Ancient Ports

David Blackman and Boris Rankov published Shipsheds of the Ancient Mediterranean in 2013. This publication, based on the results of the research project “Shipsheds in the Ancient Mediterranean,” contains an extremely problematic study of the architecture and topography of the shipsheds in the Piraeus conducted by Rankov that is supplemented by architectural reconstructions by Jari Pakkanen. This is my evaluation of their study including an answer to their criticism of our research – please read it and judge for yourself (Chapter 6.4, pp. 155–173). I have also included Chapter 6.1–6.3 on the relative sea-level change and the positions of slipways and shipsheds at Zea and Mounichia Harbours (see pp. 147–155), since this data is important for the arguments presented in Chapter 6.4. The relevant figures and plates are included.

This paper aims to compare ancient and modern port structures hoping that the modern can help us in a better understanding of the ancient, with special focus on breakwaters and quay walls. Archaic shipping and the oldest known port structures are briefly presented. Vertical breakwaters and quays, large concrete blocks, pilae and arched breakwaters, piling walls, moulded structures, in-the-dry constructions, rubble mound breakwaters and training walls are described in the ancient and in the modern world. A few geomorphological aspects of coastal harbours are also reviewed.
It is concluded that most natural shelters were used in Roman times, but some major ports have been built in places without any natural shelter, for strategic or economic reasons.
Most of today’s concepts for maritime structures were already existing in Roman times and it seems that little progress was made until the 18th c. when large maritime structures started to be built again. The combination of reinforced concrete and steel enables modern engineers to build higher, deeper and larger than Roman engineers could dream of, but some modern structures may not last as long as some Roman structures, especially in salt water …

The port site of Berenike Troglodytica - located on the Egyptian Red Sea coast - served the spice and incense routes that linked the Mediterranean World (specifically the Roman Empire) to India, Southern Arabia and East Africa. In the Greco-Roman period the site was at the cutting edge of what was then the embryonic global economy, ideally situated as a key node connecting Indian Ocean and Mediterranean trade for almost 800 years. It is now located in an arid, marginal, hostile environment but the situation must have been very different 2300 years ago, at the time of its founding. At the time of elephant-hunting trips during the Hellenistic period before the inception of its important role in the global markets of the day in the Roman period Berenike would have to have looked much different to what we can now imagine. What was it like then, when the first prospectors visited this location at the time of Ptolemy II? Why this particular place, and this particular landscape setting seemed such a propitious location for the siting of an important new harbour?

Given the importance of the port over almost a millennium it is perhaps surprising that very little is known about the different factors impacting on the foundation, evolution, heyday and subsequent decline of the city; or the size, shape, and capacity of its harbour. The intention of this research is to address this shortfall in our knowledge, to examine the drivers behind the rise and fall of this port city, and to explore the extent to which the dynamics of the physical landscape were integral to this story. Using an innovative Earth Science approach, changes in the archaeological 'coastscape' have been reconstructed and correlated with periods of occupation and abandonment of the port, shedding light on the nature, degree and directionality of human-environment interactions at the site. This work has revealed profound changes in the configuration of the coastal landscape and environment (including the sea level) during the lifespan of Berenike, highlighting the ability of people to exploit changes in their immediate environment, and demonstrating that, ultimately, the decline of the port was partly due to these landscape dynamics.

To further explore these themes the landscape reconstructions have been supplemented by semi-quantitative analyses of a suite of variables likely to influence the initial siting of new ports of trade. These have shown that although the site of Berenike was ideal in terms of its coastal landscape potential, possessing a natural sheltered bay and lagoon system, the choice of location was not solely influenced by its environmental conditions. Additionally, a detailed review of vessels that plied Red Sea and Indian Ocean routes is presented here in order to better understand the design and functioning of Berenike’s harbour. This serves the purpose of identifying unifying features that provide more detail about the size and draught of vessels and the potential capacity of the harbour basin.

By using this multi-scalar approach it has been possible to reconstruct the 'coastscape' of the site through the key periods of its occupancy and those phases immediately before and after its operation. This has wide-ranging implications for researchers studying ancient ports along this trade network as a larger database will tease out more details about how influential the landscape was in the initial siting of the port and its subsequent use and decline.

Abstract – A 'harbour' is a place where ships can seek shelter. The concept of 'shelter' has to include anchorages, landing places on beaches, and ports with infrastructures. Even though ancient seafarers could sail 50 to 100 nautical miles in a day, it was important to know where they could find safe shelter within two to three hours of navigation, i.e. only approximately 10 miles. For safe sailing, a total of at least 300 shelters was therefore required around the Black Sea and Azov Sea. This paper presents a list and map of 388 known ancient harbours in the Black Sea and Azov Sea, and concludes that ancient ports are probably still to be found in Ukraine and southern Russia.
Résumé – Un « havre » est un endroit où les bateaux peuvent trouver un abri. Dans le concept d'abri il faut inclure les mouillages, les plages sur lesquelles les bateaux peuvent être halés, et les ports avec des infrastructures. Même si les marins de l'antiquité pouvaient parcourir 50 à 100 miles nautiques par jour, il était important de connaître les abris sûrs dans un rayon de deux à trois heures de navigation ; c'est‑à‑dire environ 10 miles nautiques. Un total d'au moins 300 abris était donc nécessaire pour une navigation sûre autour de la mer Noire et de la mer d'Azov. Cet article présente une liste et une carte de 388 abris et ports antiques dans la région de la mer Noire et de la mer d'Azov, et conclut que des ports antiques sont sans doute encore à découvrir en Ukraine et en Russie méridionale. Mot‑clés : havre antique, abri antique, port antique, mer Noire, mer d'Azov.

