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The INA Quarterly


Volume 24 No. 3 Fall 1997





3 Byzantine Ship Replica Exhibit Opens!
MEMBERSHIP
4 Shipbuilding Traditions: Institute of Nautical Archaeology
Building the Yassiada Exhibit P.O. Drawer HG
Taras Pevny College Station, TX 77841-5137
12 Ul n S wrek Pro : Learn firsthand of the latest discov-
12 Uluburun Shipwreck Project: series in nautical archaeology. Mem-
Conservation and Research 1996-1997 bers receive the INA Quarterly, sci-
Claire Peachey entific reports, and book discounts.

18 Arabia Felix et Maritima: Regular ........... $30
The Trade and Maritime Legacy of Yemen
Roxani Margariti and Peter van Alfen Contributor ........ $60

24 The Camel's Nose is in the Tent. Supporter ........ $100
Can the Whole Camel Make it in? Benefactor ....... $1000
Mary Rosenberg
Student/ Retired ... $20
25 Profile: John De Lapa
areas Pevon Checks in U.S. currency should be made
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nation in excess of $10.00 is a tax-de-
26 News and Notes ductible, charitable contribution.



On the cover: Siileyman Demirel (left), President of Turkey, and Oguz Alpbzen (right) at the recent opening of the
seventh-century Byzantine ship replica. Many years of research and hard work have led to an exhibit at the Bodrum
Museum of Underwater Archaeology that will bring pleasure and knowledge to all who see it. Photo: Aybars Attila.

October 1997 by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. All rights reserved.

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has been affiliated with Texas A&M University, where INA faculty teach in the Nautical Archaeology Program of the Department of
Anthropology.
The editorship of the INA Quarterly is supported by the Anna C. & Oliver C, Colburn Fund.


The INA Quarterly was formerly the INA Newsletter (vols. 1-18).


Editor: Christine A. Powell









Byzantine Ship Replica Exhibit Opens!


When Sileyman Demirel, President of Turkey,
drove the last nail into the stem of a replica of the Yassiada
Byzantine ship last summer, research begun almost four
decades earlier by the founders of INA dramatically be-
came available to the public.
It all began in 1958 when Bodrum sponge-diver
Kemal Aras showed a pile of globular amphoras to Amer-
ican photo-journalist Peter Throckmorton (see INA News-
letter 17.2, 20-21), who described the discovery to George
Bass in the winter of 1959. The amphoras were all that re-
mained visible of a ship and its cargo that sank about 120
feet deep off Yassiada, or Flat Island, a two-hour sail up
the coast from Bodrum.
During the subsequent excavation of the wreck site,
the second directed by Bass for the University Museum of
the University of Pennsylvania, underwater archaeology
came of age. The development of accurate mapping tech-
niques, including the use of stereo photography, allowed
Bass's fellow Penn graduate student Fred van Doorninck
to be the first to reconstruct on paper an ancient ship's
hull from fragmentary wood remains. Still another Penn
student, Michael Katzev, worked with van Doominck and
Larry Joline to perfect methods of replicating disintegrat-
ed iron objects from their natural seabed molds (and it was
there that Michael met his future wife, illustrator Susan
Womer, with whom he would later excavate a classical
Greek ship off Kyrenia, Cyprus). Claude Duthuit, now an
INA Director, served as chief diver. Soon after the com-
pletion of the fieldwork, Dick Steffy tested and refined van
Doominck's results with a series of research models. A
glance at the back cover of this Quarterly shows how close
this dedicated "family" has remained for more than thir-
ty-five years.
Another of the archaeology students who helped
excavate the ship was Oguz Alpbzen (see INA Newsletter
17.2, 22-23). Since he became Director of the Bodrum Mu-
seum of Underwater Archaeology in 1978, Oguz has
dreamed of having as an exhibit a full-scale replica of the
stern and galley of the ship, the part that would give visi-
tors to the museum the best idea of shipboard life thirteen
centuries ago-and the part of the ship that had been best
preserved on the sea bed. He asked Fred Hocker, a former
student of Dick Steffy, to make plans for a replica, and
then Hocker turned the project over to one of his Texas
A&M students, Taras Pevny, who describes in the follow-
ing pages how he, with other students, and members of
the Bodrum Museum staff, completed the task.

The replica of the seventh-century Yasszada ship, showing the
reconstructed pile of original amphoras under a glass floor.


The team effort paid off beautifully. On only the
second replicated ancient ship in the Mediterranean, the
other being the Kyrenia II, Bodrum Museum visitors can
now walk across the deck, look down through an opening
in the galley's tile roof to see a mannequin of the ship's
cook at work, and then have the experience of "walking
on water" above the reconstructed pile of original ampho-
ras covered by a thick glass floor-another of Oguz's in-
spirations. Oguz also arranged a display of original
artifacts outside the replica.
"I was stunned by the ship's size," says Bass. "Those
little scraps of wood we mapped so carefully between 1961
and 1964 seemed so puny on the sea bed."
We hope that many of you will be able to visit the
Bodrum Museum and see the replica for yourselves.


Photo: Oguz Hamza


tNA Quarterly 24.3







Shipbuilding Traditions:

Building the Yassiada Exhibit

By Taras Pevny


This fall the President of Turkey, Siileyman Demirel,
and the Culture Minister, Istemihan Talay, opened a new
exhibit in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeol-
ogy (cover). The exhibit displays the artifacts from a sev-
enth-century CE merchant shipwreck, and it also
represents more than 35 years of nautical archaeology in
Turkey. This exhibit is the result of a lifetime of work by
members of the Bodrum Museum and the Institute of Nau-
tical Archaeology and of their commitment to studying,
preserving, and sharing with the public the maritime trea-
sures found along the Turkish coast.
The task of recreating the Yassiada ship was given
to some of the next generation of nautical archaeologists.
This was a unique opportunity for us to become deeply
immersed in the traditions of seafaring and shipbuilding.
We were going to work on the coast along which ships
have sailed for millennia and where wooden shipbuild-
ing is still a respected and profitable profession. Bodrum
Harbor is lined with a forest of masts. There are hundreds
of wooden vessels, most of them built by local shipwrights.
The walk around the harbor leads to the gates of the Cas-
tle of St. Peter (fig. 1), where visitors can see the work of
several ancient shipwrights in the Bodrum Museum of Un-
derwater Archaeology. We were expected to build an ex-
hibit that would similarly bring to life the Yassiada ship. I
think we have succeeded.
Yassiada, which translates as "Flat Island," is locat-
ed at the end of the Bodrum peninsula. Extending out from
this island is a submerged reef, a hidden danger to any
ship that ventures too close. Georgios, a Byzantine ship
captain, lost his ship thirteen hundred years ago when it
tore its hull on these rocks and sank to the bottom thirty


meters down. There it lay until the early 1960s, when a
group of archaeologists under the direction of George Bass
brought the remains back to the surface.
The ship appears to have been built to carry both
passengers and cargo, and sank with a hold full of wine-
filled amphoras. Over the years the hull slowly relin-
quished its strength and shape and was transformed into
the remains of timbers flattened on the sea bottom beneath
the spilled cargo. When the shipwreck was discovered, no
one imagined that within these scanty remains lay the se-
crets of an ancient shipwright's craft.
The reconstruction of a ship from very fragmentary
remains had never been attempted. A pile of drawings of
the shipwreck site and timbers was given to one of the
excavators, Frederick van Doominck. He used this infor-
mation to determine the original shapes and locations of
the surviving timbers. Like solving a three-dimensional
jigsaw puzzle, the remaining edges of the ship's timbers
were once again fitted together. In this puzzle with a large
percentage of its pieces missing, every clue was impor-
tant. The angle at which the ancient shipwright drove a
fastening, or the mark he made when aligning or fitting
timbers, could not go unnoticed. To the surprise of many,
a ship slowly appeared in Fred van Doorninck's drawings.
Not only was the shape of the vessel revealed, but also the
process by which the ancient shipwright created it. To
bring this ship off the drawing board, Fred van Doom-
inck recruited the help of Dick Steffy, whose passion for
years had been the study of wooden shipbuilding. From
the preliminary reconstruction, ship construction draw-
ings were developed, and testing and display models con-
structed (fig. 2). In 1982 the results of this work and studies


Photo: 1. revny
Fig. 2. Display model from the Bodrum Museum ,


Pig. 1. The Castle of St. Peter


INA Quarterly 24.3









of the ship's cargo were published in 1982 as Yassiada I: A
Seventh-Century Byzantine Shipwreck, the first volume in The
Nautical Archaeology Series of the Texas A&M University
Press.
The idea of making this pioneering effort in under-
water archaeology into a featured exhibit was discussed
for many years. The challenge was how to explain in an
exhibit the historical richness of the shipwreck. To the un-
initiated, the importance of the artifacts is not self-evident,
for only archaeological research has transformed these
items into treasure. Oguz Alp6zen, Director of the Bodrum
Museum of Underwater Archaeology, wanted an exhibit
that would literally bring the ship back to life. With the
help of Fred Hocker, Sara W. and George O. Yamini Fac-
ulty Fellow at Texas A&M University, an exhibit design
was developed which centered on a full-size replica of part
of the ship (see INA Quarterly 21.4, 3-7). Such a display
would give visitors an appreciation for the vessel's size
and shape and for how the available space on it was used.
When visitors walked through the front door, they would
face the Yassiada ship appearing to float on the chapel
floor.
Unfortunately, the available exhibit hall has a defi-
nite space limitation-although the height and the width
are more than sufficient, the whole 20-meter length of the
Yassiada vessel would not fit. However, one end of the
vessel and part of the central cargo hold could be recon-
structed. The vessel was double ended. At the ends, the
planks of the ship came into long curving stem and stem
posts. A study of the artifacts revealed that a galley, valu-
ables, and most tools were located in the stem. A full-size
replica of this part of the vessel would provide the perfect
exhibit case in which to display these artifacts. Since visi-
tors would be allowed to walk on and touch the replica, it
was decided that only reproductions of the original arti-


Fig. 3. Display cases at the Bodrum Museum.


facts would be displayed in this manner. Once visitors saw
replicas in the reconstructed context, they could take a clos-
er look at the originals in glass exhibit cases and read their
accompanying descriptions (fig. 3). This modem interac-
tive display would let the visitor enter a time capsule of
seventh-century Byzantine seafaring. Support from the
Turkish Ministry of Culture and the joint efforts of the
Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology and the
Institute of Nautical Archaeology allowed this ambitious
idea to be realized.
Work on the replica began not in Bodrum but at
Texas A&M University. In the spring of 1994, I became
familiar with the hull shape of the Yassiada ship, and de-
veloped the working drawings from which the replica
would be built. It was important to ensure that when the
modem graphic description of the hull, a lines drawing,
was used to build the replica, it would give a shape close
to that reconstructed from the remains (fig. 4).


Fig. 4. Ship's lines as reconstructed by F. H. van Doorninck Jr.


