Drawing of a boat
((:navis))
| Description of Drawing (English): | boat |
|---|---|
| Findspot: |
Smyrna, Basilica
(Agora.1)
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| Drawing Category: | Boats |
| Writing Style: | charcoal |
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| Bibliography: | Bagnall, R. S. et al., Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna (2016): 162. Pomey, P. 2006. “Les graffiti navals de l’agora. Etude preliminaire.” Anatolia Antiqua 14: 332, fig. 23. |
| Commentary: | Dipinto of a ship located at the center of the back wall of Bay 12. The ship, possibly a merchant vessel (στρογγύλη ναῦς or πλοῖον φορτικόν), is sailing on port tack. A single mast, without yard, sail, or rigging is visible at the center of the hull. The mast is rendered with three parallel lines, the central one possibly indicating one of the καλῴδια, the ropes by which the mast was fastened to both sides of the ship. The horizontal lines departing from the base of the mast identify an upper deck, but there are no traces of a cabin or of the platform for the oarsman. The hull, here depicted without oars or oar ports, has a very strong curvature, typical of vessels with rockered keels. The head of the prow projects into a sinuous, s-shaped στόλος, terminating at the top in an ἀκροστόλιον possibly representing a snake or sea monster’s head. To the right of the prow, and projecting outward from the ship, is visible another curved feature, interpreted by Pomey as a spur. On closer observation, this feature seems to belong to an earlier graffito depicting a second vessel, which was later partially covered by this graffito. The stern terminates in a curved ἄφλαστον, unusually oriented toward the left, above which the ὰσπιδεῖον is visible. |
| Suggested Citation: | AGP-SMYD00121, The Ancient Graffiti Project, <http://ancientgraffiti.org/Graffiti/graffito/AGP-SMYD00121> [accessed: 16 Apr 2024] |
| Contributions: |
Editor: Roger S. Bagnall Principal Contributor: Roger S. Bagnall Last Revision: 2016-10-03 |
