The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Pirates Ahoy! - Emmaf.org

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Pirates Ahoy!
Dr. Kristian Lorenzo

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Topics
Warships IV
The Quinquereme
Modern Pirates
Somalia
Ancient Pirates
The Kyrenia Shipwreck
Where, when, what
The Siege of Rhodes
Reconstruction
The Cargo
Piracy?

Warships IV: the Quinquereme
A Quinquereme or a 5 = 5 rowers per side of ship e.g. 1 st level
with 1 man per oar, 2 nd level with 2 men per oar, 3 rd level with 2
men per oar

Warships IV: the Quinquereme
A Quinquereme or a 5 = 5 rowers per side of ship e.g. 1 st level
with 1 man per oar, 2 nd level with 2 men per oar, 3 rd level with 2
men per oar

Modern Pirates
The principal risk zones for modern piratical activity.

Modern Pirates
A Somali pirate, a man with nothing to lose.

Modern Pirates: Piracy pays
Pirate attacks often include either short-term hostage situations or more often
long-term (1-2 year) hostage situations which when not thwarted can yield
ransoms of millions of dollars/pounds/euros, etc

Ancient Pirates
Who were “pirates” depended very much on who were
the victors and who the losers, in an engagement.
Also who wrote the histories, such as Herodotus or
Thucydides, and then the later Roman writers such as
Livy or Cicero.
Crew #4 will talk about the Cilician Pirates on Friday!

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Where
Rhodes
X
Cyprus
Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. X = the site of the Kyrenia
shipwreck

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Where
X
Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. X = the site of the Kyrenia
shipwreck

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: When
About 50 years after 322 B.C. when this man drank himself to
death

The Kyrenia
Shipwreck: What
Discovered by a sponge
diver in 1965, who in
1967 alerted University of
Pennsylvania doctoral
student Michael Katzev,
who at that time was
working with George Bass
on the Byzantine Yassi
Ada shipwreck.

The Kyrenia
Shipwreck: What
Excavation of the Kyrenia
ship a merchant vessel off
the north coast of Cyprus
with reference grid
shown, scuba equipped
maritime archaeologists
and an airlift.

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: What
A view of some of the amphorae from the Kyrenia shipwreck
prior to excavation.

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: What
6 th century B.C. black figure cup showing a merchant vessel and
a warship/pirate ship (?)

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Piracy
x
Unlike Athenian naval supremacy in the Aegean during the 5 th century, or the
later pax romana in the Mediterranean of the Roman empire, the sea was not
ruled by any one Hellenistic power

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Piracy
The hemiolia: the fastest war galley in Hellenistic navies
and a favorite ship for pirates.

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: What
And the ranks of every major military campaign were filled
with mercenaries….and also pirates

The Siege of Rhodes, ca. 304 B.C.
One example of the mobilization of pirates during a
military campaign: the siege of Rhodes.

The Siege of Rhodes, ca. 304 B.C.
One example of the mobilization of pirates during a
military campaign: the siege of Rhodes

The Siege of Rhodes, ca. 304 B.C.
Three ‘deckless’ pirate ships in the employ of Demetrios ‘the
Besieger’ were captured in a Rhodian naval foray (Diodorus Siculus,
World Histories, chapters 20.81, 20.100)

The Siege of Rhodes, ca. 304 B.C.
Demetrios ‘the Besieger’ was unsuccessful; the Rhodians celebrated with the
construction of the colossus of Rhodes (one of the 7 wonders of the ancient
world), a statue of the sun god Helios.

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: When
Within about 3 decades of the siege of Rhodes ca. 304 B.C. a
ship sunk off the northern coast of Cyprus

Excavation of the Kyrenia ship a merchant vessel with reference grid shown,
scuba equipped maritime archaeologists and an airlift.
The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Excavation
A view of some of the amphorae
from the Kyrenia shipwreck prior to
excavation.

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Excavation
Amphorae
Portions of the Hull

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Reconstruction

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Reconstruction
Replica complete with
partial lead hull plating
80 repairs were made to the hull
Shell-first with mortise and tenon
construction

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Reconstruction
Ancient iconography was consulted and did provide help

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Reconstruction
Ancient iconography was consulted and did provide help

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: the Cargo
380 amphoras in 10 varieties: the majority from Rhodes and
several from Samos

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: the Cargo
380 amphoras in 10 varieties: the majority from Rhodes and
several from Samos

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: the Cargo
29 grain mill blocks
and over 10,000 almonds

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Piracy?
The evidence: Eight spear/javelin points, several with the ship’s
lead sheathing attached to them.

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Piracy?
The evidence: Folded and pierced lead ‘curse tablet,’ it is uninscribed

The Kyrenia Shipwreck: Piracy?
If a victim of a pirate attack what evidence could you expect to
find?