INA Quarterly 24.3











The lines drawing method of describing a ship's
shape on paper was not perfected until the eighteenth cen-
tury. Sailing ship hulls generally have few-if any-cor-
ners, and their curves are rarely defined by formulas. A
lines drawing of a ship can be visualized as three topo-
graphic maps of the same object viewed from the ends,
bottom, and side. Each map or view is composed of fair
(smooth) curves representing the shape of a slice through
the ship. If the curves from these three views could be lift-
ed and properly aligned in three-dimensional space, they
would form a wire frame model of the hull. Using a lines
drawing, a shipbuilder can construct the frames (ribs) of a
ship and be confident that once they are faired (smoothed
out) they can be covered with a skin of planks. The key to
developing modem lines drawings lay in the realization
that in the graphic description of a vessel the curves, al-
though smooth, have no mathematical regularity. The
points in each curve, however, cannot disturb the fairness
of the corresponding points in a line or curve belonging to
the other views. The skill in drawing ship lines is to know
which points to adjust when there is a discrepancy, while
still retaining the desired vessel shape characteristics.
The relatively long time it took to develop this meth-
od can only partly be attributed to learning time; need and
motivation must also be considered. In Turkey we ob-
served first hand that shipwrights, although knowledge-
able in these modem methods, were nonetheless building
without them. Mehmet Nalbantoglu, who has built ships
in Bodrum for more than thirty years, told us that although
he employed a naval architect and built some ships from
lines drawings, he still built most of his ships using an
older method. He also pointed out that he
charged more money for a ship built from
a lines drawing, not because it was a bet-
ter ship but because it took longer to build.
In Mehmet Nalbantoglu's yard, as
in the others in Bodrum, most ships are
built by first making a few of the center
frames from templates known as molds.
A typical yard has molds for the midship
sections of several traditional hull shapes,
which over many generations have devel-
oped in that area. These frames are then
raised on the keel. Next, the master ship-
wright uses long wood battens to define
the shape of one side of the vessel between
the center frames and the end posts. Once
enough of the battens are up to define the
shape, the rest of the frames are made to
fit (fig. 5). By using this method, Mehmet
Nalbantoglu's yard builds ships that sat-


isfy the needs of his customers, although he cannot build
two of exactly the same shape if they are not built simulta-
neously. Most of the vessels being built in Bodrum are built
by this method.
Mehmet Nalbantoglu took a keen interest in our rep-
lica project. He helped us acquire good planking wood,
and on several occasions the workers in his yard cut tim-
bers for us. The day he first visited the project, a sense of
history was almost palpable. We had the opportunity to
tell a present-day builder of wooden ships about the meth-
ods of an ancient shipwright. For a moment, we became
the apprentices of two master shipwrights.
Conceptually the construction of the seventh-cen-
tury CE wreck found off Yassiada was shell-first. Howev-
er, the builder of this Byzantine ship only used loose-fitting
and widely-spaced mortise and tenon joints to assemble
several layers (strakes/runs) of planks before installing
pieces of the frames (floors and futtocks) to secure them in
position. In essence the ship was built in spurts of shell-
first construction. Only when building the upper parts of
the sides of the ship did the builder insert the frames be-
fore the planking. In this part of the hull the curves of the
sides are easier to predict and the builder did not need the
shell to define the shape. From the archaeological remains
it was determined that mortise-and-tenon joints were not
used at this later stage of construction.
Since we had the primary goal of reconstructing the
shape of this seventh-century ship and not its construc-
tion sequence, we decided to build the replica frame-first
from the lines drawing. This allowed us to closely repro-
duce the shape determined from the shipwreck remains.


Fig. 5. The traditional method of building the hull along the Turkish Coast.
Fig. 5. The traditional method of building the hull along the Turkish Coast.


INA Quarterly 24.3









By using the original timber dimensions and their general
arrangement, if not the construction order, we were hop-
ing to get some insight into the challenges of constructing
this vessel's shape.
At the very beginning of the project we became in-
timately familiar with the wood that would be used for
the replica. Our makeshift boatyard was not situated at
sea level, but high up in the Bodrum castle. For three days
we carried our initial shipments of timber up the castle's
winding staircases. At the end, although we only had
stacks of wood in front of us, we had our first feeling of
accomplishment. Moving all this wood by hand foreshad-
owed the important role teamwork was to play in our
project. The safe and efficient transporting, cutting, and
positioning of large timbers rely heavily on teamwork as
well as an understanding and appreciation of leverage.
Once the timber was stacked and ready, it was time
to start building. By enlarging the curves of the lines draw-
ing, we were able to get the shapes for the pieces that would
make up the skeleton of the replica. Making the curves on
the lines drawing requires flexible strips of wood or plas-
tic (battens) held down by lead weights (ducks) as guides
for the pencil. When building the vessel, one enlarges the
tools, drawing the curves with long wooden battens held
in place with nails. Some curves are concave, some con-
vex, and sometimes both shapes occur in one timber. While
some of these curves were easily distinguishable, some
varied so little from each other that they were barely dis-
cernible; this is indicative of the flowing nature of the
change in shape along the length of the ship's hull... flow-
ing only if the frames are placed in the right place.
Unfortunately, trees do not grow in the exact shapes
of ship curves. Shipbuilders attempt, as much as possible,
to utilize the natural curves of trees in order to make strong
timbers, with minimal wastage of wood (fig. 6). Nonethe-
less, a shipyard's off-cut (waste) piles are substantial in
size. Proper selection and efficient utilization of timber are
critical issues to understand when studying the history of
wooden shipbuilding. The timber of old wooden ships
inevitably contains fastening holes without any apparent
purpose. A need frequently arises to nail on temporary
braces, steps, etc. In addition to cutting and nailing, build-
ing a ship entails a lot of clamping, levering, wedging and
prying. We soon had a special pile for any wedge-shaped
off-cut.
After the components of each frame were joined,
care was taken to raise, position and secure the frame in
its right place. Diligence was important at this point be-
cause the skin of the boat had to be bent onto this frame-
work. Thus, the frame structure not only had to have the
right shape, but also the strength to withstand the sub-


stantial pressure of the planks being bent on. On the repli-
ca the components of each frame were temporarily linked
to each other, but this was not the case in the original ship.
Because the shell was built first, the original shipwright
was able to fit and secure the frame pieces to the planking.
When it came time to raise the first timbers of the
replica, we honored some longtime shipbuilding tradi-
tions. Throughout the many centuries of shipbuilding there
has been a custom of putting a coin under the heel of the
mast. This was a tradition around the ancient Mediterra-
nean, as well as in Northern Europe, that eventually spread
to the New World and lasted into modem times. Know-
ing we would never raise a mast on the replica, we imbed-
ded a Turkish coin in the cement base to which the keel
was secured. While we did not slaughter a lamb when rais-
ing the end post-still done in the shipyards of Bodrum--
we did nail a glass eye pendant (the evil eye) to it in order
to ward off evil spirits.
With the frame structure raised and braced, it was
time to prepare for planking. In a process called fairing,
long wooden battens are used to help guide the shipwright
in cutting down any high points on the frame structure.
Unlike the lines on the drawing, the actual frame timbers
have a thickness. As a result, only the line drawn on one
side of the timber fits the hull shape. To get the right curve
on the other side of the timber, the face between the two
has to be cut down (beveled) along the entire length of the
timber. In areas of the most extreme curves on the Yassiada
hull, the bevel angle of the frames is around 10 degrees
outboard at the top of the timber and around 35 degrees
inboard at the bottom. Depending on what kind of saw is
used, at least some-if not most-of this excess wood can
be cut off while the frame is being made. The remainder is
most easily removed during the fairing process. The pro-
cess can be visualized as completely removing the corners
from the steps of a staircase until all that is left is a smooth


rnoto: -n. vmrud:a
Fig. 6. Choosing timber in Mehmet Nalbantoglu's yard.


INA Quarterly 24.3
































Fig. 7 (left). Peter van Alfen fairing frames. The power planer
saved a lot of time and energy.


Fig. 8 (above). The stern of the Yassiada replica.


slope. When the frames are fair, a batten, when bent on in
any direction, should define a smooth curve with no un-
desired bumps or hollows (fig. 7).
At this point in the construction, the frame struc-
ture completely defined the shape of the Yassiada replica,
and the lines drawing had essentially served its major
purpose. At the point when the Byzantine shipwright had
the shape defined, he had already had completed the fram-
ing as well as the planking of the ship. On our project, as
in modem Bodrum shipyards, the completion of the fram-
ing only marked the beginning of the planking process.
Even in ships where frames are the essential strength tim-
bers, the planking helps bind the framework into an inte-
gral structure, and of course makes the vessel watertight.
When the remains of the Yassiada vessel were re-
constructed, the stern of the vessel was determined to be
extremely full (very round; fig. 8). The research and dis-
play models were successfully built with such a stem, but
there was still a question of how easily this shape could be


built with wood of the original dimensions scantlingss).
While working with the lines drawing, I sometimes looked
at the waterlines (horizontal sections through the ship) with
trepidation. Some of these are almost semicircles. Luckily,
the planks of the vessel do not follow the run of these wa-
terlines, especially in the ends of the vessel. Instead, at the
bow and stem they sweep up and essentially cut across
these full lines, which accounts for the high ends of the
vessel (fig. 8). Practically, this means that these individual
planks do not need to be bent as much. Nonetheless, there
was a point-when all the frames were raised, but were
still unfaired-that the stem of the vessel literally looked
like a bizarre staircase lying on its side. Although I was
quite sure all the frames were cut and raised correctly, I
must admit a moment of private panic. While alone, I took
a small adze and anxiously faired part of the frames lead-
ing into the sterpost. When I was finally able to bend a
small batten in this area, I started to breathe easier.
The next challenge was to bend four-centimeter
thick pine planks around the faired frames. We learned
that in the past the shipwrights in Bodrum soaked planks
in order to bend them, and we decided to try this method
first. We carried two planks down to the sea (fig. 9). After
they had soaked about three hours, we carried them back
up to the chapel, and were able to bend them into posi-


INA Quarterly 24.3






























Fig. 9. John De Lapa and Glen Grieco lowering planks into the
sea.

