Animals and Miscellanea. Nicosia: A.G. Leventis Foundation.

Murray, A. S., Smith, A. H. and Walters, H. B. 1900. Excavations in Cyprus: (bequest of Miss E. T. Turner to the British Museum). London: Trustees of the British Museum.

Walters, H.B. 1903. Catalogue of the Terracottas in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum. London: Order of the Trustees.

Westerberg, K. 1983. Cypriote Ships from the Bronze Age to c. 500 B.C. (SIMA, Pocket-books, 22). Göteborg: P. Åströms förlag.

  • 3D Model View

  • port view

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  • starboard view

    copyright icon © The Trustees of the British Museum. Photo by T. Manolova Click for fullscreen
  • top view

    copyright icon © The Trustees of the British Museum. Photo by T. Manolova Click for fullscreen
  • bottom view

    copyright icon © The Trustees of the British Museum. Photo by T. Manolova Click for fullscreen