Ancient Ships: The Ships of Antiquity
Ancient Ships in art history: The navy of King Solomon and Isreal
One perticular area of interest, which is key to the story of Solomon,
was the fact that he was credited with having employed a large Naval
force in the conduct of his trade. In addition to  having
a navy Solomon is credited with being a shrewd diplomat with alliances
to the kingdoms of Sheba,
Egypt, and
Phoenicia all of which were known to have had extensive
seafaring capabilities at this time in ancient history. The
Queen of Sheba alone was credited with having over 400 seafaring
ships for conducting trade.
Solomon is also credited with having been successful in diplomacy
and trade with the majority of his neighbors. A prime example of
this diplomacy was mentioned in 1
Kings Chapter 5. Which relates his alliance
with the ruler of Tyre, which was the chief seaport of the Phoenicians
at that time. It was these key alliances in trade, diplomacy and
the ability to keep the peace that lead to the apparent success
of his administration. Other trading alliances credited to Solomon
were with, Chittim, Ophir and Tarshish. Add to this list a
list of countries from which Solomon took wives and he can truly
be said to have been be a figure of international reputation.
Israel was located at the crossroads of the Levant.
The historic records from other contemporary cultures before and
leading up to the time of Solomon show this geographic region to
have been a very volatile area and was usually governed as a vassal
state of one of the more prominent powers in the Region. It
is apparent from these records that the region had fallen into political
turmoil after the onset of invasions by the Sea Peoples against
Egypt in 1250 BCE. The early invasions exploits
of Merneptah 1224-1210 BCE against the Sea Peoples are
recorded as relief murals at Karnak. The later invasions of the
sea peoples that were repulsed during the rule of Rameses III and
are recorded at Mendinet Habu in graphic detail.
Egypt's influence, political and military dominance was not asserted
again until the Palestinian campaign of Shishak 1 following the
reign of Solomon in 941 BCE. This was the same historic time
frame in which the Hebrews Colonized the Levant according to the
Biblical account. See Timelines
and Events
The concept that Solomon had and maintained a naval force is key
to understanding the success of his administration. Without understanding
the extent to which sea trade effected the economy of the Eastern
Mediterranean nations it would be difficult to understand much at
all about the foreign policy and diplomacy of Israel during this
historic time frame.
One of the most interesting stories that suggests the extent
of travel and trade that occurred in the prehistoric era is the
Milesian
Myth of the Irish. This myth is considered to be legend and
falls outside of the classification of history but the story line
intimates the extent to which travel, trade and colonization may
have occurred in the ancient world. One account of this story
attributes Milesius to be the brother in law of Solomon. This would
be the case if both were married to the daughters of the same Egyptian
Pharaoh, considering each had Egyptian wives.
By the Melisian Myth account travel and trade occurred between the
British Isles, the Spanish Coast, the Mediterranean Island Nations,
the Coastal cities located in region of the Black Sea, and the eastern
Mediterranean coastal cities including the Egyptian Delta
as early as 1700BCE. The Irish Milesians are not to be confused
with the Miletian Greeks from Lydia. It is tempting to indulge in
conjecture that although we do no have a reliable written record
to verify this extensive travel did indeed occur.
It is speculated that navigation was accomplished not in the open
ocean but primarily by short hops along and within view of coastlines.
For merchant ships powered by sail a daily sailing effort would
have covered from 50 to 75 miles under good conditions. Travel and
extended trade may have been more prevalent than prvious conservative
estimates suggest. The best archeology confirming some of the extent
of travel and trading patterns are the
Uluburun Bronze Age Shipwreck and shipwreck at Cape Gelidonya
on the Turkish coast. Both cargos suggest trading patterns that
covered a wide territory covering parts of Africa and the Middle
East.
Written records verify trading patterns of the Egyptians included
travel through the Red Sea to sub-Saharan Africa as far a Somalia,
along the western coast as early 2450BCE. The fact that trade was
conducted south makes it easy to speculate that similar length journeys
would have been made into Mediterranean basin. The most adventuresome
of estimates suggest that the Negroid features found on sculptures
in Messo-America are due to the fact Africans did indeed arrive
by sea in the western hemisphere as early as 1700BCE.
Considering the fact that the history of the Levant indicates
that it was generally void of strong civil government from the time
of the Exodus until the time of Solomon, the ability of his administration
to maintain the peace, conduct adequate diplomacy for trade and
to guarantee the safety of his kingdom was nothing less than a formidable
task.
Archeological clues along the coastal Levant strongly suggest
that the city states of coastal Levant were for many centuries trading
outposts of the Cypro/Minoan and Mycenaean cultures.
Solomon according to Biblical accounts had good relations
with Hiram
the Phoenician ruler of Tyre (the foremost seafaring nation
in the Eastern Mediterranean) to the extent that this foreign king
assisted Solomon in the creation of a naval force. This piqued my
curiosity as to the likely appearance and structure of the naval
forces of Solomon and to find out what seafaring technologies
were available at the time to put a naval force to sea.
Hatshepsut's Naval Vessels from the 15th Century BCE
Solomon's Naval capability may have been modeled after this type
of ship
This web folder is an overview of the
iconography of ships, naval technologies and developments in antiquity
leading up to and encompassing the time of Solomon Circa 1000BCE.