tion. "Bending" entails much more than this short word
may indicate; it is a process that one needs to experience.
In short, it entails balancing the pressure from multiple
clamps and wedges in order to bring the plank flush
against all the frames without stressing any particular point
more than necessary. Carefully choosing which piece of
wood to cut a plank out of, and how to lay out the shape,
can mean the difference between success and half a day's
wasted work. The sound of a four-centimeter plank break-
ing under pressure is loud and intimidating. Once in posi-
tion, the planks were fastened with long iron spikes. The
wood of the frames held onto these spikes tenaciously;
pulling out fastenings is another skill shipwrights acquire,
but try not to cultivate. We used this same method of soak-
ing in order to bend all the planks, and it was not long
before we had a five-meter long soaking tank in front of
the exhibit hall.
In addition to the regular planking, the Yassiada
vessel had four large timbers Waless) that ran from stem
to stem on each side of the vessel. Wales were a promi-
nent structural feature of this vessel and characteristic of
vessels in the Mediterranean for many centuries. The
Yassiada wales were large half-logs of cypress at least 20
centimeters wide and 10 centimeters thick. Cypress grows
tall and straight, and one of the characteristics of the re-
constructed hull shape is that when such straight timbers
are bent around the frames they rise up at the ends, giving
the characteristic high bow and stem. Rather than soak-
ing such large timbers we decided that it would be easiest
to bend them green (freshly cut). Cypress was not avail-
able at the lumberyard, and so began our long search for
appropriate trees. In this part of Turkey, cypress trees are


most commonly found growing in rows around orchards,
but special permission from the government is needed to
cut them down. Eventually we received permission to fell
five trees that were part of a large number surrounding a
vast mandarin grove. Under the guidance of Ali Uqarer
and with a lot of helping hands from the Bodrum Muse-
um, we succeeded in cutting and lowering them into the
two-meter-wide rows between the mandarin trees. The
extra hands were needed to manhandle the cypress trees
onto a truck for the trip to the sawmill. For the next two
weeks the trees were kept from drying out as we bent and
secured them onto the frames. We soon learned why the
original shipwrights used cypress. In its green state, cy-
press bends beautifully and with little difficulty. Once it
dries, it is hard to imagine how it was bent. We were quite
worried about shrinking and cracking problems as these
timbers dried. The space between the wales was not
planked until they had dried in place for about a month
and a half, and after that time shrinkage was minimal and
unproblematic.
The wales were not the biggest timbers on the
Yassiada vessel. It would have been steered from the side
with quarter rudders (steering oars); these were secured
to two large through beams that pierced the sides of the
hull between two lower wales. Five meters long, 20 centi-
meters thick, and 30 centimeters wide, these arched and
beveled beams had to be shaped with hand tools. This gave
us a better appreciation for the amount of manual labor
that it took to build the original ship without the aid of
bandsaws, circular saws, electric drills, and planes. Lift-
ing and positioning these timbers into place was a group
effort (fig. 10). These through beams, together with smaller


Photo: J. Pannell
Fig. 10. Carrying a through beam up the castle stairs.


INA Quarterly 24.3
































Fig. 11 (above). The author building the galley cabinets.


Fig. 12 (right). Galley shelves with pottery.


beams, carlings, and ledges, made up the skeleton of the
vessel's steeply sloping deck and framed the openings in
it for hatches and galley house.
One of the pleasures of our work in the Museum
was the opportunity to answer the questions of visitors.
Although the work area was dosed, no signs or practical
barriers could keep away the curious: one family visited
us three or four times in an afternoon just to see us bend-
ing on a single plank. Such visits provided us with the
opportunity to share some boat-building secrets and a good
reason to take an occasional break. One of the major
strengths of the completed exhibit is that it excites and sat-
isfies the visitor's curiosity; in that sense, the exhibit was
open long before it was completed.
There is a definite pattern to the disintegration of a
sunken ship. A careful study of the distribution and strati-
graphic location of the objects as well as the remains of the
hull allowed Fred van Doorninck to reconstruct the size
and location of bulkheads (walls in the ship), the galley
house, the galley floor (the sole), hearth, storage lockers
and even shelving. He had the opportunity to confirm the
practicality of his conclusions on the replica. It was a spe-
cial moment for us when Professor van Doominck helped
us measure out the locations of the galley lockers, some-
thing he had done on paper many years earlier. On a few


occasions our discussions about the layout became quite
lively and contentious. Professor van Doorninck and the
archaeological evidence always prevailed.
In essence, by the end of the project we were doing
the work of house carpenters and cabinetmakers (fig. 11).
The results of this work allowed us to display replicas of
the shipwreck artifacts in a very realistic setting (fig. 12).
Museum director Alp6zen arranged with the castle pot-
ter, Bora, to make replicas of the cargo amphoras, and the
pottery that was found in the galley, as well as the galley
roof and hearth tiles. In addition, a local blacksmith made
copies of the tools. We had a close relationship with the
blacksmith because he made the more than 1500 large iron
spikes with which the replica timbers were fastened to-
gether. These artifact replicas gave us a greater apprecia-
tion for the quality of craftsmanship exhibited in many of
the objects found on the wreck. Many of these are very
expensive and difficult to replicate with the skills avail-
able in the modern world.
The amphora display serves to make the transition
between the replica and the rest of the exhibit (figure, page
3). Upon descending from the deck of the ship the visitor
is able to look into the cargo hold with its neatly stacked
cargo of replicated amphoras. The floor in this section of
the exhibit hall is made of glass, and under the feet of the


INA Quarterly 24.3










visitors the neatly stacked cargo melts away into a scatter
of original amphoras arranged to closely resemble part of
the shipwreck site. Oguz Alp6zen was able to realize his
vision of having both the ship and shipwreck in one ex-
hibit.
After 18 months of building, we arranged the repli-
cated tools and pottery in the finished ship. When every-
thing was in place, it felt as if one were actually inside the
dimly lit and smoky galley of a Byzantine trading ship (fig.
13). The exhibit brings the ship with its artifacts to life, and
as a result we can now share the excitement of, and infor-
mation gained from, archaeological work with the public.

Acknowledgments. When studying the timbers from a ship-
wreck, one of the thrills is to identify the distinctive tool
marks of an individual shipwright even though you will
almost never know his or her name. I take this opportuni-
ty to list the names of people that in some way or another
left their marks on this project: George Bass, Frederick van
Doorninck, Richard Steffy, and the rest of the excavators
and investigators of the shipwreck and its artifacts; Ozuz
Alpbzen, the Director of the Bodrum Museum, whose vi-
sion inspired the exhibit and who also dived on the exca-
vation as a young undergraduate; Ali Uqarer, of the
Bodrum Museum staff, whose enthusiasm and organiza-
tional skills moved both materials and people; Harun Oz-
da and Mehmet Ozgenq, archaeologists with the Bodrum
Museum, who were part of the core group of people who
built the replica (fig. 14); the rest of the Bodrum museum
staff, who helped with building the exhibit and made us


Fig. 13 (below). Replica of the Byzantine ship's galley.


all feel part of a big family; Fred Hocker, who helped de-
sign the exhibit and was our mentor shipwright; John De
Lapa, a project sponsor and boatbuilder from Michigan;
Texas A&M University graduate students Stefan Hans
Claesson, Greg Gidden, Glen Grieco, Tommi Makela, and
Peter van Alfen; Turkish students Ozlem Buyuran and
Cagdas Oralkan; and various craftsmen, general laborers
and friends whose skills and help cannot go unmentioned.



Suggested Reading
Bass, G.F. and van Doominck, Jr., .H.
1982 Yassz Ada I: A Seventh-Century Byzantine Shipwreck.
College Station: Texas A&M University Press.

Claesson, S.H. and Hocker, F.M.
1994 "Beneath the Knight's Chapel: INA's Excavation
in the Castle of St. Peter." INA Quarterly 21.4: 3-7.

Steffy, J.R.
1993 Wooden Ship Building and the Interpretation of Ship-
wrecks. College Station: Texas A&M University
Press.

van Alfen, P.G.
1996 "New Light on the 7t-c. Yassi Ada Shipwreck Ca-
pacities and Standard Sizes of LRA1 Amphoras."
Journal of Roman Archaeology 9:189-213.


Fig. 14 (right). Four of the many members of the replica building team, from left
to right, Taras Pevny, Harun Ozdas, Greg Gidden and Mehmet Ozgenc.


enoto: rn. uzaa


INA Quarterly 24.3







Uluburun Shipwreck Project:

Conservation and Research 1996-1997

by Claire Peachey

As preparation of the new Uluburun Shipwreck exhibition hall at the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archae-
ology, Turkey, nears completion, conservation and study of the finds that will be displayed inside continue apace. At
times the task seems overwhelming, but the shelves and tanks of untreated artifacts are steadily getting outnumbered
by the shelves of artifacts ready for display and study. Work in 1996 and through summer, 1997, continued as discussed
in the 1995 report published in the INA Quarterly (23.1, 4-11). Some highlights of our recent work are described below.

The Uluburun exhibition hall


The new exhibition building just completed by the Turkish
Ministry of Culture is impressive, with three display rooms,
large storage facilities and an outdoor garden area. The inte-
rior presentation is to be created jointly by INAand Bodrum
Museum director Mr. Oguz Alpbzen. The first room will
contain introductory explanations, possibly including vid-
eos of underwater excavation activities, along with artifacts
from the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck (c. 1200 B.C.), nearly
contemporary with the Uluburun shipwreck (c. 1305 B.C.)
and the first that Dr. George Bass ever excavated. In the main
central room, visitors will stand in an elevated gallery area
and look across to see a huge cross-section of the fully laden
Uluburun ship depicted on the opposite wall, with replica
objects positioned in the hull as the originals may have been.


This will be based on the painting published in the Decem-
ber, 1987, National Geographic magazine, which featured the
Uluburun excavation as its cover story. Looking down, the
visitors will feel that they are looking over the shipwreck
site as it lay on the seabed, with stacks of copper and tin
ingots and stone anchors, and rows of ceramic pithoi and
amphoras (storage and transport vessels) and other artifacts.
The third room, to be called the Treasure Room, will display
some of the finer and more precious objects from the wreck,
such as the wooden "book" or diptych, gold and silver jew-
elry, ivory objects, the bronze and gold female statuette, seals,
beads, and other finds. It is planned that the exhibition hall
will open to the public in 1999, with what will surely be a
grand ceremony.


Ivory, bone, shell, and tortoise carapace


Conservation treatment of almost all the ivories and
other organic material of faunal origin, such as marine
shell, ostrich eggshell, bone, and tortoise carapace, has now
been completed. These objects all underwent a similar type
of treatment, either consolidation in water-based AcrysolT
WS-24 acrylic colloidal dispersion, or dewatering in a se-
ries of alcohol and acetone baths followed by consolida-
tion with ParaloidTM B72 acrylic copolymer in acetone and/or
toluene. If the object was robust, as most of the shells were,
only slow air-drying directly from water was necessary.
Several ivory objects are now completely treated, in-
cluding pomegranate-shaped finials (KW4806, KW5156),
papyrus-shaped finials (KW4854, KW5521), an exquisitely
carved acrobat (KW5754, see INA Quarterly 21.4, 13), a peg
(L10892) belonging to one of the two ivory duck-shaped con-
tainers, a hinge (KW4013) possibly belonging to the larger
of the two wooden diptychs found on the wreck, an unusu-
al prism-shaped object (KW5541), and several pieces that
appear to be scraps or blanks awaiting final carving and fin-
ishing (KW4261, KW4446, KW4587, KW5602, KW5730,
L11331). Only a handful of small ivory objects awaits final
treatment, including a partially worked plaque embedded
in thick marine concretion (KW4767; fig. 1) and a cylindrical
rod of uncertain function (KW4751+KW5169). Reconstruc-
tion of the small elephant tusk (KW3843) is nearly complete


and the last of the thirteen hippopotamus teeth (KW5187) is
undergoing final desalination. Restoration of the two duck-
shaped containers (KW2818, KW2534) has just begun and
promises to be an enjoyable job.


r-nuiL. IINfL
Fig. 1. Partially worked ivory plaque KW4767, showing two
directions of saw marks and a "spur" remaining on the sawed
surface. The plaque (4.5 cm long) is still covered in concretion
and has green, orange and brown metal and organic stains.


