nautical technology 155
Atlantic and Mediterranean networks met at Valencina de la Concepción (at that time
close to the mouth of Guadalquivir) in Mediterranean Spain (Broodbank, 2010). The
construction technique of the hulls used, however, remains obscure.
The introduction of ships with sails, also equipped with long oars, first in the
south-eastern Mediterranean, marks a major nautical revolution. Harnessing wind
power, in contrast to muscle power, gave them a dramatic advantage over both long-
boats and overland alternatives in terms of speed and capacity. The sail was carried on
a bipod or tripod mast, situated at about the middle of the vessel to allow directional
flexibility, with a yard above and a boom below. It was orientated with the shortest
edge at the base, allowing the sail better to exploit northern winds (Broodbank, 2010:
255). Hull forms also had an immense influence on sailing capabilities, especially
windwards. The deeper in the water and the more developed the keel, the better the
performance of the vessel upwind.
Being the sail’s place of origin, Egypt dominated shipping during the second
millennium. Yet the construction technique of Egyptian–Mediterranean seagoing
vessels is obscure. If they resembled the wooden burial vessels on the Nile (without a
keel, only with planks held edge-to-edge with deep mortise-and-tenon joints) their
seaworthiness and durability would have been questionable, since they were like
floating barges, suitable for carrying tree logs.
In the late second millennium bce, two technological developments enabled ships
the better to venture out into the open sea in stronger winds: first, brail rigs with sails
orientated with the wider edge at the base, reducing dependence on dominating winds
by tacking (Casson, 1995: 121); second, ships with keels and deeper hulls, although at
this stage keels remained rudimentary in design and would have done little to help
hold course or point nearer to the wind under sail. However, these vessels had strong
hulls whose structural integrity was based, in the absence of framing elements, on
planks held together and connected to the keel with narrowly-spaced, robust, pegged
mortise-and-tenon joints. This was the origin of the “plank/shell first” method that
will evolve and reach its peak in the Roman period, then gradually disappear from the
fourth century ce. Such hulls were built for carrying heavy cargoes for long-distance
trade, such as metal ingots made of copper and tin (Pomey et al., 2012: 291–293).
The late second millennium bce saw another innovation: the distinction between
two types of ships that will evolve and persist until the early modern period. The first,
denoted by the generic name galley, evolved from the longboat with Aegean/
Mycenean modifications. These were long (with a high length-to-beam ratio), fast,
oared ships with a low freeboard, shallow draught, and sails for auxiliary power; they
were mostly propelled by a single row of rowers. From the ninth century bce through
the sixth century ce they had a ram: the extension at the waterline of their prows was
encased in heavy and expensive bronze. The second type, used for commerce and
transport, comprised ships also with high length-to-beam ratios that relied mainly on
their sails (with auxiliary oars) to get in and out of harbors or through difficult
stretches of water, even in the face of contrary winds. The only features common to
these two types were their hull construction and, until the fourteenth century ce,
their rigging and steering (Casson, 1995).
From the tenth century bce the Phoenicians take center stage. In the seventh
century bce they circumnavigated Africa via the Red Sea, returning to the delta
through the Straits of Gibraltar. Phoenician wrecks of the mid-seventh century bce