- Ancient maritime history
Maritime history dates back hundreds of years. Inancient maritime history , the first boats are presumed to have been dugout canoes which were developed independently by various stone age populations. Inancient history , various vessels were used for coastal fishing and travel.Prehistory
The Indigenous of the
Pacific Northwest are very skilled at crafting wood. Best known fortotem poles up to convert|80|ft|m|0 tall, they also construct dugout canoes over convert|60|ft|m long for everyday use and ceremonial purposes. [ [http://mle.matsuk12.us/american-natives/nw/nw.html Pacific Northwest Coastal Indians website] ]The earliest seaworthy boats may have been developed as early as 45,000 years ago, according to one hypothesis explaining the habitation of Australia. In the
history of whaling , humans began whaling in pre-historic times. The oldest known method of catchingwhales is to simply drive them ashore by placing a number of small boats between the whale and the open sea and attempting to frighten them with noise, activity, and perhaps small, non-lethal weapons such as arrows. Typically, this was used for small species, such asPilot Whales ,Belugas andNarwhals .The earliest known reference to an organization devoted to ships in
ancient India is to theMauryan Empire from the 4th century BC. It is believed that the navigation as a science originated on the riverIndus some 5000 years ago.Egypt
The
Ancient Egypt ians had knowledge to some extent ofsail construction. [Hatshepsut oversaw the preparations and funding of an expedition of five ships, each measuring seventy feet long, and "with several sails". Various other [http://www.artsales.com/Ancient%20Ships/gEgyptianGalleons.htm instances of Egyptian sailing vessels] exist, also.] This is governed by thescience ofaerodynamics . A primary feature of a properly designed sail is an amount of "draft", caused by curvature of the surface of the sail. According to the Greek historianHerodotus ,Necho II sent out an expedition ofPhoenicians , which in three years sailed from theRed Sea aroundAfrica to the mouth of theNile . Many current historians tend to believe Herodotus on this point, even though Herodotus himself was in disbelief that the Phoenicians had accomplished the act.Hannu was anancient Egypt ian explorer (around 2750 BC) and the first explorer of whom there is any knowledge. Hannu made the first recorded exploring expedition. He wrote his account of his exploration in stone. Hannu travelled along theRed Sea to Punt. He sailed to what is now part of easternEthiopia andSomalia . He returned to Egypt with great treasures, including preciousmyrrh , metal andwood .The
Sea Peoples was a confederacy of seafaring raiders who sailed into the eastern shores of theMediterranean , caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or controlEgypt ian territory during the late 19th dynasty, and especially during Year 8 ofRamesses III of the 20th Dynasty. [A convenient table of sea peoples inhieroglyphics , transliteration and English is given in the dissertation of Woodhuizen, 2006, who developed it from works of Kitchen cited there] The Egyptian PharaohMerneptah explicitly refers to them by the term "the foreign-countries (or 'peoples' [As noted by Gardiner V.1 p.196, other texts have "foreign-peoples"; both terms can refer to the concept of "foreigners" as well. Zangger in the external link below expresses a commonly held view that "sea peoples" does not translate this and other expressions but is an academic innovation. The Woudhuizen dissertation and the Morris paper identifyGaston Maspero as the first to use the term "peuples de la mer" in 1881.] ) of the sea" [Gardiner V.1 p.196.] [Manassa p.55.] in hisGreat Karnak Inscription . [Line 52. The inscription is shown in Manassa p.55 plate 12.] Although some scholars believe that they "invaded"Cyprus ,Hati and theLevant , this hypothesis is disputed.The Mediterranean
Minoan traders from
Crete were active in the eastern Mediterranean by the 2nd millennium BC. ThePhoenicia ns were an ancientcivilization centered in the north of ancientCanaan , with its heartland along the coast of modern dayLebanon ,Syria and northernIsrael . Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across theMediterranean during the first millennium BC, between the period of 1200 BC to 900 BC. Though ancient boundaries of such city-centered cultures fluctuated, the city of Tyre seems to have been the southernmost.Sarepta betweenSidon and Tyre, is the most thoroughly excavated city of the Phoenician homeland. The Phoenicians often traded by means of agalley , a man-powered sailing vessel. They were the first civilization to create the bireme. There is still debate on the subject of whether the Canaanites and Phoenicians were different peoples or not.The
Mediterranean was the source of the vessel,galley , developed before 1000 BC, and development of nautical technology supported the expansion of Mediterranean culture. The Greektrireme was the most common ship of the ancient Mediterranean world, employing the propulsion power ofoar smen. Mediterranean peoples developedlighthouse technology and built large fire-based lighthouses, most notably theLighthouse of Alexandria , built in the 3rd century BC (between 285 and 247 BC) on the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Egypt.Many in ancient western societies, such as