INA Quarterly 24.3









Bone objects treated include tiny flat pieces that may
be inlays (KW5406 and various lot numbers), two of the
fourteen astragals found on the shipwreck (KW3748,
KW5001), and three inlay strips (KW5575) decorated with in-
cised circles and, inone case, with an attachment peg preserved.
Partial reconstruction of some fifty-five ostrich egg-
shell fragments shows that in addition to the one fully in-
tact eggshell (KW1391, see INA Newsletter 15.1, 3), two
others, now incomplete, were being carried on board the
ship. No signs of decoration are seen on the shells. Two
additional eggshell fragments are encased together with
ceramic sherds in a thick concretion; once these are freed,
the two incomplete eggshells will be restored.


All tortoise carapace pieces were treated, including
forty-eight pieces that constitute one nearly complete
carapace (KW4250), found in one spot on the shipwreck.
The carapace is the bony material lying beneath the outer
shell of the tortoise, made up of forty-nine plates joined
together along the suture lines. A search through crates of
bone objects from early excavation seasons turned up
several previously unidentified carapace pieces, bringing
the total to eighty-two dissociated pieces in addition to
the forty-eight mentioned above. Based on diagnostic
characteristics, these 130 pieces represent at least five
different carapaces.


Balance pans and balance-pan weights


Dr. Michael Fitzgerald completed cataloging and
weighing the 149 geometric and zoomorphic balance-pan
weights from the Uluburun shipwreck, along with the sixty-
five geometric weights from the nearly contemporary Cape
Gelidonya shipwreck, as described in the report for 1995.
As part of this study, the material of each of the weights
was tentatively identified by its appearance and streak
color (where applicable), most being hematite or related
iron minerals, magnetite, diorite(?), serpentine, limestone,
or bronze. The weight catalog, along with a detailed
analysis of the weight systems by Dr. Cemal Pulak, are
now nearly ready for publication.


Two fragmentary, heavilyconcreted, andmisshapensets
of bronze balance pans (KW4519, KW4811) were partially treat-
ed in order to determine if they were originally part of the same
set It appears from their overall shapes and from the location of
suspension holes that they are indeed of the same set, although
no points of contact can be found for a cear join. Some of the
thousands of fragments of bronze sheeting found on the ship-
wreck were inspected in order to determine if any of these might
also be parts of balance pans. To date, it appears that the ship
carried two complete pairs of pans (KW4519+KW4811,
KW4167), and at least one other pan, as indicated by a small
edge fragment with a suspension hole (L10976).


Glass


Several whole and fragmentary discoid glass ingots
ranging in condition from excellent to extremely poor un-
derwent conservation treatment. Well-preserved ingots
require little treatment beyond desalination and slow air-
drying. However, most of the glass remaining to be treat-
ed is fragmentary and in a state that does not resemble
glass at all. The chemical makeup of this highly deterio-
rated glass has not yet been determined by instrumental
analysis, but is likely to consist of a hydrated silica net-
work that has lost most of the original metal ions (for ex-
ample, calcium, sodium, copper, manganese). The glass
as preserved is usually a yellow-brown-green color, bro-
ken down into amorphous lumps, dissected by a network
of cracks and fissures, with a surface of doisonn&-like cells.
It varies in consistency from gel-like to brittle and is light
in weight. Occasionally some chunks of undeteriorated
glass are preserved within this network to indicate the
original color. Some ingots remain intact but have a thick
surface layer of opaque, white, sometimes iridescent dete-
riorated glass. In general, the Uluburun ingots do not ex-
hibit the kind of deterioration often seen in vessel glass,


which usually develops thin, parallel, delaminating sur-
face layers.
A variety of treatments was experimented with in
order to find the one most suitable for the crumbling and
fragile glass: slow air-drying (resulting in disintegration),
dewatering in alcohol and air-drying, dewatering in ace-
tone followed by consolidation with Paraloid B72 in ace-
tone and/or toluene, or consolidation in water-based
Acrysol WS-24. The glass in the worst condition does not
respond well to any of these treatments, but the treatment
with Acrysol is the most successful and requires the arti-
facts to undergo the least handling. However, the glass
always requires further consolidation with Paraloid B72/ace-
tone once it has dried. Treatment of the Uluburun glass
will not be continued until a silicone impregnation tech-
nique being developed by Dr. Wayne Smith at Texas A&M
University is fully tested; if this treatment is suitable for
the glass material, it may be preferable. A treatment in-
volving impregnation of shipwreck glass with calcium
acetate, experimented with in Australia, perhaps can also
be tried on the Uluburun glass in the future.


INA Quarterly 24.3









Diane Fullick, a third-year student in the Art Con-
servation Program at the University of Delaware, contin-
ued her work testing the consolidant AquazolTM on the
glass beads from the shipwreck. Despite the good results
achieved elsewhere with this consolidant on other types
of glass objects, it was found not to be ideal for the highly


degraded, waterlogged Uluburun beads. It imparted little
strength to the beads and left them with an opaque, hazy
surface. It was found that Acrysol WS-24 produced more
satisfactory results, but as with the ingot glass, treatment
of the remaining beads will be suspended until other treat-
ments can be tested.


Canaanite amphoras


The Uluburun ship carried an estimated 150 Canaan-
ite amphoras, approximately ninety of which were intact
or nearly intact (fig. 2). This is the largest extant set of such
amphoras from the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean region.
Dr. Michael Fitzgerald has been studying and cataloging
these vessels in detail, with a view to correlating differ-
ences in manufacturing details, size, capacity, and contents.
Capacity measurements of the intact amphoras continue
as described in the 1995 report. Wet amphoras are mea-
sured with water, as previously described, and dry ones
with 2.1mm-3.5mm diameter polystyrene spheres. Repeat-
ability equal to that achieved with water, 0.06%, is ob-
tained in the dry measurements. Comparison of wet and
dry measurements shows that volumes measured with dry
beads are consistently a maximum of 1.5% higher than
those measured with water, and usually less than 1% high-
er. Since most of the amphoras are already desalinated and
dried and therefore will not be rewetted for the more ac-
curate wet measurements, a correction factor can now be
applied with confidence to the dry measurements of these
amphoras.
A condition survey of the intact amphoras was also
begun as part of this project. Concretion removal, consol-
idation, and attachment of fragments are carried out as
necessary to allow study and drawing. When all sherds
from the shipwreck are finally treated and dried, proba-
bly by the end of this year, restoration of the fragmentary
amphoras will begin.
Selma Ogiuz continues to make full-scale drawings
of the intact amphoras for publication. Her drawings are


aiding in the study of vessel shapes and construction de-
tails, particularly by illustrating the consistent occurrence
of many features.
Michael Sugerman, a doctoral student in the Anthro-
pology Department at Harvard University, visited the lab
for two weeks in the summer of 1996 to investigate the
amphoras and select samples for his examination of the
production and distribution patterns of Canaanite ampho-
ras in the Late Bronze Age east Mediterranean. His project
is based on petrographic analysis of jars from the Levant,
Cyprus, the Aegean, Greece and the Uluburun shipwreck.


rnoro: UNit


Fig. 2. Canaanite amphora tightly wrapped in strips of rubber to
prevent further cracking during drying.


Other ceramics and faience


Sherds and intact vessels of Cypriot, Canaanite and
Mycenaean fabrics continued to be cleaned of concretion,
dried, and consolidated as necessary. Reconstruction of
ceramics on a large scale will not begin until all sherds from
the shipwreck are dry and available for sorting, but in or-
der to begin restoration of some of the more distinctive
vessels, all fineware fabrics were separated out for priori-
ty treatment. Lorna Barnes from the Sherman Fairchild
Center for Objects Conservation at the Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art, New York, came to the lab for six weeks to
work on treatment and restoration of the fineware Myce-
naean stirrup jars. It seems that at least nine fineware stir-


rup jars were on board the Uluburun ship, as represented
by seven nearly whole vessels (KW88, KW137, KW171,
KW308, KW905, KW2405, KW3981) and an additional two
spouts (L10745).
All treated coarseware sherds continued to be sort-
ed into more specific fabric categories and sometimes into
specific, unique vessels with distinctive fabrics. Among the
latter are a black-grey stirrup jar (KW1977), a handmade,
flat-bottomed, closed vessel with orange fabric and traces
of wide horizontal and vertical bands of red pigment
(KW2558), and one or more stirrup jars with coarse, angu-
lar temper in the fabric. The other coarse fabrics separated


INA Quarterly 24.3

























Figs. 3 & 4. Small,fineware Mycenaean stirrup jar KW3981, before and after restoration. Vessel is 7.5 cm tall. Photos: L. Barnes.


include carinated bowl, plain bowl, stirrup jar, "platter",
pilgrim flask, trefoil mouth pitcher, Syrian lamp, krater,
and various unidentified but distinctive fabrics.
In sorting the dry ceramic sherds from early exca-
vation seasons, several previously unidentified sherds of
faience vessels were found (fig. 5). In previous years, par-
tial restoration of faience sherds revealed at least five frag-
mentary vessels, four in the shape of a ram's head and one
of a woman's head (KW42, KW565, KW707, and various
lot numbers). Now that all faience sherds from the wreck
have been conserved, additional joins to the fragmentary
vessels are being found. Most of the faience is in worn,
fragile condition, having turned powdery and granular
after centuries in the sea, and has a yellow-beige color that
may not be original, with no traces of glaze. Fig. 5. Fragments o

Copper ingots, lead, tin, and bronze
Several of the unusual lead and tin-alloy objects Crescent pendants
found on the Uluburun shipwreck have now been treated, the same shape bu


f two faience vessels.


rnoro: uNA


;(?) KW4827 and KW4755 appear to have
t exhibit completely different corrosion


Photo: INA 'hoto: INA
Fig. 6 & 7. Left, tin(-alloy?) crescent pendant KW4755, partially cleaned of concretion. Pendant is 3.5 cm wide. Right, detail
showing mold flash, after conservation treatment.


INA Quarterly 24.3










features. KW4827 shows slight expansion, fissuring,
and development of a thin, grey-white corrosion lay-
er typical of lead. KW4755, on the other hand, exhib-
its disfiguring warty corrosion with yellow and blue
flecks in it, similar to the corrosion seen on tin objects
on the shipwreck. This appears to be a tin-rich metal,
perhaps a tin-lead alloy. Despite the disfiguring na-
ture of the corrosion, the flash along the edges of the
object is clearly visible after conservation treatment,
indicating the crescent was made in a two-part mold.
Other objects crafted of this metal and found on the
wreck include a group of small Bes figures (KW4439).
It is hoped that future analysis may identify the metal
of these objects and provide information about corro-
sion of tin underwater.
Other lead objects treated or partially treated in-
clude more possible jewelry fragments (KW4812), a pos-
sible lead "staple" of the type used to repair a ceramic
vessel (KW5341), an unidentified object which may be
mold waste (KW5245), a large trolling weight shaped
like a papyrus boat (KW3987), and fish-net weights.
Several small bronze artifacts, many of uncertain
function, were treated: a pyramidal cone (KW5217), a


cylinder (KW4465), zoomorphic weights (a wolf or dog head
KW4943, a bull KW2736, and a cow KW5841), several caul-
dron handle and strap fragments, two daggers (KW3451,
KW4217), an adze (KW4399), a harpoon (KW4254), netting
needles (KW3339, KW4920), and a fragmentary vessel rim.
Molly MacNamara, a third-year conservation student at
Queen's University, Canada, is performing analyses to iden-
tify some of the corrosion products on the Uluburun bronzes.
Dozens of the 354 copper oxhide-shaped ingots con-
tinue to be treated, several revealing undeciphered sym-
bols chiseled into their surfaces (see INA Quarterly 23.1,
9-11). This summer, 1997, Mark Smith, a graduate of the
TAMU Nautical Archaeology Program and now a doctor-
al student in Anthropology at New York University, has
been taking samples of all the copper ingots of all shapes
so that Drs. Noel Gale and Sophie Stos-Gale of Oxford
University can continue their program of lead isotope anal-
ysis, started in 1995. Dr. Cemal Pulak has also been taking
samples of all the tin ingots for a similar study by Drs.
Gale and Stos-Gale. Dr. Patricia Sibella continues to draw
the conserved ingots and compile a catalogue of the chis-
eled symbols.



