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The Voyage of Synesius

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2006

Yaacov Kahanov
Yaacov Kahanov
Affiliation:
Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa Email: yak@research.haifa.ac.il
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Abstract

Synesius’ letter to his brother, describing his passage from Alexandria to Cyrene, is a fruitful source of information on seafaring at the turn of the 4th century CE. The present article is an experiment to discover maritime information, based on this source and geographic and climatic facts. The distance from Alexandria to Azarium, the final landfall, is 360 nautical miles, although the distance actually sailed was 400 miles. The sailing, generally against the prevailing wind, lasted seven days, of which two were spent on shore. A log and a chart of the complete passage are suggested. Concentrating on the maritime details reveals the skill of the professional skipper, Amarantus, experienced in navigating these waters.

Keywords

SynesiusAmarantusAzarium
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 59 , Issue 3 , September 2006 , pp. 435 - 444
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 2006

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References

REFERENCES

1 The text is Epistola 5 in Garzya, A. R. (1979). Synesii Cyrenesis Epistolae. Typis Officinae Polygraphicae, Rome. A well-known translation of the text is: Fitzgerald, A. (1926). The Letters of Synesius of Cyrene. Oxford University Press, LondonGoogle Scholar. It was adapted by Meijer, F. J. and Van Nijf, O. (1992). Trade, Transport and Society in the Ancient World: a Sourcebook. Routledge, London, pp. 170–175.Google Scholar

2 See for example Casson, L. (1952). Bishop Synesius’ Voyage to Cyrene. The American Neptune 12: 1, 294–296;Google Scholar Casson, L. (1996). Studies in Ancient Sails and Rigging. In Essays in Honor of C. Bradford Welles. American Studies in Papyrology, Volume 1. The American Society of Papyrologia, New Haven, pp. 43–58Google Scholar; Casson, L. (1995). Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and LondonCrossRefGoogle Scholar; Meijer, F. J. (1986). The ship of Bishop Synesius. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 15: 1, 67–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Patai, R. (1998). The Children of Noah. Jewish Seafaring in Ancient Times. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp. 70–72, 96CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sperber, D. (1986). Nautica Talmudica. Bar-Ilan University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar, Ramat-Gan, E. J. Brill, Leiden, p. 156; and in the commentaries of Fitzgerald and Garzya.

3 Casson (1952), 294–296.

4 Casson (1995), p. 268 note 1; Meijer (1986), 67; Hendry, M. (1994). Seneca, St. Paul, Synesius, and the Text of the Europa Ode. Syllecta Classica 5, 63–69.

5 Casson (1995), p. 268; Casson (1996), p. 50; Meijer (1986), 67.

6 Casson (1995), pp. 268–289; Casson (1996), pp. 49–51.

7 Meijer (1986), 67–68.

8 Meijer (1986), 68.

9 Martin, L. R. (2001). The Art and Archaeology of Venetian Ships and Boats. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, p. 145 fig. 133; Brindley, H. H. (1926). Early pictures of lateen sails. Mariner’s Mirror 12:1, 9–22; Pietro Janni, Il mare degli Antichi: tecniche e strumenti di navigazione (http://www.192.167.112.135/NewPages/COLLANE/TESTIQDS/arch_sub/A_Sub_14.pdf, 29th November, 2005), 10.

However, one should be more careful in deducing whether a sail was square or lateen, based on the method of furling. In a recent analysis of the ship depicted in the Kelenderis mosaic, dated to 500 CE, P. Pomey has drawn the attention of the existence of ‘trapezoidal sail’ – a version of the lateen sail with brails (Pomey, P. (2005). Un nouveau témoignage sur la voile latine: la mosaïque de Kelenderis (v. 500 ap. J-C; Turquie). Abstracts of the 9th International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity, 25–30 August, Agia Napa, Cyprus. The Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition and The Pierides Foundation, Cyprus and Greece).

10 In plural, and see Meijer (1986).

11 ‘Doubled-sailed cargo vessels’ by Fitzgerald (1926), p. 82, and ‘double-masted freighters’ by Meijer and Van Nijf (1992), p. 172, and see holkades in Casson (1995), p. 169.

