The model is very weathered, preserving only the solid part of the hull, with both posts missing. The low, flat elongated shape of the hull suggests an oared galley. There appears to be traces of a painted eye at one end, indicating the bow.
Ship model
C85
Cypro-Archaic I
Cyprus, further provenance unknown
L: 37.7 cm
terracotta boat model. Damaged with traces of paint.
Nicosia 1990/V-12/3
Dolan 2023: 495-497, no. 76; Papageorghiou 1991: 791, 793, fig. 7
The model was gifted by the Leventis foundation.
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 Unpublished DPhil Thesis.
Papageorghiou, A. 1991. “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1990,” BCH 115.2: 789-833.
port view
© Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova
starboard view
© Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova
top view
© Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova
bottom view
© Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova
bow view
© Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova
stern view
© Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova
© Cyprus Department of Antiquities. Photograph by T. Manolova