Fig. 8 (left). Tin(-alloy?) bes figures and associated pieces, KW4439,
before conservation treatment.

Fig. 9 (below). Lead object KW5245 (6.1 cm long), possibly mold
waste, in its storage box lined with inert polyethylene foam. Sugges-
tions from readers as to the function of this object are welcome!


i'hoto: INA


[lFoto: INA


Database


A database for the Uluburun artifacts was created
on Microsoft WorksTM software and information is regu-
larly being entered. This now allows tracking of the treat-


ment and location of objects and creation of status reports
for each artifact category. Data for approximately one-third
of the artifacts have been entered to date.


INA Quarterly 24.3










Storage


Work continues in the French Tower storage area to
improve storage of treated artifacts. Most metals have been
put into closed, clear plastic boxes with inert polyethylene
foam supports and acid-free tissue, with like artifacts


grouped together. Plastic sheeting is now draped over
stacks of ingots and other large artifacts to protect them
from the ubiquitous dust. Repackaging of vulnerable ob-
jects continues.


Conferences


In June, 1996 and again in 1997, two symposia for
archaeological conservators working in Turkey were held
at the site of Kaman-Kalehbyiik, near Ankara, sponsored
by the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan (MECCJ)
and organized by conservator Glenn Wharton. Claire
Peachey attended both summers, and Asaf Oron, Assis-
tant Conservator on INA's Bozburun Shipwreck Excava-
tion, attended in 1996. These were most useful gatherings
in which participants held discussions about their sites,
conservation problems encountered there, analyses and
research projects being carried out, and specialized con-
servation and restoration techniques. Ways of working to-
gether to pool research results and useful information, such


as chemical suppliers in Turkey, were also discussed, and
future gatherings, publications, and educational courses
were planned. Walking through MECCJ's formalJapanese
garden on the Anatolian plateau was a highlight of the
symposia.
In August, 1996, INA conservators Claire Peachey
and Jane Pannell both attended the International Institute
for Conservation conference, "Archaeological Conserva-
tion and Its Consequences," held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
This meeting addressed practical, theoretical and ethical
topics particular to archaeological conservation, and was
a pleasant and useful forum for the exchange of ideas and
for meeting new colleagues in this specialized field.


Staff, Interns


Full-time and part-time staff of the Uluburun Ship-
wreck project are Dr. Cemal Pulak, Director; Dr. Michael
Fitzgerald, Archaeologist; Selma Oguz, Illustrator; Claire
Peachey, Head Conservator; Sema Pulak, Illustrator; Dr.
Patricia Sibella, Archaeologist; Mark Smith, Archaeologist;
and laboratory assistants Giine Ozbay, Birgiil Akbiliit and
Sevil G6kmen-Kaftanoglu. Laboratory assistants Giilser
Smaci, Esra Altmarut and Sebla Yigit also contributed to
the project. The help of many conservation students, pro-
fessionals and volunteers who worked in the Bodrum lab-


oratory between January, 1996, and August, 1997, is grate-
fully acknowledged: Talat Altier, Paula Artal-Isbrand,
Qaglar Ata, Rose Barbosa, Loma Barnes, Daan Blits, Devrim
Cebe, Ron Chomicz, Jenn Danko, Shirley Ellis, Nil Emre,
Debbie Forkes, Diane Fullick, Emre Giilcan, Molly Mc-
Namara, Lori McCoy, Lisya Melaard-Biacqi, Siikran
Senyiiz, and Biike Tiifekqioglu. We were pleased to receive
many visitors, friends both old and new, in the laboratory
during this period.


INA Quarterly 24.3


The Texas A&M Press has a wide selection of books of interest to Quarterly readers available at a
discount to INA members. The newest release is Shelley Wachsmann's Seagoing Ships and Seaman-
ship in the Bronze Age Levant, with 448 pages and over 450 illustrations. Members can save $12.00
off the regular price of $80.00. Other recent releases available at a 15% discount include a second
edition of Those Vulgar Tubes by Joe J. Simmons HI, The Development of the Rudder by Lawrence V.
Mott, Ship's Bilge Pumps by Thomas J. Oertling, and From Egypt to Mesopotamia by Samuel Mark.
Backlist books still available include J. Richard Steffy's Wooden Ship Building and the Interpretation
of Shipwrecks, Bass and van Doorninck's Yassz Ada I, Eiseman and Ridgway's The Portocello Ship-
wreck, and Casson and Steffy's The Athlit Ram. Some of these titles are now available to INA mem-
bers at over an 80% discount off the retail price.

Details are available from The Texas A&M Press, Drawer C, College Station TX 77843-4354.







Arabia Felix et Maritima:

The Trade and Maritime Legacy of Yemen

by Roxani Margariti and Peter van Alfen


"I then traveled to the city of Aden, the port of the
land of Yemen on the coast of the great Ocean... it is the
harbor of the people of India. Great ships arrive there from
Cambay, Tanna, Coulam, Calicut, Fandarayna, Shaliyat,
Mangalore, Fakanwar, Onor, Sandapur, and other places.
Merchants from India live there as well as merchants from
Egypt." This account of a visit to Aden in the early four-
teenth century CE by the famous Moroccan traveler Ibn
Battuta attests to the incessant flow of trade and ships be-
tween India, East Africa, and the Red Sea. Through the
ages the main players changed, but Yemen's strategic lo-
cation between East and West remained central to this
maritime network.
Stretching over 1500 kilometers, the Yemeni coast-
line comprises the southern part of the Tihama coastal plain
on the Red Sea, then turns the peninsular corer at Bab-al-
Mandeb, the Red Sea's southern "door," and extends east-
wards along the Indian Ocean up to Dhofar, the frankincense
country that nowadays belongs to the Sultanate of Oman
(fig. 1). Situated in such locations, Yemeni ports made nat-
ural entrepots for Easterners and Westerners, pilgrims and
traders, coasters and ocean-plying seafarers alike. The
coastal region shaped the life of the native people, many
of whom became traders, navigators,
and fishermen, and exchanged mate-
rial goods, customs, practices, and
ideas with the foreigners they encoun-
tered.
Our two-month stay in Yemen
during the past summer was prima-
rily for language study in Sana'a, the
country's capital and a UNESCO
World Heritage City. From our high-
land base, however, we also sought
to explore the potential for nautical 'e: SANA'Ab
,al-Nabi st
archaeology and other research relat- HODEDA
ed to Yemen's rich maritime heritage.
Of the many foreign archaeological RED .tZabid
missions that have worked in Yemen BB
almost none, with the current excep- SEA TA'IZZ
tion of a Russian team working at Bir MCHA
Ali (ancient Qana), have focused on
the coast. The intense heat of the sum-
mer-we were repeatedly, if unsuc-
cessfully, warned not to visit the coast GULF OF A
because "the heat there is unbear-
able"-and the general inaccessibili-
ty of large parts of the country due to Fig.1. Yemen, indic


political turmoil in the past may partly explain this lack of
interest in maritime research.
Arab-speakers call this country al-yaman. The best-
known and most persistent etymology derives the name
from the term al-yumn, Arabic for blessing with good luck,
fortune, or prosperity. In similar fashion, Greek and Ro-
man geographers called what is now Yemen Eudaimon
Arabia and Arabia Felix respectively, that is "Fortunate Ara-
bia" as opposed to the less felicitous areas of the Peninsu-
la, Arabia Petraea (Rocky Arabia) and Arabia Deserta
(Desolate Arabia). "Fortunate" indeed for its high moun-
tains, high annual rain-fall, and fertile soil, Yemen also
earned the additional nicknames "roof-top" and "bread-
basket of Arabia."
From atop al-Nabi Shuayb, the highest mountain in
Arabia (at 3660m) which we climbed one mercifully cloudy
day last July, we saw lush cultivated terraces extending in
every direction and small clusters of tall tower-houses,
homes of the farmers who tend those terraces, perched in
the most inaccessible places (fig. 2). Less than 200 kilome-
ters due east of the mountain lies the infamous "Empty
Quarter" and Eastern Arabian Desert; beyond this inhos-
pitable wasteland and stretching over most of the eastern


Map: P. van Alfen and T. Pevny
eatingg places mentioned in the text.


INA Quarterly 24.3



















Fig. 2. Mountain village
and terraces on the slopes of
al-nabi Shu'ayb.


Photo: P. van Alfen


reaches of the country lies the Hadramawt Plateau dissect-
ed by the deep valley of Wadi Hadramawt. To the west
the mountains drop abruptly at about 65 km from the sea-
shore to form the coastal plain of the Tihama, while the
Indian Ocean coast in the south features a much narrower
coastal plain. This geographical fragmentation corresponds
to, and is partly responsible for, significant regional dif-
ferences in traditions, architecture, and even dialects. Fur-
thermore, Yemen's long history is characterized by political
fragmentation; the times when most of this territory has
been united under a single powerful state are relatively
few. Regardless of who held power, however, trade, both
overland and maritime, has always featured prominently
in the region's economy, and has linked its different parts.

