The Depositional Contexts of the Ships from Thonis-Heracleion, Egypt

Abstract

Over 70 ancient vessels have been discovered by the Institut Européen d'Archéologie Sous-Marine in the port-city of Thonis-Heracleion, Egypt. These were deposited both individually and in groups from the 8th to the 2nd century BC. This paper investigates the contexts of these vessels to suggest that a variety of explanations—shipwrecking, ritual deposition, abandonment, and structural reuse—account for their deposition. It also seeks to place these events within the changing landscape of Thonis-Heracleion to understand the agency behind many of the decisions about what to do with old ships and boats at the end of their use-life. The Depositional Contexts of the Ships from Thonis-Heracleion, Egypt Mas de setenta embarcaciones antiguas han sido descubirtas por el Instituto Europeo de Arqueología Submarina (Institut Européen d'Archéologie Sous-Marine) en la ciudad portuaria de Thonis-Heracleion, Egipto. Estas estaban depos itadas individualmente y también en grupos de los siglos VIII al II a.C. Este articulo investiga el contexto de estas embarcaciones y sugiere que una variedad de explicaciones – naufragio, deposición ritual, abandono y reutilización estructural – dan cuenta de su disposición. También se busca situar estos eventos en el marco del paisaje cambiante de Thonis-Heracleion, para comprender la agencia tras las muchas decisiones acerca de que hacer con las embarcaciones mayores y menores viejas al final de su vida útil. Palabras calve: Arqueología Marítima, naufragio, abandono de embarcaciones, puerto, Periodo Ptolemaico Tardío, Egipto 埃及索尼斯-希拉克莱奥的船舶沉积环境 欧洲水下考古研究所在埃及港口城市索尼斯-希拉克莱奥 (Thonis-Heracleion) 港口城市发现了70多艘古船。这些公元前8世纪到公元前2世纪的船只或单独存在或成群堆积。本文通过考察这些船只的背景, 尝试以不同的解释——船舶失事、仪式沉积、废弃和重构——说明它们的沉积原因。我们还试图将这些事件置于索尼斯-希拉克莱奥不断变化的景观环境中, 以便理解在其使用寿命将尽时如何处理这些老旧船舶的许多决定背后的人为意志。 关键词: 海洋考古学, 沉船, 船舶废弃, 港口, 埃及托勒密王朝晚期 埃及索尼斯-希拉克萊奧的船舶沉積環境 歐洲水下考古研究所在埃及港口城市索尼斯-希拉克萊奧 (Thonis-Heracleion) 港口城市發現了70多艘古船。這些公元前8世紀到公元前2世紀的船只或單獨存在或成群堆積。本文通過考察這些船只的背景, 嘗試以不同的解釋——船舶失事、儀式沉積、廢棄和重構——說明它們的沉積原因。我們還試圖將這些事件置于索尼斯-希拉克萊奧不斷變化的景觀環境中, 以便理解在其使用壽命將盡時如何處理這些老舊船舶的許多決定背後的人爲意志。 關鍵詞: 海洋考古學, 沉船, 船舶廢棄, 港口, 埃及托勒密王朝晚期 More than 70 ancient ships have been discovered in the waters around the port-city of Thonis-Heracleion by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology. This is the largest assemblage of vessels ever to be discovered in one location in the ancient world and is an incomparable resource for understanding aspects of the nautical archaeology of Egypt's Late and Ptolemaic Periods from which the ships largely date (Fabre, 2011; Fabre and Belov, 2012; Goddio and Fabre, 2013). As the survey, excavations, and research into these vessels and the contexts in which they were found have progressed, it has become apparent that the assemblage is not simply a random collection of ships and boats that sank by chance across the history of the port. Instead, the assemblage is the result of some very specific formation processes in which catastrophes and ship wrecking certainly played a part, but these must also be set alongside a range of decisions, most likely taken by the inhabitants of Thonis-Heracleion themselves, about what to do with their old ships and boats as they came to the end of their active working lives. Understanding what these decisions were and how they resulted in different formation processes is at the heart of this paper and will be illustrated mainly through reference to those vessels discovered in the northern area of the port-city in the Central Port and Grand Canal. The distribution of these submerged vessels clearly demonstrates that they are not evenly scattered throughout the port but appear to be concentrated in several distinct areas (Fig. 1). Notably, there appears to be an eastern (Fig. 1A) and a western group (Fig. 1B) in the Central Port, a group close to the shoreline to the north and west of the sanctuary of Khonsu on the Central Island (Fig. 1C), and a cluster in the South East Port (Fig. 1D). This southern group of vessels is not included in this present discussion as only survey work has been undertaken here. In contrast, several of the ships and boats to the north have been stratigraphically excavated and their wider contexts examined in detail, allowing us to understand something of the agency of the ancient Egyptians who created the parts of the assemblage currently under investigation. The majority of the ships were found during survey work to characterize the topography of the port basins. This involved the systematic probing of the upper mobile layers of sand with thin metal rods by teams of divers (cf. Bowens, 2009: 135–136). Where evident obstructions were encountered the sand was cleared, which often revealed stone blocks, anchors and occasionally traces of wooden structures. The survey took place in discrete areas, each with their own baseline that was geospatially located. Each find was recorded in the site database, along with their spatial location relative to the local baseline, which allowed their plotting using the mapping software Surfer®. The survey areas were chosen to assist in the reconstruction of the topography of the port, with anchors obviously becoming fouled and lost in the waterways, whereas limestone blocks were used on the surrounding land to construct temples and other monumental structures. Together these two contrasting types of artefact roughly enabled the differentiation of areas of land from their surrounding waterways and the targeting of more detailed excavations to precisely locate