Ancient Mediterranean

Digital Project

Galley

Cat. No.

C39

Date

Cypro-Archaic

Findspot

Cyprus, Amathus

Dimensions

L: 19 cm; H (amidships): 3.5 cm

Medium

terracotta boat model, red clay with faint traces of painted bichrome decoration

Accession Number

Nicosia Museum, 1935 C.56

References

Basch 1987: 251, no. 528; Dikaios 1961: 204; Dolan 2023: 407-409, no. 37; Göttlicher 1977: 37, no. 171b, pl. 12; Karageorghis 1996: 73, no. V(a): 2, pl. XLI: 4; Westerberg 1983: 20-21, no. 20, 92, fig. 20

Slender hull with a flat gunwale and a concave stempost whose upper part is missing. The ram is triangular and tapers to a point. Its base is clearly demarcated with a nearly vertical red line, which probably indicates its metal sheathing. The bow has a large almond shaped "eye" with a pupil and eyebrow on either side. The sternpost rises gradually, ending in an incurving curl. At both bow and stern, about 3 cm away from the stem is a thwart (L: 4-4.5 cm; W: 1 cm) that protrudes on either side of the hull by about 0.5 cm. On either side of the hull are painted eight oblique black lines. Between these there are similar red lines - eight vaguely marked on one side, and two better preserved ones on the other.

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

Dikaios, P. 1961. A guide to the Cyprus Museum. 3rd revised ed. Nicosia: Republic of Cyprus, Department of Antiquities.

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 Unpublished DPhil Thesis.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.

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

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

    copyright icon © Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova Click for fullscreen
  • starboard view

    copyright icon © Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova Click for fullscreen
  • top view

    copyright icon © Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova Click for fullscreen
  • bottom view

    copyright icon © Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova Click for fullscreen
  • bow view

    copyright icon © Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova Click for fullscreen
  • stern view

    copyright icon © Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova Click for fullscreen