In this first of what will be ongoing mini-episodes, we examine the discovery and study of Ship 17 at the ancient Egyptian city of Thonis-Heracleion. After running through the history of this city and it's significance to maritime history, we then read a passage from Herodotus where he describes a baris ship that he saw during his tour of ancient Egypt. We conclude by looking at the archaeological work being done in Thonis-Heracleion by Franck Goddio and Alexandar Belov. Ship 17 in particular has been largely excavated, measured, and thoroughly studied. This rather large ancient Egyptian cargo vessel seems to almost entirely line up with the 'baris' passage from Herodotus, so Ship 17 appears to be the first baris ship to have been discovered in ancient Egypt.

Show Notes

http://maritimehistorypodcast.com/mini-ep-001---ship-17-at-thonis-heracleion/

Sources

• Belov, Alexandre, A new type of construction evidenced by Ship 17 of Heracleion-Thonis, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 43.2: 314-329, 2014.
• Belov, Alexandre, Archaeological evidence for the Egyptian baris (Herodotus, II.96), in Robinson, D. and Goddio, F. (eds.) Thonis-Heracleion in context: the maritime economy of the Egyptian Late Period, 189-204. Oxford.
• Belov, Alexandre, 2014, New Evidence for the Steering System of the Egyptian Baris (Herodotus 2.96). International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. Vol.43.1, pp.3-9. , 2014.
• Belov, Alexandre, 2016, New light on the construction of the Egyptian baris as per Herodotus' narrative (2.96). Египет и сопредельные страны / Egypt and neighbouring countries 1: 34-47., 2016.
• Belov, Alexandre, The Shipwrecks of Heracleion-Thonis: An Overview, in Belova, G. A. (ed.) Achievements and problems of modern Egyptology. Proceedings of the international conference. September 29-October 4, 2009, Moscow, 107-118. Moscow.
• Goddio, Franck, Sunken Civilizations: Heracleion.
• The Guardian, Nile shipwreck discovery proves Herodotus right – after 2,469 years, 17 March 2019.