EGADI RAM AT BRITISH MUSEUM

 

From April the BM have an exhibition about 'Sicily: Culture and Conquest'. It will include one of the Egadi rams - I presume the one illustrated which is Ram 6 I think. 4 and 6 have the interesting history of maybe being reused captured Roman ships sunk by the Romans. A trieres-sized vessel.

Details HERE

ASHMOLEAN UPDATE!

I have heard thathe Ashmolean exhibition, 'Storms War and Shipwrecks' will actually include TWO Egadi rams including the Punic one,

Egadi in the Flesh : Storms War and Shipwrecks

Material from the Egadi researches - rams at least - will be on show in the UK next year.
The Ashmolean at Oxford will have an exhibition of maritime materials found around Sicily.

June 21 to September 25

It sound exciting . something to look forward to next summer.

Details HERE

Hexapolis

Preview of city project. Idea is to be able to make a variety of city terrains in 1/3000 from a set of seven different tiles.
COMMON HOUSING
WEALTHY HOUSING
CULT PRECINCT
CIVIC PRECINCT
CITADEL
MERCANTILE HARBOUR
MILITARY HARBOUR

Plus sections of wall.

The choice of scale is difficult. There are 1/3600 ships, 1/2400 ships - therefore 1/3000 suits both.
With some careful layout the tiles can be used with Irregular's 2mm figures (HERE described by Tony Hughes) - I dont think they will look too bad. Better than counters anyway.
'Rioting in Alexandria' anyone?

Anyone mentioning Moonbase Alpha will be keel-hauled....

HOME SWEET HOME

My homeless ships have now somewhere to moor and ship sheds to be dragged up into.

 This is based on ancient Miletus and I aim to make Rhodos and Piræus too.

Naval harbour in foreground, mercantile harbour background.

Another perspective. Model is made from high-density styrene cut out with knife.

When Athens got 5s

The Zea Harbour Project ( Danish Institute at Athens ) is an interesting ongoing project.

Recent excavations have found open slipways suitable for 5s to be hauled up on.

 

They date to  320s bc presumably and make a nice contribution to knowledge of the later Athenian navy. Maybe open slipways indicate the sheds inside the harbour were still used for 3s or 4s?

Video of the project in a nutshell.

Anyone else see the Angus McBride connection within the website?

Bosporan Ram ?

 

A metal mounting found near the Bosporan city of Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula has been declared a 'Mithridatic Ram'. No detailed photos yet but text states it has inscription of Mithridates VI.

LOOK HERE FOR ARTICLE IN POPULAR ARCHAEOLOGY

For my money the fitting looks too light to be a true ram. It seems more like a reinforcement to the cutwater found on many ships from the classical period. One can see where it could have been mounted on the keel.

Small Roman galley

It was a feature of galleys and could be from a small galley. It was found near the remains of a ships 15m long. Text at the website of Popular Archaeology magazine suggests a bireme but such a vessel should be in the order of 25 metres long.

It may not be too much of an exagerration to call it a ram but the size of the fitting and the vessel it is supposed to have been mounted on do not really amount to a warship.

This find is very exciting because it demonstrates how much is waiting to be found under the sea and highlights the Black Sea, with its anoxic depths as a potential place where we may one day be able to gaze upon a preserved sunken trieres.

Lecture about Greek settlement in Taman