Pre-Islamic Trade
Sometime shortly before the seventh century BCE,
the Mediterranean world became aware of the fragrant
gums and resins harvested from the frankincense and
myrrh trees of southern Arabia. The reputation and wealth
of the Arabian traders, the Sabeans, who brought the in-
cense to the Mediterranean quickly grew proverbial. Con-
trolling the overland incense and spice trade, the Sabeans
built wealthy cities with large columned temples and im-
posing structures, such as the ancient dam at Marib,
throughout their extensive kingdom in central Arabia. The
Queen of Sheba (her name appears as Bilquis in the Qu-
ran) is said to have visited Solomon in Jerusalem some-
time in the seventh century trailing a large retinue of camels
laden with spices, gold and precious stones (1 Kings 10.1


ff.); Ezekiel's dirge over the Phoenician city of Tyre (27.22)
also mentions Sabean traders in this famed port. Increas-
ing contact between the Greek lands and the eastern Med-
iterranean led to the Greek adoption of some eastern
Mediterranean practices, including the. use of incense in
religious rituals. The ancient Greek word for incense, li-
banos, derived from the Semitic Ibn, appears for the first
time in Greek literature in works of the poetess Sappho
(44.30) around the middle of the seventh century. For cen-
turies the Sabeans maintained their virtual monopoly of
the incense trade; almost 700 years after Sappho, the Ro-
man poet Vergil still refers to contemporary rich Sabeans
and their famed incense (Georg. 1.57, 11.116).
Such wealth and control of valuable commodities
did of course attract the jealous attention of Greece and
Rome's great leaders. Alexander the Great, cut short by
his early death in Babylon, intended to subdue the Sabeans;
Augustus sent Aelius Gallus with a legion on an ill-fated
mission to southern Arabia in 25 BCE. Rather than con-
quer the Sabeans, the Greek Ptolomies of Egypt, in the years
between Alexander and Augustus (third to first centuries
BCE), chose to compete with them by opening the Red Sea
to Greek trading vessels by means of a canal between the
Nile and the Red Sea, thereby allowing vessels to sail di-
rectly from the Mediterranean into Arabian waters. Push-
ing farther afield, the Greek explorer Eudoxus of Cyzicus,
around 116 BCE, discovered for the Hellenistic world the
secret of the monsoons, the annual east-west trade winds
of the Indian Ocean, and so opened direct trade with In-
dia. Before Eudoxus, Greek seamen were obliged to stop


INA Quarterly 24.3










at a port named Eudaimon Arabia (probably Aden) to ex-
change goods with the Arabian or Indian seafarers who
knew and protected the secret of the monsoons.
But Greeks were not the only traders bringing Ara-
bian and Indian goods to the Mediterranean: inscriptions
from the Greek island of Delos, the great trading entrepot
in the middle of the Aegean, dating to the second or first
centuries BCE, roughly contemporaneous with Eudoxus,
attest to the presence of South Arabian merchants on the
island. Two of the bilingual inscriptions, in Greek and
South Arabian script, note the dedication of a separate al-
tar and statue to individual Arabian gods. One inscription
mentions the names of the traders: Hane and Zaidil.
By the first century CE, the seaborne trade between
the Mediterranean and the Red Sea/Indian Ocean was so
well established that poets and other writers of the period
frequently spoke of imported eastern luxuries, often with
disdain. A sailing handbook of this period, the Periplus
Maris Erythreae, gives sailing directions, lists Red Sea and
Indian Ocean harbors, and tells traders what commodities
to expect in the various harbors. Cargoes of incense, spices
and even pearls from the Persian Gulf awaited these ships
in the Yemeni harbors of Bir Ali, Aden, and Ocelis, all on
the Indian Ocean coast.
In the National Museum in Sana'a, impressive evi-
dence of this long-lasting and extensive contact between
the Greco-Roman world and ancient Yemen is displayed.
Most stunning are two larger-than-life bronze statues of a
father and son, rulers of the united Sabean-Himyarite state,
executed in a late Roman, Severan style. The knee of one
of the statues bears the inscription, in Greek, Phokas epoiei,
"Phokas made this." Also displayed are smaller imported
bronze statues and ceramic vessels and a series of Sabean
and Himyarite coins minted in Marib and elsewhere that
imitate, very accurately, the famed Athenian tetradrach-
ma of the fourth century BCE.

Ports and Seafarers of Islamic Times
In the sixth century CE, as the Sabaean-Himyarite
state was breathing its last, Yemen became the arena of
power struggles between the Abyssinians of East Africa
and the Sassanians of Persia. Under the pretext of protect-
ing local Christian communities from persecution, the
former crossed the Red Sea and occupied the country un-
der the leadership of Abraha, builder of a magnificent
church in Sana'a and known from the Quran for his at-
tempted attack on Mecca. It was then the Persians' turn to
intervene; in 575 Chorsoes sent troops by sea. The Persian
force succeeded in ousting the Abyssinians and established
a Persian governor in the area. But the Sassanian Empire
was soon to be eclipsed by the Muslim Arabs, who came
to dominate most of the Middle East and North Africa
within fifty years of their initial venture out of the caravan
trade center of Mecca in Western Arabia. Yemen came into


the realm of Islam very early on: in the second quarter of
the seventh century, the Persian governor Badhan em-
braced Islam and, according to some, the Great Mosque of
Sana'a was built already during the life of the Prophet
Muhammad. The mobility of people and merchandise
within the Muslim realm, and especially the demand for
eastern products in its northern and western parts, the con-
tinued mercantile contact with the Byzantine Empire and Eu-
rope, and the demands of the locally-based semi-independent
(and at times entirely independent) dynasties ruling Ye-
men, ensured prosperity and flourishing business in the
Yemeni ports.
It seems that the most important harbors of the area
throughout the Middle Ages were Aden, Shihr, and Dhu-
far on the Indian Ocean coast. Though not on the coast, the
town of Zabid served as the main entrepot for local and
imported goods in the Tihama, and was linked to two har-
bor towns in its vicinity, al-Buqah and Fazah. Archaeolo-
gy remains silent as regards these entrepots, but a vivid
picture of their physical characteristics, daily life, and trade
emerges from works Arab geographers and historians, as
well as travel accounts by both Arabs and Europeans. In
addition to those sources, medieval almanacs, some dat-
ing as far back as the Rassulid period (1235-1454), detail
the regular pattern (in terms of timing, origin, and desti-
nations) of ships coming in and out of the harbor during
the year.
Most notable of the travel literature as an invalu-
able source for the social and economic history of Yemen
is Ibn al-Mujawir's remarkable text Tarikh al-Mustabsir. Ibn
al-Mujawir, an early thirteenth century traveler from
Khurasan who visited Yemen towards the end of Ayyubid
rule (1173-1228), shows a particular interest in maritime
trade and vividly describes its every detail in Ayyubid
Aden. He offers a clear picture of the course of events upon
the arrival of traders at port: inspection of merchandise
and body searches of crew and passengers by customs of-
ficials, dissemination of news to the families of those on
board, disembarkation of passengers, unloading of mer-
chandise, imposition and payment of taxes. Taxes includ-
ed a customs tax, a "galley tax" (for the maintenance of an
Ayyubid patrol fleet which protected merchantmen against
pirates), the zakah (charity tax mandatory in Islamic law),
and a brokerage fee. Lists of taxable and non-taxable im-
ports reveal the fascinating array of commodities traded
in Aden. Pepper, cardamom, camphor and other spices and
aromatics, cloths and fabrics of various kinds, bamboo
sugar, iron, sheep, horses, and slaves constitute some of
the taxable goods. Wheat, flour, rice, soap, olive and flax
oil, nuts, honey, all from Egypt, cushions, prayer mats, ses-
ame, and aromatic woods from India, as well as dates and
salted headless fish feature, among other items, as non-
taxable commodities. Ibn al-Mujawir's curiosity, keen ob-
servation, and meticulous documentation also produced


INA Quarterly 24.3










detailed records of the workings of Aden's slave-girl mar-
ket, as well as the currency types, values, and exchange
rates in Yemeni ports at that time.
Division into ethnic, as well as professional, quar-
ters was characteristic of Medieval entrepot towns, and
names reflecting such divisions sometimes survive to the
present day. In reference to Medieval Aden, the sources
speak of the Indian and Jewish quarters; it is very likely
that these correspond to communities or enclaves of for-
eign merchants who staffed local branches of internation-
al businesses. In the case of the Jewish community, a series
of private letters and other documents in the geniza, or doc-
ument repository, of the Cairo Synagogue sheds light on
the nature and operation of such businesses. Indeed this
source testifies to the existence of a Jewish trading network
in the Indian Ocean, a network with Cairo, Aden, and the
west coast of India as its focal points. In several of the Cairo
Geniza letters, the Jewish merchants of Aden are report-
ing to their Cairo associates or vice versa; references to
wrecks are not rare, and losses, as well as salvage attempts,
are described in detail.
What types of vessels carried the Indian Ocean trade
in Medieval times? Starting with the Periplus, textual as
well as iconographic evidence testifies to distinct structur-
al details found in the prevalent indigenous boatbuilding
tradition (double-ended, open hulls, partial decks fore and
aft, and stem rudders) and suggests that at least since the
first century CE the tradition featured "laced" or "sewn"
construction, a method in which ropes or cords constitute
the primary means of fastening the planks of the vessel's
shell to one another and to the frames. The advent of Eu-
ropean shipping in the Indian Ocean in the 16th century
seems to have precipitated the adoption of nailed construc-
tion across the region, yet some boatbuilders continued to
produce entirely or partially "laced" vessel types. Ethnoar-
chaeological research testifies to the persistence of the
"laced" boatbuilding tradition in the region. The "Tradi-
tional Boats of Oman" project led by Tom Vosmer, of the
Western Australian Maritime Museum, yielded ample ev-
idence of laced construction hold-overs in the contempo-
rary wooden boatbuilding of Oman, and similar data has
come to light in Yemen and the Eastern African coast. Tom
Vosmer also directed the building of Tim Severin's Sohar,
a reconstruction of a Medieval Omani merchantman of
laced construction, which then successfully completed an
experimental voyage between Oman and China.
Post-Medieval and Modem Times
For most of their history, the ports of Yemen were
primarily entrepots for the exchange and shipment of
goods from elsewhere; with the exception of frankincense,
the export of indigenous products played, for the most part,
a secondary role. In the 16th century, however, a new local
product of Yemen stimulated the growth of a significant


export trade. Just as frankincense had been the most wide-
ly desirable indigenous commodity throughout antiquity
and early Islamic times, coffee was Yemen's contribution
to global merchandise after the 16th century when the Ot-
tomans discovered it and introduced it to Europe. Yemen's
fertile highlands were ideal for coffee cultivation, and al-
though the details of the plant's introduction into the coun-
try (probably from Ethiopia) are shrouded in myth,
commercial production of the crop is linked with the first
period of Ottoman rule over Yemen (1517-1636) and the
development of Mocha, a hitherto insignificant Red Sea
fishing port and the place whence "mocha coffee" derives
its name, into the most active trading center in the coun-
try.
From the 17th century onwards, trading houses of
the Dutch, English, and French competed for privileges
and influence in Mocha. The presence of coffee on the 18th-
century Sadana Island shipwreck currently under excava-
tion by INA-Egypt off Egypt's Red Sea coast, makes Mocha
a likely port of call on the ill-fated ship's last voyage (see
INA Quarterly 22.3 and 23.3). Eventually the Americans also
became involved and by the early 1800s were the main
exporters of Yemeni coffee, having gained special conces-
sions from Mocha's ruler, who sought the cheap Ameri-
can cotton piecegoods that Europeans could not provide.
The expansionist policy of the British and Ottoman
Empires had a lasting effect on the region's politics. In 1848
the Red Sea coast came once again under Ottoman juris-
diction while in 1839 the British, concerned with maintain-
ing control over the sea route to British India, seized Aden
and established a Protectorate on the southern Yemeni
coast. These occupations resulted in the division of Yemen
and the establishment of a loose boundary line between
the north and the south that, despite the eventual depar-
ture of the foreigners, remained in place until Yemen's uni-
fication in 1990.
The decline of Mocha and the declaration of Aden's
"free port" status in 1850 led to an increased flow of mari-
time traffic through Aden. Later, the opening of the Suez
Canal in 1869 and the increasing use of steamships further
enhanced the port's fortunes, and exports of gums, resins,
skins, and coffee rapidly increased. Ideally located for the
refueling of ships on their way to and from India, Aden
boasted impressive bunkering facilities, first for coal, and
later, when maritime propulsion technology changed, for
fuel oil. The Port of Aden Annual issues between 1949 and
1967 describe massive modem tankers and liners sharing
the port with hundreds of "dhows" (the European generic
term for Arab wooden vessels) which plied the monsoon
trade route between India and Africa. Berthing maps from
the Annuals show that one of the small islands within the
harbor was reserved for "dhow" building and repairs.
In the sixties, however, Aden's flourishing trade
came to a halt. In 1967, the closure of the Suez Canal, coin-