Ancient Greece , were in awe of the seas and deified them, believing that man no longer belonged to himself when once he embarked on a sea voyage. They believed that he was liable to be sacrificed at any time to the anger of the great Sea God. Before the Greeks, theCarians were an early Mediterranean seagoing people that travelled far. Early writers do not give a good idea about the progress of navigation nor that of the man's seamanship. One of the early stories of seafaring was that ofOdysseus .In
Greek mythology , theArgonauts were a band of heroes who, in the years before theTrojan War , accompaniedJason toColchis in his quest to find theGolden Fleece . Their name comes from their ship, theArgo which in turn was named after its builderArgus . Thus, "Argonauts" literally means "Argo sailors". The voyage of the Greek navigator Pytheas of Massalia is an example of a very early voyage.Encyclopædia Britannica (1911). "Navigation". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition) 19. Ed. Chisholm, Hugh. Page703.] A competent astronomer and geographer, Pytheas ventured from Greece to Western Europe and the British Isles.The "
periplus ", literally "a sailing-around', in the ancient navigation ofPhoenicians ,Greeks , and Romans was a manuscript document that listed in order the ports and coastal landmarks, with approximate distances between, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. Several examples of "periploi" have survived.The concept of an underwater boat has roots deep in antiquity. The very first report of someone attempting to put the idea into practice seems to have been an attempt by
Alexander the Great . According toAristotle , Alexander the Great had developed a primitivesubmersible for reconnaissance missions by 332BC."
Piracy ", which is arobbery committed at sea or sometimes on the shore, dates back toClassical Antiquity and, in all likelihood, much further. TheTyrrhenians andThracians were known aspirates in ancient times. The island ofLemnos long resisted Greek influence and remained a haven for Thracian pirates. By the 1st century BC, there were pirate states along theAnatolia n coast, threatening thecommerce of theRoman Empire .The Persian Wars
In
Ionia (the modern Aegean coast ofTurkey ) the Greek cities, which included great centres such asMiletus andHalicarnassus , were unable to maintain their independence and came under the rule of thePersian Empire in the mid 6th century BC. In 499 BC theGreeks rose in theIonian Revolt , andAthens and some other Greek cities went to their aid. In 490 BC the Persian Great King, Darius I, having suppressed the Ionian cities, sent a fleet to punish the Greeks. The Persians landed inAttica , but were defeated at theBattle of Marathon by a Greek army led by the Athenian generalMiltiades . The burial mound of the Athenian dead can still be seen at Marathon. Ten years later Darius' successor, Xerxes I, sent a much more powerful force by land. After being delayed by the Spartan KingLeonidas I at Thermopylae, Xerxes advanced into Attica, where he captured and burned Athens. But the Athenians had evacuated the city by sea, and underThemistocles they defeated the Persian fleet at theBattle of Salamis . A year later, the Greeks, under the Spartan Pausanius, defeated the Persian army at Plataea. The Athenian fleet then turned to chasing the Persians out of the Aegean Sea, and in 478 BC they capturedByzantium . In the course of doing so Athens enrolled all the island states and some mainland allies into an alliance, called theDelian League because its treasury was kept on the sacred island ofDelos . TheSpartans , although they had taken part in the war, withdrew into isolation after it, allowing Athens to establish unchallenged naval andcommercial power.Achaean League
The
Achaean League was aconfederation of Greek city states inAchaea , a territory on the northern coast of thePeloponnese . An initial confederation existed during the 5th through the 4th century BC. The Achaean League was reformed early in the 3rd century BC, and soon expanded beyond its Achaean heartland. The League's dominance was not to last long, however. During theThird Macedonian War (171-168 BC), the League flirted with the idea of an alliance with Perseus, and the Romans punished it by taking several hostages to ensure good behavior, includingPolybius , theHellenistic historian who wrote about the rise of the Roman Empire. In 146 BC, the league erupted into open revolt against Roman domination. The Romans under Lucius Mummius defeated the Achaeans,razed Corinth and dissolved the league. Lucius Mummius received thecognomen "Achaicus" ("conqueror of Achaea") for his role.Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was acivilization that grew from a smallagricultural community founded on theItalian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massiveempire straddling theMediterranean Sea . In its twelve-century existence, Roman civilization shifted from amonarchy , to a republic based on a combination ofoligarchy anddemocracy , to an autocratic empire. It came to dominateWestern Europe and the entire area surrounding theMediterranean Sea through conquest and assimilation.Punic Wars
