Research on the 1st Century Galilee Boat
General Information about the Ancient Boat
The boat as discovered measured 8.2 meters long, with a maximum breadth of 2.3 meters and a preserved height of 1.2 meters. It probably had a cutwater bow and a recurving ste. The boat apparently represents the largest boat type in use on the lake in antiquity. It would have served primarily for fishing the rich waters of the Sea of Galilee, although it may also have been used to transport passengers and supplies around and across the lake.
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A first century AD mosaic of a boat from the nearby site of Migdal indicates what such a vessel might have looked like when it sailed on the Sea of Galilee.
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The boat could have been sailed or rowed. It would have used a single square sail stepped amidships. Based on the vessel's size it probably would have had a basic crew of five to four rowers and a helmsman/captain. The boat would have been steered by means of two steering oars.
Historical background
In 67 AD during the Roman conquest of the Galilee, the city of Migdal was a hotbed of Jewish revolt. The Jewish historian Josephus Flavius, who may have been an eyewitness to the events, describes how the Romans, under the future Emperor Titus, took the city after vanquishing a Jewish army arrayed on the plain of Gennessaret. A city wall protected Migdal on land, but it was unprotected at the lake''s shore. By swimming his mounted cavalry around the walls, Titus entered the city and massacred most of its inhabitants except for a few, who escaped in a fleet of fishing boats and remained out in the lake. The next day the Roman General Vespasian ordered the construction of vessels- apparently catamarans of some sort- to attack the Jews stranded in the lake. When ready, soldiers and archers took their places on these vessels and moving out into the lake, engaged the Jews. During the ensuing nautical battle, all the Jews were overwhelmed and killed. Josephus Flavius describes how in the battle''s aftermath the lake''s waters tued crimson with blood, while the shores were covered with derelict Jewish boats (War 111: 462-542).
It was also the time when the thriving lakeside communities witnessed the ministry of Jesus and his desciples and were the sceve of events related to the New Testament. For example the scene in Luke 5:1-7 most likely took place in a vessel just as the one discovered at Ginosar.
Luke 5
The Calling of the First Disciples
1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to hte word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washking their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then we sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they has donw so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled to their partners in the other boats to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
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Depiction of Luke 5:1-7.
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Construction techniques
The vessel was built using theshell-based technique, in which the hull's planking was built up prior to theinsertion of frames. The planks were edge-joined by means of mortise-and-tenonjoints. This construction method is well known from Mediterranean shipwrecksdated as early as ca. 1300 BC through the Roman period, until it was replaced byskeleton-based construction in the course of the first millennium AD. Eminentship reconstructor Prof. J. Richard Steffy, of the Institute of NauticalArchaeology at Texas A&M University, who studied the boat during itsexcavation, concluded that the techniques employed in its construction wereconsistent with those common on the Mediterranean around 100 BC – 200AD.
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Diagram of the ancient boat's construction.
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The boat's builders either learned this trade on the Mediterranean or had been apprenticed to a Mediterranean shipwright. At first glance, the planking patte and choice of timbers used inthe hull appear strange. Some planks are unusually narrow, and frames are poorlyfitted to hull curves. However, this may be the result of a shortage ofaffordable wood, which forced an expert shipwright to use inferior timbers- ones that on the Mediterranean coast would have been discarded as unsuitable. Thehull features numerous timbers that appear to have been recycled.
Pegged mortise-and-tenon joints were used to edge-join the hulls planks together, andiron nails driven from the outside served to secure the frames to the hull. Theboat has a fine bow and a deep ste. The hull is constructed primarily ofLebanese cedar planks and oak frames, but ten other wood types have beendocumented in it. This may indicate a wood shortage in which the boatwright wasunable to secure appropriate timber, or perhaps the boats owner was too poor toafford it.
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Diagram of mortise and tenon construction.
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Wood types
Analyses (by Dr. Ella Werker of the Department of Botany, Hebrew University, Jerusalem) of wood samples taken from the hulle timbers revealed that the majority of the vessel''s planks are made of Lebanese cedar, while most of its frames are oak. However, at least ten other types of wood all local to this area were used in the boat''s construction.
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Layout of the ancient boat from above showing the differnt species of wood used for its construction and repair.
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Artifacts
Two pottery vessels, a cooking pot and a lamp, were uncloved at the boat site. cooking pot, found outside the boat near the prow could be dated to sometime between the mid-first century BCE and the mid-second century CE. The lamp, found inside the boat was a type dated from the first century to the mid-second century CE. While these vessels served as additional evidence when the boat was dated to the first century, they were not definitive. There was a possibiliy that they had been washed in by the action of the waves or the currents, so they alone were not sufficient to date the craft.
Small piles of iron nails were collected from where the boat frames and planking, exposed above mud level, had disintegrated over time. Additional artifacts were also discovered in and around the boat.
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Close-up of nails found at the boat site.
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Lot of nails from the boat site.
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The Model
A 1:10 scale model was built by Bill Charlton of Texas A&M University and was displayed in the museums foyer gives the visitor an idea of what a generic first-century AD Galilean boats from the early twentieth century.
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Bill Charlton building the model.
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You can find more information about the 1st Century Boat in the booklet,
"An Ancient Boat Discovered in the Sea of Galilee."
Click below for ordering information
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