New Evidence for the Steering System of the Egyptian Baris (Herodotus 2.96)

Abstract

A sentence of the well‐known and widely debated fragment 2.96 of Herodotus' History (c.450 BC) is devoted to the steering system of a baris, a type of Nile cargo boat. According to Herodotus, the rudder passed through the keel of the boat. The axial rudder was known in Egypt from the 6th Dynasty (c.2323–2150 BC) and can be traced through representations and models till the end of the Pharaonic period and beyond; however, no archaeological evidence for this type of rudder had ever been found. The recent excavation of Ship 17 of Thonis‐Heracleion, dated to the Late Period (664–332 BC), reveal numerous parallels between the construction of this boat and Herodotus' description and cast light on the steering system of the baris.

Key words:

• underwater archaeology
• Egyptian shipbuilding
• Late Period
• axial rudder

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Franck Goddio (IEASM) for his kind permission to use the excavation data from Ship 17 of Heracleion while photos by Christoph Gerigk and drawings by Patrice Sandrin strongly facilitated the study and exposition of the material. I would like to express my gratitude to Dr Cheryl Ward and to Dr Patrice Pomey for their remarks and suggestions for the improvement of the article. I am very grateful to the team of the Center for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences for their support and to Dr Sabine Laemmel for proof‐reading this article.