the shorelines. The numbers of anchors discovered in the northern areas of the site is a testimony to the intensity of the survey in this part of the city, as well as their functions as anchorages during particular periods of the port's history. It should be noted when looking at Figures 1 and 2 that not all of the port was surveyed in the same detail. Ships were also discovered through this process, which were often covered by a mound of limestone ballast (Fabre, 2011: 26–28, fig. 1.19) and, as resolutely riverine and nautical objects, they too were subsequently systematically searched for due to the information that they could provide for the topography of the port, as well as about the vessels themselves. In the survey of the Central Port and Grand Canal the positions of suspected vessels, either represented by mounds of ballast or from timbers, were plotted. Following the initial discovery of the first ships during the 2001 mission, it quickly became apparent that it was neither practical nor desirable to conduct full stratigraphic excavations on every vessel and a policy of preservation in situ was adopted for the great majority of them. From 2003–2008 specific surveys were carried out to make an inventory of the ships in the South East and Central ports in order to characterize the nature of the nautical assemblage, to assess its preservation, and to develop a long-term strategy for the investigation of the different types of vessels preserved in Thonis-Heracleion. This involved the removal of the upper mobile layers of sand over suspected ships and where possible following the surviving edges of the hull planking where it emerged from the underlying clay of the harbour floors. It should be noted that into the of the clay layers was to an and that the removal of the sand simply allowed the of the planking as to a to some other wooden some about its and this of the investigation a of the of the ship was Fabre, and were taken from the for and The of these for the northern vessels will be to at the end of this In the first stratigraphic on ship which was by ship in These excavations are and two and currently under investigation. From this it is that only one of these vessels be a the one is as been deposited at an location in the landscape and two appear to have been following a working on the as different of in the port. from a of the of one of the of submerged ship suggest that ships and boats were also 2011: in the northern of Thonis-Heracleion are with an assemblage of and the waters of the ancient are by the most discovered of submerged vessel 2013). be as and by the of the or by or a or 2011: The of are the of many that have been in at the of the and the assemblage of the ship and its present it is possible to on the of of that to be with that several ships have been in areas of the port of Thonis-Heracleion that could have become and in the waterways this to be through detailed investigation. is more for a in the South where ship is currently under From the of the ship that is from the it appears that the hull has planking with and by to the hull with (Fig. This of is of other ships in the eastern at the It was discovered in a to a on the southern of the Central of the sanctuary of fig. in the of has as been discovered in the hull of the there are some that could be ship appears to have been a vessel that either been at a or was when it was during a with This at the end of the 2nd century and Goddio and on the by of VIII resulted in the of the of and the sanctuary of the from which and ship as it was at the This be by the of limestone blocks discovered in with the hull of ship of other and also been discovered along the northern of the Central Island and date from this it is that they too were in this across the western to the Grand Canal (Fig. This on the northern of the Central Island on which the of The was the of in the port-city from the of the its in the at the end of the 2nd century that also sank ship The of ship to around the of the was a vessel around by It is in the assemblage from Thonis-Heracleion as it is the only one from the this is used for in Egypt 2013). The has a of that were to which were and using The hull was through a of with and and at that were to the upper of the and of the The was with a and an of the of its the clearly a of as be from the on the of the hull where the vessel been or out of the The of the was and involved the of the vessel and the in through a where a of the been through through its The hull was with of local limestone in order to its and it to The with which this was and the location the first that the of ship was not a of the of an old and the ship in Thonis-Heracleion has very different Instead, the of the at the the Grand Canal and the a place of in the landscape of the port-city appears to have been a in with its The of the from the and the to Thonis-Heracleion in the century resulted in the of the Central Port to with ships the from the and in the South East Port where the ships date mainly to the Ptolemaic and Belov, this it is likely that the of the Grand Canal was with ship its western was also discovered by some very specific types of that are not part of the that was into the waters of the port and were likely to have been deposited as ritual these are a group of that were most to the during the of which were deposited along the of the with their in an in the Grand Canal these were occasionally by and those of but also in which the of or and were often by to in the into the waters and Fabre, The and of ship were also with that