INA Quarterly 24.3




















Fig. 3. "Dhows" at Ma'alla
in Aden.


ciding with the British withdrawal from the area and the
establishment of a communist government, severed ship-
ping routes and curbed the maritime traffic passing
through Aden. When the canal reopened nearly a decade
later, trade patterns had changed forever and Aden's port
had fallen into deep decline. Shortly before Yemen's unifi-
cation in 1990, millions of dollars were spent in a refur-
bishment project that would enable Aden to handle RO/
RO (roll on/roll off cargo ships and tankers. This invest-
ment has yet to see any return.
In a new book on Yemen, Tim Macintosh-Smith de-
scribes Aden as a "feast of faded magnificence." Indeed,









Fig. 4. The port of
Mukalla from Port
of Aden Annual
1961-62, p. 44.


the place may seem depressing to the nostalgic. Rows of
British-built apartment buildings are crumbling and state-
ly colonial hotels are mere ghosts of their former selves.
The civil war of 1994 has taken a visibly heavy toll on the
defeated south, as bullet-ridden walls, bombed-out struc-
tures, and the occasional rusting hulk of a half-sunk navy
ship testify. Of the once booming "dhow" trade, only a
few motorized wooden vessels were to be seen in the har-
bor at the time of our visit, while stevedores were sleeping
under rows of battered 40-year-old Bedford trucks parked
along the waterfront (fig. 3). In a musty Aden bookstore,
hand-colored postcards from the 1950s show the city as a


INA Quarterly 24.3










ocean, orderly, and lively place; the comparison with to-
day's Aden certainly invites reflection on the ever-chang-
ing fate of port cities.
Despite plans to reinstate Aden's "free port" status,
and the Yemeni government's commitment to turn Aden
into the nation's economic capital, if is difficult to predict
the port's future. Other harbors have now taken precedence
as Yemen's maritime centers, while a score of smaller ports
along the Yemeni coast forge a living from the bountiful
fisheries of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The num-
bers of ships calling at Hodeyda on the Red Sea are so great
that, according to some reports, waiting periods to on- or


off-load can extend up to six months. On the Indian Ocean,
the spectacular port city of Mukalla boasts recently refur-
bished harbor facilities, as well as a canning factory and
cold storage units for the local fishing cooperatives (fig. 4).
While trade has become largely containerized and relies
on enormous steel hulls, fishermen all along the coasts of
Arabia primarily employ wooden Arab-built vessels, mo-
torized and equipped for deep-sea voyages and long-term
cold storage. For Yemen's maritime communities, the sea
is not only a link with their past, but it also continues to
play a paramount role in the shaping of their present and
future (fig. 5).


Fig. 5. Current Twenty-Rial banknote from Yemen, showing the modern port
facilities at Aden and a "dhow" under sail, an image of Yemen's maritime past.


SUGGESTED READING
Casson, Lionel
1989 The Periplus Maris Erythreae. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Goitein, S.D.
1973 Letters of Medieval Jewish Merchants. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Makintosh-Smith, Tim
1997 Yemen: Travels in a Dictionary Land. London.
Prados, Edward
1996 "Huris, Sanbuqs, and the Boatbuilders of Yemen." Wooden Boat 131 (August): 50-56.


INA Quarterly 24.3








The Camel's Nose is in the Tent.

Can the Whole Camel Make it in?


By Mary Rosenberg

How the Northwest Friends of INA was organized to spread INA's story and become a model for
other groups to provide financial support to a growing institution.


Dick and Mary Rosenberg and David
Perlman of Portland, Oregon, have formed a
unique financial support group, the North-
west Friends of INA, which in turn allows
its members to learn about archaeological
projects on a firsthand basis. We asked Mary
to tell how it all came about.


The idea of a group to tell the story of INA and raise
funds for the Institute began over dinner in Portland and
continued in the courtyard of the Bodrum Museum of
Underwater Archaeology, where we sat one afternoon with
George Bass. The need we saw was large, but if one group
could be formed successfully, others could surely follow
in different parts of the country.
As originally conceived, our group would aim to
have one hundred members, each member contributing
$100, thus raising $10,000 annually. No one thought of a
single purpose for the money at this point. First it seemed
important to establish local interest. Thus, in 1991, Don Frey
spoke to an invited group in the Portland Art Museum
Auditorium about underwater surveys along the Turkish
coast.
Shortly afterward, we arranged for Dr. George Bass,
INA's founder and president, to visit Portland under the
auspices of an established lecture series. On a cold, icy night
he drew well over two thousand people to the public au-
ditorium to hear him talk about INA's discovery and ex-
cavation of he Bronze Age shipwreck at Uluburun. After
the lecture, invited acquaintances met at the home of Dav-
id Perlman's mother. Then and there, the Northwest
Friends of INA was officially born. There was no election
of officers, but clearly those who were interested could
identify themselves. We set out to develop a large mailing
list of interested people and to present one public lecture
each fall to raise an annual $10,000. Membership would
range from Friend, at $100-$499, to Benefactor, at $500-
$999, to Patron, at $1,000 and above.
During the next five years, several changes evolved,
most important of which was the tangible commitment to
raise $50,000 to bring a 4,000-volume library of classical
archaeology to INA's Bodrum headquarters. We agreed
to pay INA $10,000 each year for five years. Another lec-
ture was added each spring, with INA providing speakers
form varied areas of its activities.


The story of INA came alive with each speaker de-
scribing his or her participation and function. Following
Dr. Bass came Dr. Faith Hentschel, to discuss the Medi-
eval "Glass Wreck" at Serqe Limani. Then there was Dr.
Claire Dean to talk about teaching conservation at the Bo-
drum Museum. Dr. Frederick Hocker lectured on the re-
construction of a medieval boat. William Charlton talked
about unique challenges of diving at great depths for ar-
chaeology. Dr. Shelley Wachsmann presented a lecture on
the recovery of the Sea of Galilee boat in Israel, and Dr.
Cheryl Haldane discussed the significance of finding Chi-
nese porcelain on a wreck in the Red Sea. Rezart Spahia,
visiting scholar from Albania, also described his hope of
establishing a branch of INA on the Albanian coast.
An important component for adding potential au-
dience and promotional impetus was shared sponsorship
with related organizations. Natural links were with the
Middle East Studies Center at Portland State University,
the Portland Art Museum, and (with Dr. Cheryl Haldane
Ward talking about "Transporting an Egyptian Obelisk
Down the Nile") the Ancient Egypt Studies Association.
In Los Angeles, where Dr. Haldane Ward spoke in
spring of 1997 under the aegis of INA-Egypt, additional
sponsorships once more came into play. Effectively coordi-
nated by EUlie Ster of the Los Angeles area, Dr. Haldane Ward
appeared at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the UCLA
Center for Near Eastern Studies, and the Pacific Asia Museum.
Each speaker, as professional scientist or student,
gave an individual story. Each brought an illustrated talk
about a different site of archaeological importance in the
expansion of knowledge of past civilizations. We visual-
ize thirty or forty cities, each with an organization contrib-
uting $15,000 to $100,000 per year, helping INA expand a
network of organizations, scholars, specialists, and popu-
lar audiences. With these ever widening circles of appreci-
ation and deeper understanding of archeology, INA will
open its tent beyond future imagination.


INA Quarterly 24.3








Profile


John De Lapa

This past summer, John De Lapa traveled to Ath-
ens, Greece, for the wedding of two graduates of the Na-u-
tical Archaeology Program at Texas A&M University, Peter
Van Alfen and Roxanni Margariti. It was not surprising to
see him there, for although John started his association with
INA as one of the sponsors of the Yassiada exhibit, he has
since become a close friend to many of us. It was surpris-
ing to see John in a suit.
John's outfit of preference is a white tee shirt, shorts
(a pocketknife included), and sneakers-a baseball cap
being an optional accessory, depending on the weather.
John somehow makes this outfit look proper, if not con-
servative, in most settings. John showed up dressed like
this for his first day of work on the Yassiada exhibit. He
also brought with him a suitcase full of tools. As I recall he
had a handsaw, circular saw, plane, and a drawknife. This
was not the individual I pictured when I was told that the
sponsor of the project's travel expenses was coming to
work with us.
On the morning walk to work at the Bodrum castle,
John would usually buy a Wall Street Journal in order to
check on the status of his investments. A caricature of John
would not be complete without a newspapertucked in his Photo: T. Pevny
back pocket. A complete portrait of John is far more com-
plex. When he put down his newspaper we soon learned John De Lapa (lft) and Peter van An fairing the hull of the
that John was a great carpenter. His previous boat build- Yasszada replica.
ing experienced proved a valuable asset for the project. John and I spent many hours discussing, often arguing, about
various techniques of ship construction. This became a great basis for our friendship. As I have learned over the last
couple of years, boat building is just one of John's interests and talents. We hear many cliches about work ethic, self-
reliance, family, and community values; it is not an exaggeration to say that many of these are embodied in John.
For people familiar with Turkey, many of these social values seem quite tangible in everyday Turkish life. This
spirit is captured in John's photographs. Every year John rents a car and travels around Turkey and photographs
traditional crafts that are practiced there today, for example: wooden boat building, bread making, glass bead making,
basket weaving, charcoal making, and olive oil pressing. His photographs do not simply show the technical side of a
craft but are portraits of working people. As for the technical aspects, John usually studies the traditional techniques
and tries to replicate them himself. He doesn't just try it once but usually tries to develop some level of proficiency. As
a result, he is also a good teacher.
For example, last winter John visited us in College Station. He arrived in the morning and by that evening I had
my first lesson in casting lead. We cast four lead drafting weights that I have since found very useful. We melted the
lead over a campfire at night, and so I didn't notice a small carving on the mold. I would always remember that John
made the molds, because the weights have the Turkish moon and star cast into their sides. I distinctly remember his
amused smile when I first noticed this detail.
Most people who know John become familiar with the merits of catalpa wood. These he knows well, and as a
result has invested in a large catalpa farm in the back of his house in Michigan. It is a farm he personally planted and
maintains. He will be lucky if the trees are ready to harvest when he is an old man, yet this in no way dampens his
interest or enthusiasm. It is a worthwhile long-term project. John once told me that he supports projects that are backed
by determination and hard work, that have a worthy goal and not only an assured successful outcome. He has been a
good friend to INA, another long-term project of great merit.
Taras Pevny