The
Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome andCarthage . The main cause of the Punic Wars was the clash of interests between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman sphere of influence. The Romans were initially interested in expansion viaSicily , part of which lay under Carthaginian control. At the start of thefirst Punic War , Carthage was the dominant power of the Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire, while Rome was the rapidly ascending power inItaly . By the end of the third war, after the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides, Rome had conquered Carthage's empire and razed the city, becoming in the process the most powerful state of the Western Mediterranean. With the end of theMacedonian wars — which ran concurrently with the Punic wars — and the defeat of the Seleucid EmperorAntiochus III the Great in theRoman-Syrian War (Treaty of Apamea , [188 BC) in the eastern sea, Rome emerged as the dominant Mediterranean power and the most powerful city in the classical world. This was a turning point that meant that the civilization of the ancientMediterranean would pass to the modern world via Europe instead of Africa.Pre-Roman Britain
The
Coracle , a small single passenger sized float has been used in Britain since before the first Roman invasion as noted by the invaders. Coracles are round or oval in shape, made of a wooden frame with a hide stretched over it thentared to provide waterproofing. Being so light, an operator can carry the light craft over the shoulder. They are capable of operating in mere inches of water due to the keel-less hull. The early people of Wales used these boats for fishing and light travel and updated models are still in use to this day on the rivers ofScotland andWales .Early Britons also used the world-common hollowed tree trunk
canoe . Examples of these canoes have been found buried in marshes and mud banks of rivers at lengths of upward eight feet. [ [http://www.fromoldbooks.org/OldEngland/pages/0057-Ancient-British-Canoes/ 57.—Ancient British Canoes. [500x225 ] ]In 1992 a notable archaeological find, named the "
Dover Bronze Age Boat ", was unearthed from beneath what is modern dayDover, England . TheBronze Age boat which is about 9.5 meters long x 2.3 meters is determined to have been a seagoing vessel.Carbon dating reveals that the craft dating from approximately1,600 B.C . is the oldest known ocean-going boat. The hull was of halfoak logs and side panels also of oak were stitched on withyew lashings. Both the straight grained oak and yew bindings are now extinct as a shipbuilding method inEngland . A reconstruction in 1996 proved that a crew between four and sixteen paddlers could have easily propelled the boat during Force 4 winds upwards of four knots but with a maximum of convert|5|kn|km/h|0. The boat could have easily carried a significant amount of cargo and with a strong crew may have been able to traverse near thirty nautical miles in a day. [ [http://www.canterburytrust.co.uk/hilights/d_boat.htm Canterbury Archaeological Trust: Buckland Anglo-Saxon Cemetery ] ]Northern Europe
The "
Norsemen ", or 'people from the North', were people from southern and centralScandinavia which established states and settlements Northern Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century.Viking s has been a common term for Norsemen in the earlymedieval period , especially in connection with raids andmonastic plundering made by Norsemen in Great Britain and Ireland.Leif Ericson was anIceland icexplorer known to be the firstEurope an to have landed inNorth America (presumably in Newfoundland,Canada ). During a stay inNorway , Leif Ericsson converted toChristianity , like many Norse of that time. He also went to Norway to serve the King of Norway, Olaf Tryggvason. When he returned toGreenland , he bought the boat ofBjarni Herjólfsson and set out to explore the land that Bjarni had found (locatedwest of Greenland), which was, in fact, Newfoundland, in Canada. The "Saga of the Greenlanders " tells that Leif set out around the year 1000 to follow Bjarni's route with 15 crew members, but going north. [Another saga, "The Saga of Eric the Red ", relates that Leif discovered the American mainland while returning from Norway to Greenland in 1000 (or possibly 1001), but does not mention any attempts to settle there. However, the "Saga of the Greenlanders" is usually considered the more reliable of the two.]Indian subcontinent
In the
Indian maritime history , the world's firsttidal dock was built inLothal around 2500 BC during theHarappan civilisation atLothal near the present dayMangrol harbour on theGujarat coastFact|date=July 2007. Other ports were probably atBalakot andDwarka . However, it is probable that many small-scale ports, and not massive ports, were used for the Harappan maritime trade. [Possehl, Gregory. Meluhha. in: J. Reade (ed.) The Indian Ocean in Antiquity. London: Kegan Paul Intl. 1996, 133–208] Ships from the harbour at these ancient port cities establishedtrade withMesopotamia , [(eg Lal 1997: 182-188)] where the Indus Valley was known asMeluhha .Emperor