have been as on the of the and it is possible that other groups of that were excavated from around the were also into the from these These are by stone which were often found with a of and that they were all the into the waters close to the was not the removal of a of the is testimony of that and, that it was found other that have been as ritual in it is that it was it simply in this location when the ship of the port was only a to the Instead, ship was in a place that was within the of the and its ritual This suggest that the vessel could have a to its deposition. boats have been found deposited in and were also used for a variety of both and from the 2009: The that it was from the of that was to the and Fabre, and have been a for the of a to in the with this a for have been used in the of on the of when the to the west in from in Thonis-Heracleion to that in Goddio and Fabre, In a the of ship an old and at the western end of a also have been an location for the of a vessel or in its the end of the working of a vessel its has a of decisions to make what to do with it do they it in a that in the ship in the of its or be through do they the vessel as a of port or do they it a of the nautical assemblage from the Central Port of Thonis-Heracleion have for the two of these decisions in the of distinct groups of submerged The eastern group (Fig. 1A) appears to be of ships that were as a and as a whereas the western group (Fig. 1B) is of a variety of different types and of of vessel and is more likely of an The first of the structural of a vessel is ship (Fig. which was a as a during its active Belov, Belov, It from the of the to the of the century and has a of a of and a of In it have a of around or The hull was of of in a of of were using very for on the of the vessel a revealed that a through fig. The first of through the to which the on either were The of the were with This of within the hull they This was by of which were in and or timbers, were also which have only been to particular areas of the hull to provide during the of the vessel on the was using an with two for the and has a for a the of the most likely came to the end of its working and have been for through (cf. and into to a with a on the northern of the Central It was into using wooden which were to into the of the harbour fig. The of this was clearly to the of the into waters to ships of to or a of ships to It is likely that an upper was over the there are traces of this in the surviving provide for the what is is that the structural of the hull was and that the ship to This have allowed the to and with the and to vessels to at it throughout the at the western of the eastern group of ships in the Central Port, ship (Fig. was chosen for to characterize this of as well as to the nature of the ship of which it a In of the nautical of ship it became apparent that it was in the same as ship it was preserved and could provide information about the area and also more about the and within the hull (Fig. also has different than ship a for its and, as the of the two vessels provide an of the of in two ships of roughly the same and In a to ship ship have been for its through the removal of the and upper that only the hull was This it have been this for a of as by a thin of and that appears to have been into the the other ships in the eastern were for been ship was with of local which the and clay The ship was out into on the where it was to into the of the harbour to the vessel into alongside The of the ships in the eastern suggest that they were into place the of the to the in the century BC. The for the and the of an stone found on ship all date to the This is as it is that the ships have been across the Central Port it were a for ships into the port from the as they have a to The ships appear to be roughly in (Fig. which the of behind their In a at the end of the is into two parts by the and on each of the with and at only a the of to the and within Thonis-Heracleion appear to be the created by ship could and with the during the of the The vessels in the eastern group could well be the of a and the of of ships is of the across the by The were also used on the for on the site of where at the one was used to the eastern of to the eastern of the of and from its western to on the western of the The that resulted in the of the and the Central Port have the end of the of this area as the for ships into the port from the and have the western area of it as something of a This appear to provide the for the of the ships in the western ship (Fig. the eastern which is by ships of the same and date there appears to be more in the vessels deposited in the is also for and the of they were also found over each other Fabre, 2011: the suggest that this group of ships and boats is a for an (cf. and 2013). It is as this area of the Central Port was as the place to which ships were taken to be a area from the of the vessels appear to have been to for their that it was not in in the port. The from the ships in the western group are more than those in the eastern group and range from the through to the Ptolemaic and Belov, fig. 1). This that this assemblage was created over a of and that it is that they were deposited all at From their it appear that the western end of the Central Port was a where vessels to be on in the of the port. it was the of the alongside the to the that appears to have the of the of ships in this This must have become the place in Thonis-Heracleion where old and ships and boats could be taken to be the vessels discovered in Thonis-Heracleion