DUCK-BILLED-NON-WARSHIP

Something new down the slipway today. A model of the Marsala ship. A monokrotic bireme i.e. two men per oar, with a single row of oars.

This model is a fusion of the two ships excavated by Honor Frost in the 70's near  Marsala / Lilybæum in western Sicily. More HERE.

Previous post on the ship's demise HERE.

The reconstructed picture has shields on a rail and the up-turned 'duck-bill' ram. Frost had decided this was a warship connected to the Egadi Islands battle of  241bc which ended the First Punic War.

Later work  on the two ships cast doubt on the identification of the up-turned prow as a ram. The physics of shoving such a wierd structure into an enemy vessel do not make for efficient holing or escape of the rammer.


 
The ships from Trajans Column show similar upturned rams but it is thought these are the result of artistic licence rather than direct observation.






Ships with concavo-convex prows feature on Roman mosaics and in the famous 'Observer's Mosaic of Roman Ships' from Althiburus near Tunis. Especially the Akatos or Actuaria which is a small merchant galley.





The prow structure is a 'cutwater' which gives the vessel better sailing properties to breach waves  and it is also a useful modification to aid navigating areas with shallows and sand banks or to ride up onto beaches. The upturned prow rides up onto the soft material rather than digging-in. This was nicely demonstrated by Pedersen in 1996 when he likened it to the structure of Frisian fishing boats.






Pedersen tried some rigs with vertical prows and the duck-bill. It is obvious the upturn allows a ship to tide over a bank or at least not to dig in. Small coastal and riverine trading vessels would regularly  have run the risk of meeting such hazards.

 







The structure of the bow extension also argues against any military function because it is two skis rather than a massive timber and seems never to have been equipped with a bronze ram as we know now from the fanastic finds at the Egadi Islands warships must have had.

The ram? / cutwater from Bosporos is a similar form HERE

The Marsala ships are not, then , the first Carthaginian warships found but the are the first and best Carthaginian ships we have to date. The Carthaginian rams from Egadi are the first true remains of the carthaginian navy we have found but maybe my card models may get in a fight anyway . On the tabletop, that is.


Frost, H 1975 IJNA 4 (2) The Ram from Marsala
Pedersen RK 1996 Waterschip ZN42i,A Clench-Lapped Fishing Vessel from Flevoland, Nederland(Lelystad)
Averdung og Pedersen, Skyllis  2012 Heft 2,  The Marsala Punic Warships

DREPANUM 2.?

Re. recent posting at TMP of a Drepanum refight.....HERE

I also found this write-up from a game blogged last year of the same battle by George Armold at Lone Warrior HERE.

Arnold's seems a bit pedestrian but he seems to get a result without much pain.
The Ilkley version is more colourful and complex but seems to have been less smooth.

Would be nice to find out more about Arnold's 'Classis' rules - even if hexes are not my cup of tea.
Published in Lone Warrior 182.

CARTHAGINIAN HELMET FROM EGADI

I have finally tracked down a picture of the possible Carthaginian helmet found at the site of the naval Battle of Egadi 241BC - fought off the island of Levanzo off the western coast of Sicily.

Basemap from RPMN

The battle site has yielded numerous Montefortino helmets, presumably worn by the Roman combatants.

Then a different helmet was retrieved...
First described as 'conical' and with a nose-guard and broad neck-gaurd, this helmet was thought to be a Carthaginian officer's helmet because it was so different from the 'Roman' ones.

 Looking at the photo, which is from Current World Archaeology issue 65 the first thought is of Thraco--Makedonian helmetsfamiliar from the Alexander sarcophagous and many examples sitting in museums.
There appears to be a cut-out for the ear in the middle of the picture. Maybe the back of the helmet is at the left.

Alexandrian hypaspist in colour

There is a flared brim around a carefully raised bowl. This is not a mass-produced item like the pot-like Montefortino helmets.

There appears to be a high Phrygian crest which is damaged.

From Danish National Museum

Evidence for a nasal is hard to see in the photo. Thraco-Makedonian helmets did not necessarily have them.

Etruscan cinerary urn showing Oedopus' sons in combat

There was also a Boeotian-Phrygian helmet which would also be a candidate.

From Rome at war website

These types of helmets with brims for protection but good hearing and visibility would be ideal for use at sea where footing was insecure and fighting could go on in very confused conditions.

 Prog. Andrew Goldman of the Egadi Project has stated the helmet is 'without parallel' and may be the 'first example of Carthaginian armour yet found'.

DEATH OF THE MARSALA SHIP

Italian freelance 3D computer modeller Francesco Frazzitta has made some impressive renderings of the Marsala ship and its demise at the hands of the Egadi 1 ram mounted on a Roman trieres. 

The Marsala ship was a wreck found with another off the Ægadi Islands in 1969. They were identified as Carthaginian and have subsequently been much discussed. The wreck appeared to have a single tier of oars but they were possibly double-manned. Its curious upturned 'ram' is probably a structure to facilitate operating in areas with many sand bars rather than a weapon. Its companion ship was equipped with a bronze ram of which only the supporting timbers remained.

Frazzitta's graphics of the Marsala ship are also impressive.

I am working on the Roman-Carthaginian naval conflicts now and it is great to see these archæological remains brought to life.

Carthaginian Naval Helmet ?

The Egadi excavations have dredged up what may be a Carthaginian helmet from the Egadi battle site.
Here reported on Archaeology News Network.

Battle of Mylæ as seen by Look and Learn. Egadi may have been a ramming rather than boarding battle but there were still plenty of deck troops on both sides.

Carthaginian Anchors

This turned up serendipitously...See report at Discovery News.