12 Casson, Ships and Seamanship, 273–274; Coates, J. F. and Morrison, J. (1993). Summary of Lessons Learned. In T. Shaw (ed.), The Trireme Project. Operational Experience 1987–90. Lessons Learnt. Oxbow Monograph 31, Oxford, p. 109; Coates, J. F., Platis S. K. and Shaw, J. T. (1990). The Trireme Trials 1988. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 33–36; McGrail, S. (2001). Boats of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 75, 127, 144.

13 Pryor, J. H. (1988). Geography, Technology, and War. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 33–35.

14 Fitzgerald (1926), pp. 17–18, 80 note 4 with references.

15 Meijer (1986), 67.

16 Garzya (1979), p. 11.

17 Rubin, Z. Jews in International Commerce in Late Antiquity. The article is in press in Late Antiquity and Early Islam. The specific suggested dates include the relevant references. I am grateful to Professor Ze’ev Rubin for allowing me to refer to his typescript before publication. Reference to this paper will mention the name of the author only.

18 Fitzgerald (1926), p. 80 note 4.

19 Mediterranean Pilot Vol. V, NP 49, sixth edition 1976, revised 1988. Hydrographer of the Navy, Great Britain.

20 Murray, W. M. (1987). Do modern winds equal ancient winds? Mediterranean Historical Review 2:2, 139–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

21 Casson (1995), pp. 270–273; Pryor (1988), pp. 87–89; Meijer and Van Nijf (1992), pp. 4–7, 101, 165–167.

22 Mediterranean Pilot, p. 18.

23 Calculations are based on Mediterranean Pilot, p. 31 Table 1.151.1–4.

24 Mediterranean Pilot, p. 45 Table 1.174.

25 Mediterranean Pilot, p. 43 Table 1.172, p. 45 Table 1.174.

26 As is clearly shown in the Mediterranean Pilot, p. 31 diagram 1.151.3.

27 Mediterranean Pilot, p. 43 Table 1.172 – Darnah, p. 44 Table 1.173 – SalÛm, p. 45 Table 1. 174 – Alexandria.

28 It is unlikely that a squall is described. It is generally associated with a north or north-east wind – see Mediterranean Pilot, p. 18 – which is not reported in the text.

29 See Murray (1987), 147.

30 Casson, L. (1965). Harbour and River Boats of Ancient Rome. Journal of Roman Studies 55, 31–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Casson (1995), pp. 332–333, 336–337.

31 Ya’ari, A. (ed. and trans.) (1948). The Travels of Meshullam from Volterra 1481. Bialik Foundation, Jerusalem (in Hebrew).

32 Herodotus 2.5.

33 Garzya (1979), p. 13 note 1.

34 Casson (1952), 294.

35 Mediterranean Pilot, 101 3.50–3.53.

36 Acts 27: 29.

37 Broadhurst, A. J. C. (trans.), (1952). The Travels of Ibn Jubayr. Jonathan Cape, London, p. 336.Google Scholar

38 The Wanderings of Felix Fabri. (part I), (1971). Palestine Pilgrims’ Text Society, AMS Press, New York, 7, pp. 13, 167, 193, 212.

39 Acts 27: 30–32.

40 Broadhurst (1952), p. 337.

41 Ya‘ari (1948), pp. 82, 83.

42 Felix Fabri, p. 42.

43 Basch, L. (1987). Le musée imaginaire de la marine antique. Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition, Athens, p. 465 fig. 1038.

44 See notes 6, 7 above; and see e.g. Torlonia relief.

45 Broadhurst (1952), pp. 28, 327, (March 16th 1183 and October 27th 1184); Ya’ari (1948), p. 82; Felix Fabri, p. 38.

46 I am grateful to Dr. Ivor Ludlum for his assistance in interpreting the Greek text.

47 Jones, A. H. M. (1964). The Later Roman Empire 284–602. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 2, p. 843.Google Scholar