Drawing of a boat
((:navis))
| Description of Drawing (English): | boat |
|---|---|
| Findspot: |
Smyrna, Basilica
(Agora.1)
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| Drawing Category: | Boats |
| Writing Style: | Graffito/incised |
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| Bibliography: | Bagnall, R. S. et al., Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna (2016): 430-431. |
| Commentary: | Graffito of a ship sailing on port tack, possibly a liburna, located on the eastern face of Pier A100. The graffito is partially damaged by a large gap in the plaster that has destroyed the ship’s stern and the left half of the sail. The ship is characterized by a large central mast, which is covered in a motif of crisscrossing lines identifying the rigging. A set of vertical lines, also meant to represent the rigging as well as the sail’s brailing ropes, departs from the yard and reaches the ship’s deck, defining a large trapezoidal sail. Above the yard, a series of diagonal lines departing from the central mast (considerably narrower than the portion visible below the yard and terminating in a very stylized καρχήσιον) are part of the κηροῦχοι. The keel is flat, and the prow is slightly rounded. Above the gunwale is a lattice motif representing the boat’s sidescreen, suggesting that the liburna was of the cataphract type. The prow terminates with a short triangular στόλος with no ἀκροστόλιον above it. From the keel projects an exaggerated ἔμβολος, in the shape of a stylized penis, with a diagonal line on the tip identifying the epithelium, confirming that the vessel has to be interpreted as a navis rostrata. |
| Suggested Citation: | AGP-SMYDP1001, The Ancient Graffiti Project, <https://ancientgraffiti.org/Graffiti/graffito/AGP-SMYDP1001> [accessed: 23 Nov 2024] |
| Contributions: |
Editor: Roger S. Bagnall Principal Contributor: Roger S. Bagnall Last Revision: 2016-10-03 |