The ships and boating illustrated here are my findings from the
Internet. This material will be incorporated into a larger
work called "Discovering the Historic Solomon" which will highlight
the various crafts and technologies in the Eastern Mediterranean
region, where they were developed and how they may have been applied
in the Levant by the early Hebrew Culture. This web folder constitutes
an overview of the Iconography of the ship from the earliest recorded
history and a display of the modern models and illustrations of
ancient ships.
As a result of creating the Ships of Antiquity I have concluded
that probably no other technology in the history of man has been
more important to the spread of civilization, culture and trade
in the world than that of the seafaring ship.
2nd Chronicles Chapter 9
Time slot 1000 BCE
The Bible clearly records the relationships in ancient
history that Solomon's Kingdom had with the seafaring nations of
the Eastern Mediterranean. Phoenicia, Sheba, Chittim, Tarshish,
Ophir and Egypt were all sea faring nations and/or trading partners
of Israel. The entire chapter nine of 2nd Chronicles
is a record of Solomon's political alliances for trade. Determining
the exact location of and realm of influence of the individual trading
partners during Solomon's time is a matter of conjecture and additional
scholarship.
Tarshish is taken to the coastal area of Spain near
current day Seville and Cartegena . The Tarshish realm of influence
would have included the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and
Malta.
It it interesting to note that Irish folklore tells
a story of ancient history specifically the Melisian myth, indicating
trade occurred between Spain, the Coastal cities of the Black Sea,
the coastal Levant, the Egyptian Delta and the British Isles.
In my research I have looked for the indicators that this in fact
did occur. I have found strong similarities in Iconography between
Minoan artifacts, artifacts found in Peloponnesian and Irish
burial tombs and mounds from the same chronological periods.
Egyptian Naval Vessel of 1250 BCE
The Bible clearly indicates the Princes of Tyre to be wealthy merchants
controlling the sea trading routes in the Eastern Mediterranean,
including, Tarsus, Byblos, Tyre, Sidon and until the time of Solomon
El-dor, which is credited with becoming the primary sea port of
Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean during the reign of King Solomon.
Phoenicia prospered as a trading nation until the time of the
Assyrian conquests. At this time it is recorded in the book of Isaiah
that the Phoenicians fled in their boats to settle elsewhere. History
shows us they fled to the Geographical area of Tunisia in
Northern Africa and established Carthage as their Primary Trading
post.
 The
Biblical reference to Isreal and King Solomon trading with the country
of Ophir remains a little more shrouded in Mystery. There are indicators
in the Bible as to its possible location if you read the clues.
It is mentioned that the Voyages going to Ophir left the Ports cities
in the gulf of Aquaba and didn't return with their trade items until
taking a round trip that lasted three years. The bible also indicates
that these journeys were a joint venture of Solomon and Hiram of
Tyre. This story indicates that Phoenicia was already in trade with
Ophir before Solomon struck his alliance with Hiram.
Sheba located on the southern Arabian Peninsula and its Realm of
Influence including the Horn of Africa. Sheba based on its location
would have controlled the eastern and southern trade routes through
the Red Sea.
The Saba Kingdom happened to control Trade routes South of the
Gulf of Aquaba both overland and with ports on the Red Sea.
Therefore Saba would have controlled access to the eastern African
coast, the Arabian Gulf, and India.
The Bible clearly indicates the Princes of Tyre to
be wealthy merchants controlling the sea trading routes in the Eastern
Mediterranean Including, Tarsus, Byblos, Tyre, Sidon and until the
time of Solomon El-dor, which is credited with being Israel's primary
sea port on the Mediterranean.
Phoenicia prospered as a trading nation until the time of the
Assyrian conquests. At this time it is recorded in the book of Isaiah
that the Phoenicians fled in their boats to settle elsewhere. History
shows us they went to Northern Africa and established Carthage as
their Primary Trading port.
The other indicator as to Ophir's location are the descriptions
of contents of the cargo's coming from Ophir. Scriptures indicate
that these cargos contained ivory, apes, peacocks, algum trees and
spices. This description of the cargos point to India as being Ophir
particularly the Peacocks. The other indicator that Ophir may in
fact be India is the fact that the journeys to and from Ophir were
said to take as long as three years which indicates a very long
distance travel route. Travel in open seas covering of distances
of this kind were generally done during favorable weather conditions.
The traders would have traveled during the season's that best assured
their safety at sea and gave them favorable winds for their primary
direction of travel.
Below are a few excerpts from the Bible.
2nd Chronicles
8:17 Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, on the
seashore in the land of Edom.
8:18 And Hiram sent him by his servants ships, and servants
that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants
of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched thence four hundred and fifty
talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
"Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships
of Tarshish,
bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold,
to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor."
Isaiah 60:9 - NIV
For further reading on the trade relationships of Solomon read
2nd Chronicles Chapter 9.
Solomon would have had access and knowledge of the seafaring technologies
of the Phoenicians and Egyptians and most likely used this
knowledge and his political alliances to build ships in each in
these classes.
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