Reg:3090/2016.
Arikamedu was one of the famous port in Ancient period. In ancient time year 200 B.C – A.D.400. Arikamedu was known as bead making site in India. In 1945 Wheeler & Casal were excavated the site of arikamedu from their he found the Mini sculpture of Terracotta Ganesh object in the French excavation. Recently in 2013 one more Mini Sculpture of Terracotta Ganesh object were founded in the river of Arikamedu.

This presentation aims to compare aspects of ancient and modern maritime logistics such as stowage on board ships, loading & unloading, exporting & importing of goods, and merchant ships & sailing. A few major nodal points are known to have formed a network for trade in the Mediterranean area (Rome, Alexandria, Gades, Carthago), and many smaller nodes created imbricated networks. The number of ships sailing the oceans has increased by a factor of ten and large ship sizes have increased from 40-50 m in length to 300-400 m, but the number of shipwrecks per year has remained fairly steady, showing that ancient sailing was more dangerous than modern sailing. The value of cargo on each ship, based on an exchange rate of 1 sesterce = 6.50 euro, has also increased by a factor of ten. Sailing routes on the Mediterranean Sea and on the Red Sea are analysed briefly and show that sailing to windward was required. It can hence be concluded that today's maritime logistics were already in use more than 2000 years ago, but in ancient times, today's " time is money " was less important than " have a safe trip back home " .

La idea que ha originado este libro es sencilla -abordar el universo cultural de los puertos atlánticos-, pero de compleja materialización, ya que se entrecruzan la movilidad de las personas, el trasiego constante de los puertos, la permeabilidad de los comportamientos y de los hábitos y costumbres, el flujo de saberes y destrezas, la diversidad de idiomas, los niveles culturales, las inquietudes religiosas, las militancias políticas, etc. La documentación responde mal a muchas de estas cuestiones o sólo en situaciones de estrés motivadas por conflictos o por controles externos. Sin embargo, esta dificultad es la que aporta una dosis de riesgo y de atractivo a un ámbito temático que merecerá, sin duda, un esfuerzo investigador cada vez mayor y más imaginativo.

This paper examines several interrelated aspects of maritime connectivity within the Roman Mediterranean. First, it considers Fulford’s suggestion of a divide between eastern and western trading zones along the North African coast in the light of new discoveries since the publication of his article in Libyan Studies in 1989. Some evidence supports his analysis; the distribution of Italian bricks imported as return cargoes to North Africa does not extend east of the Gulf of Sirt; by contrast the identifiable exports from Cyrenaica go north up the Adriatic but not west to Tripolitania. However, the imported finewares at Berenice (Benghazi) in the third century AD are almost exclusively African Red Slip ware from Tunisia, though it is unclear if they have been imported directly (as clearly occurred much earlier with the import of Punic cooking wares to Cyrenaica), or as return cargoes from an intermediate entrepôt such as Portus. The idea of a certain amount of traffic along the North African littoral is supported by the epigraphic evidence suggesting Alexandrian worshippers at sanctuaries of Isis and Sarapis at major North African ports west of the Gulf of Sirt, who may be part of trading diaspora communities, of the kind attested at Puteoli and elsewhere. Such trading communities at major ports suggest regular mercantile connections on established routes, with knowledge about general market demand (if not actual price levels) at distant ports, and sometimes contacts between known trading partners. The glass industry is considered as a case study illustrating the geographical integration of the Roman economy through maritime networks between ports. Roman glass production relied heavily on large-scale primary production of raw glass in the Levant, using natron imported from Egypt. The raw glass was then shipped around the Roman world to secondary production centres where it was transformed into a final product; the different stages of production were linked by long-distance maritime trade routes. Finally, the paper examines how port structures, capacities and facilities might relate to and reflect the patterns of maritime trade in antiquity. The type and size of port infrastructure and harbour capacity can help to construct hierarchies of ports, ranging from villa harbours to major entrepôts like Portus, and to suggest connections between them within regional hierarchies. It is noteworthy that some of the villa harbours of the Roman period could accommodate sizeable sea-going ships capable of undertaking open-water voyages to distant emporia.

Η εργασία αυτή, διδακτορική διατριβή του Σωτήρη Ραπτόπουλου εξετάζει ζητήματα οικονομικής ιστορίας των Κυκλάδων, μέσω της επαναξιολόγησης των παλαιότερων ερευνών και της παρουσίασης νέων. Στόχος είναι η εύρεση των βασικών στοιχείων των οικονομιών των Κυκλάδων –αλλά και οι διαφοροποιήσεις που τα συστήματα αυτά υφίστανται κατά το πέρασμα από τους ελληνιστικούς στους ρωμαϊκούς χρόνους.