are a very assemblage, with that they only a very of the of ships and boats that have used the waterways of the port in As a very the of the more than 70 ships from the 8th to the 2nd century that on ships found its into the one for every of the port's from the discussion of the contexts of the ships it is that groups of were deposited at the same the of in the of the or the of vessels as ship alongside the Central Island when the temples on it were that there is not an of vessels across the history of the port. periods of are more represented than most likely those in which there were of that for the of old ships and Belov, fig. also set this are as or the of vessels in the western ship in the Central It is also that do not have a or a of all of the different types of ships and boats that have used the port. a of a the from the sanctuary of at in a of many of the different types of vessels that have been in in this ships and boats are illustrated in this a two a and a to the assemblage from Thonis-Heracleion, the has a different range of there are of the boats or or vessels that have been a very on the The is obviously ship the possible which is a of vessel not represented on the it has been that a vessel have been illustrated in a to the of an ritual there is of vessels or in the assemblage from Thonis-Heracleion the for the of both and in the of the has been discovered during the survey and for the that have been for their and 2013). have a that is over in and types in the it is to the from the submerged it is likely that both are represented in Thonis-Heracleion. the nature of the assemblage as the also and other are more likely to be of the western ship than that in the which is of the same of the As part of the initial discovery and survey of the were taken for and Belov, from which it is that are mainly with vessels from Thonis-Heracleion and that ships appear to be largely two ships from which of the The of the vessels were from that were either in the which for around of the and at this is for by ship it could have been which for of the could also have been of as to and the it was in the of the the only the from the of the be to that the port mainly for local is the from more than ancient anchors that have been discovered in Thonis-Heracleion, some of which through suggest from the and (Fig. which alongside other and its as a port. The for the of vessels is to be found in the formation processes of the nautical or ships have on the sand of the there is to suggest that they majority have the to their It is in or (cf. and that these ships have the end of their working and been or In an port as Thonis-Heracleion it have mainly been the local ships and boats that have the end of their working majority of have in the ship where they have been that their could have and one from their the of the which was by or the have of their be and to in the excavations undertaken under in Thonis-Heracleion. of ship planking were in the of in ship that these of most likely have in the port. The assemblage of submerged vessels from Thonis-Heracleion both as well as the of of ship and It is a nautical when alongside more than ancient anchors and for and other of that have been discovered during the survey and excavations of the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology. As this has this assemblage is to be a chance collection of ships and boats that us to vessel in the port-city across its but is with to the types that became into the site that is currently under investigation. to of the are ships in particular areas and how do they and are by of the landscape (cf. This is not to suggest that ships and boats were not on or in the waterways around Thonis-Heracleion due to The that resulted in the of the temples on the Central Island also appears to have for several vessels on its at the these types of it also to be that their will on a vessel was lost with as to in port many more of the ships and boats discovered in the port-city to have found their into the through decisions about what to do with old This be in the of ship to a out into or the of ship the possible at a location within the landscape of the It is that agency the and of ships and boats to be set the of the changing in the port. This which has both and and the contexts within which the groups of ships to be these are the of the northern to the port from the and the with the in in the north of the that resulted in the of the of the to the It was the of the to ships and the of the temples on to the Central Island that created the for the of ship alongside other in the of a that to the old and of to In this created an at the western end of the Central Port where ships could be a the of the Grand Canal as a for the temples on the Central and the that were the for the of ship The processes of wrecking and abandonment, in their many to the formation of this is are the of initial of only detailed excavations, which are used to how and other vessels came to be deposited where they with more work on the groups of as well as on the landscape and around it be possible to these both individually and the ships and boats provide of how their how and used as of within the ritual landscape of the how local could either or numbers of ships for the landscape of the and they us about the and of ships that on the waters of Thonis-Heracleion, the and the to Goddio and from the Institut Européen d'Archéologie Sous-Marine Belov, Fabre, and the of and and and of the of The for is by the and it is a to and The and the of the of of have the of ship