Chandragupta Maurya 'sPrime Minister Kautilya 'sArthashastra devotes a full chapter on the state department of waterways under "navadhyaksha" (Sanskrit for Superintendent of ships) Ref|Kautilya. The term, "nava dvipantaragamanam" (Sanskrit for sailing to other lands by ships) appears in this book in addition to appearing in the Buddhist text, "Baudhayana Dharmasastra" as the interpretation of the term, "Samudrasamyanam".Asia and the Far East
In
ancient China , during theSpring and Autumn Period (722 BC–481 BC), large rectangular-basedbarge -like ships withlayered decks and cabins withrampart s acted as floating fortresses on wide rivers and lakes.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 678-679.] These were called 'castle ships' ('lou chuan'), yet there were 4 other ship types known in that period, including aramming vessel. During the short-livedQin Dynasty (221 BC-207 BC) the Chinese sailed south into theSouth China Sea during their invasion ofAnnam , modernVietnam .During the
Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD), a ship with astern -mounted steeringrudder along with masts and sails was innovated, known as the junk in Western terminology.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 649-650.] The Chinese had been sailing through theIndian Ocean since the 2nd century BC, with their travels toKanchipuram inIndia .Sun, 161-167.] Chen, 67-71.] This was followed up by many recorded maritime travelers following the same route to India, includingFaxian , Zhiyan, Tanwujie, etc.Sun, 220-221.] Like in the Western tradition, the earlierZhou Dynasty Chinese also made use of the floatingpontoon bridge , which became a valuable means toblockade the entireYangtze River during Gongsun Shu's rebellion against the re-established Han government in 33 AD.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 680.] Although first described in ancientPtolemaic Egypt, theSong Dynasty scientistShen Kuo (1031-1095) was the first to describe the use of thedrydock system in China to repair boats out of water.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 660] Thecanal pound lock was invented inChina during the previous century, whileShen Kuo wrote of its effectiveness in his day, writing that ships no longer had the grievances of the oldflash lock design and no longer had to be hauled over long distances (meaning heavier ships with heavier cargo of goods could traverse the waterways of China).Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 352] There were many other improvements to nautical technology during the Song period as well, includingcrossbeams bracing the ribs of ships to strengthen them,rudders that could be raised or lowered to allow ships to travel in a wider range of water depths, and the teeth ofanchors arranged circularly instead of in one direction, "making them more reliable".Graff, 86.]Japan had become a naval power by at least the 6th century, with their invasions and involvement in political alliances during the
Three Kingdoms of Korea . A joint alliance between the KoreanSilla Kingdom and the ChineseTang Dynasty (618-907 AD) heavily defeated the Japanese and their Korean allies of Baekje in theBattle of Baekgang inAugust 27 toAugust 28 of the year 663 AD. This decisive victory expelled the Japanese from Korea and allowed the Silla Kingdom to conquerGoguryeo . However, the Japanese invadedKorea again during theImjin War of the late 16th century, the attack against theJoseon Kingdom led by the famousJapan ese warlordToyotomi Hideyoshi . The exploits of the Korean admiralYi Sun-sin during this war were made famous with hismilitary strategy and use of the armored 'turtle ship '.Although there were numerous naval battles beforehand, China's first permanent standing navy was established in 1132 during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD).Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 476.]
Gunpowder warfare at sea was also first known in China, with battles such as theBattle of Caishi and theBattle of Tangdao on theYangtze River in 1161 AD. One of the most important books of medieval maritime literature was Zhu Yu's "Pingzhou Table Talks" of 1119 AD. Although the Chinese scientistShen Kuo (1031-1095) was the first to describe themagnetic -needlecompass , Zhu Yu's book was the first to specify its use fornavigation at sea. Zhu Yu's book also described watertight bulkhead compartments in the hull of Chinese ships, which prevented sinking when heavily damaged in one compartment.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 463.] Although the drydock was known, Zhu Yu wrote of expertdiver s who were often used to repair boats that were damaged and still submersed in water. Divers in China continued to have a maritime significance, as the laterMing Dynasty authorSong Yingxing (1587-1666) wrote about pearl divers who used snorkeling gear (a watertight leatherface mask and breathing tube secured withtin rings) to breatheunderwater while tied by the waist to the ship in order to be secure while hunting forpearl s.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 668.]ee also
*
History of navigation References
;General
* Hattendorf, John B. (2007) [http://www.oxford-maritimehistory.com Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History] ;Citations and notesExternal articles
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