INA Quarterly 24.3








News & Notes


Visiting Scholars
The Nautical Archaeology Pro-
gram at Texas A&M University is for-
tunate in the Fall semester of 1997 to
be both the recipient and the donor of
visiting scholars. The Institute and
University in College Station has wel-
comed Dr. John M. McManamon, Pro-
fessor in the Department of History at
Loyola University of Chicago. Dr.
McManamon, a member of the Soci-
ety of Jesus, has a long-standing inter-
est in nautical archaeology. He has
served as the Project Historian of the
Committee for Underwater Archaeol-
ogy of the Chicago Maritime Society
since 1987. His major academic focus
has been on the Italian Humanists of
the fifteenth-century Renaissance, and
his "dream excavation" is one of the
many Venetian trading vessels of that
era. Dr. McManamon has been attend-
ing several of the core courses in the
Program to familiarize himself with
some of the technical issues involved
in the study of the history of seafar-
ing.
Christopher Cook, a third-year
Nautical Archaeology student left at
the beginning of October 1997 for a
two month academic visit as a Jordan
Scholar to Roskilde, Denmark. He will
be studying the development of an-
cient boat burial traditions in Scandi-
navia. Mr. Cook continues the fruitful
exchange of scholars that has been es-
tablished between the Nautical Ar-
chaeology Program and Danish
institutions such as the universities
and the Danish National Maritime
Museum in Roskilde.
Joint Memberships Available
The National Maritime Histor-
ical Society invites members of the In-
stitute of Nautical Archaeology to join
their organization for $25 annually,
$10 off the regular rate of $35. The So-
ciety's address is PO Box 68, Peekskill,
New York 10566. INA members need
only identify themselves to qualify for the
reduced rate.


Film Available
The Ancient Mariners, produced
in 1980, tells the story of how INA was
then tracing the history of ship design
from ancient through Byzantine times,
using as examples the classical Greek
ship excavated off and restored at
Kyrenia, Cyprus; the seventh-century
CE Byzantine ship at Yassiada, Tur-
key; and the eleventh-century medi-
eval ship at Serce Limani, Turkey.
Animation vividly makes clear the
evolution from shell-first to frame-first
hull construction. The program, often
using archival footage from the 1960s,
moves between Greece, Turkey, and
the United States as INA's Michael
Katzev, J. Richard Steffy, and George
Bass describe and discuss different
aspects of their work, sometimes illus-
trated by artifacts or replicas. Schol-
ars Lionel Casson and Barbara Kreutz
lend their expertise in interviews. The
Film, initially telecast on PBS-TV, was
the first produced by Sam Low, who
had dived at Yassiada while still an
undergraduate, but who left the field
of archaeology for a successful career
in film production.
INA members can order The
Ancient Mariners, identifying that is
part of the Odyssey Series, by calling
Stella at PBS Video, 1-800-328-7271,
for $29.95 each plus $6.00 shipping and
handling.
Students receive 1997-98 Honors
The following students in the
Nautical Archaeology Program at Tex-
as A&M University have received
non-teaching graduate assistantships
in the Program: Deborah Carlson,
Timothy Collins, Doreen Danis, Jana-
lyn Gober, Kristin Romey, Christopher
Sabick, and Erika Washburn. Christine
Powell has received an assistantship
through the Institute of Nautical Ar-
chaeology. An INA scholarship was
awarded to Eric Emery. Erich Hein-
hold will hold the Marion Cook Grad-
uate Fellowship, while Sam Mark will
hold the Ray Sigfried Graduate Fel-


lowship. In addition, the following
individuals have received LaSalle As-
sistantships: Jason Barrett, Amy Bor-
gens, Jonathan Faucher, Peter Fix, Ben
Liu, and James Mason.
Cheryl Haldane Ward Receives
Mellon Foreign Area Fellowship
The United States Library of
Congress Office of Scholarly Programs
has announced that INA Adjunct Pro-
fessor Cheryl Haldane Ward has re-
ceived one of their first five Mellon
Foreign Area Fellowship awards.
These fellowships are intended to
support post-doctoral research by
less-established American scholars as
they embark on a second major re-
search topic following their disserta-
tions. Dr. Haldane Ward received her
master's and doctoral degrees through
the Nautical Archaeology Program at
Texas A&M University, with a re-
search focus on ancient Egyptian wa-
tercraft. She has more recently been
the archaeological director for INA-
Egypt and the director of the Sadana
Island Shipwreck excavation (see INA
Quarterly 23.3, 3-8). She will use the
fellowship to research "Red Sea and
Western Indian Ocean Trade in the
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centu-
ries." Dr. Haldane Ward will use con-
sular reports, travel accounts, maps,
and contemporary documents to pro-
vide a broad context for the detailed
archaeological record provided by the
mid-eighteenth-century Sadana Island
ship, its crew, and its cargo.
Shelley Wachsmann Honored
Dr. Shelley Wachsmann has
been selected by the Biblical Archae-
ology Society-publishers of Biblical
Archaeology Review and Bible Re-
view-to receive a BAS Publication
Award. The prize names Dr. Wach-
smann's book The Sea of Galilee Boat:
An Extraordinary 2000 Year Old Dis-
covery as Best Popular Book on Ar-
chaeology published in 1995-96.


INA Quarterly 24.3










Left: Kendra Quinn, Bob Warkentin,
and William Charlton (left to right)
carry out routine maintenance on
their underwater camera equipment
at the one-day seminar arranged by
Dr. Shelley Wachsmann.












Below: Helen Dewolfarranges items
in the showcase for the exhibit at the
Bush Presidential Library.

Photo: C. A. Powell

Photography Seminar Held
Underwater photography expert Bob Warkentin of
the Southern Nikonos Service Center, Houston, donated
his time and expertise to a group of interested A&M stu-
dents and faculty on 4 October 1997. The seminar, arranged
by Dr. Shelley Wachsmann, provided excellent advice and
practical help in the operation and maintenance of under-
water cameras. The first workshop was attended by Dr.
Wachsmann, Deborah Carlson, William Charlton Jr.,
Doreen Danis, Dan Davis, Christine Powell, Kendra Quinn,
and Erika Washburn. It is hoped that similar seminars can
be arranged on a regular annual basis.
Nautical Exhibit at Bush Library
The Nautical Archaeology Program at Texas A&M
University was invited to provide an exhibit of its work
for the opening of the George Bush Presidential Library in
College Station. This included displays of both INA
projects and other nautical archaeology projects with which
the Program has been involved.
INA receives valued gifts
INA would like to thank the Shell Company ofTur-
key Ltd., for its generous donations to the annual survey
in Turkey and the Mobil Foundation, Inc., Egypt for their
donations towards the Conservation Laboratory in Alex-
andria, Egypt. Their valued support has greatly contrib-
uted to the efforts of the Institute.


INA Quarterly 24.3












INSTITUTE OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY




OFFICERS ADMINISTRATION


James A. Goold, Secretary
Claudia LeDoux, Assistant Secretary
Rebecca H. Holloway,
Assistant Treasurer


William L. Allen
John H. Baird
George F. Bass
Edward O. Boshell, Jr.,
Vice Chairman and Treasurer
Ray M. Bowen
John A. Brock
Elizabeth L. Bruni
Gregory M. Cook, Chairman
Harlan Crow
Frank Darden
John De Lapa


George F. Bass, President



BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Claude Duthuit
Daniel Fallon
Danielle J. Feeney
Donald G. Geddes III (Emeritus)
Woodrow Jones, Jr.
Harry C. Kahn II (Emeritus)
Michael L. Katzev
Jack W. Kelley
Sally R. Lancaster
Robert E. Lorton
Frederick R. Mayer

FACULTY


Donald A. Frey, Vice President
Cemal M. Pulak, Vice President


William A. McKenzie
Alex G. Nason
L. Francis Rooney
Ayhan Sicimoglu
Ray H. Siegfried II
William T. Sturgis
Robert L. Walker
Lew O. Ward
Peter Ml Way
Garry A. Weber
Martin H. Wilcox
George O. Yamini


George F. Bass
George T. & Gladys H. Abell Professor of Nautical Archaeology/ George O. Yamini Family Professor of Liberal Arts
Kevin J. Crisman, Nautical Archaeology Faculty Fellow
Donny L. Hamilton, Frederick R- Mayer Faculty Fellow
Frederick M. Hocker, Sara W. & George 0. Yamini Faculty Professor
Cemal M. Pulak, Frederick R. Mayer Faculty Fellow of Nautical Archaeology,
C. Wayne Smith
J. Richard Steffy, Sara W. & George O. Yamini Professor of Nautical Archaeology, Emeritus
Frederick H. van Doorninck, Jr., Frederick R. Mayer Professor of Nautical Archaeology, Emeritus
Shelley Wachsmann, Meadows Assistant Professor of Biblical Archaeology


STAFF
Birgil Akbillit
Barto Arnold
Mustafa Babactk
Renee Bork
William H. Charlton, Jr., M.A.
Marion Degirmenci
Adel Farouk
Sevil G6kmen
Douglas Haldane, M.A.
Maria Jacobsen
Emad Khalil
Sheila D. Matthews, M.A.
Selma Oguz
G6khan Ozagach, Ph.D.
GtineSOzbay
Jane Pannell
Claire P. Peachey, M.A.
Robin C.M. Piercy
Sema Pulak, M.A.
Patricia M. Sibella, Ph.D.
Giilser Sinac
Tufan U. Turanh
Howard Wellman, M.A.

QUARTERLY EDITOR
Christine A. Powell


RESEARCH ASSOCIATES
Elizabeth Robinson Baldwin, M.A.
Gregory Gidden
Jeremy Green
Elizabeth Greene
Jerome Hall, Ph.D.
Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton, Ph.D.
Robert S. Neyland, Ph.D.
Ralph K. Pedersen, M.A.
Brett A. Phaneuf
Donald Rosencrantz
Peter G. van Alfen, M.A.
ADJUNCT PROFESSORS
Arthur Cohn, J.D.
Cynthia J. Eiseman, Ph.D.
John A. Gifford, Ph.D.
Faith D. Hentschel, Ph.D.
Carolyn G. Koehler, Ph.D.
David I. Owen, Ph.D.
David C. Switzer, PhD.
Cheryl Ward, Ph.D.
Gordon P. Watts, Jr., M.A.


COUNSEL
James A. Goold


SUPPORTING INSTITUTIONS
Australian Institute of Maritime Archaeology
Boston University
Brown University
Bryn Mawr College
University of California, Berkeley
University of Cincinnati
Cornell University
Coming Museum of Glass
Department de Arqueol6gia Subacuatica de
la I.N.A.I., Mexico
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
New York University, Institute of Fine Arts
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Partners for Livable Places
University Museum, University of
Pennsylvania
Texas A&M Research Foundation
Texas A&M University
University of Texas at Austin
GRADUATE FELLOWS
Mr. and Mrs. Ray H. Siegfried II
Graduate Fellow: Samuel Mark
Marion M. Cook Graduate Fellow:
Erich Heinold