The Rowing Galley

THE ROWING GALLEY The earliest representations of Egyptian vessels carry us back to a period about 3,00o years before Christ. Some of these are of considerable size, as is shown by their twenty or more rowers, and by the cargo consisting in many cases of cattle. The earliest of all presents us with the peculiar mast of two pieces, stepped apart but joined at the top. In some the masts are shown lowered and laid along a high spar-deck. On the war galleys (see GALLEY) there is frequently shown a projecting bow with a metal head well above the water. This was doubtless used as a ram.

The double mast of the earlier period seems in time to have given place to the single mast furnished with bars or rollers at the upper part, for the purpose apparently of raising or lowering the yard according to the amount of sail required. The sail in some of the galleys is shown with a bottom as well as a top yard. In the war galleys during action it is shown pulled up like a curtain with loops to the upper yard. The steering was effected by paddles, sometimes four or five in number, but generally one or two fastened either at the end of the stern or at the side, and above attached in such a way as to be worked by a tiller.

The Egyptian ship as depicted by the tomb paintings, during the period between 300o and i 000 B.C., was a ship proper as distinct from a large canoe or boat. It was, in fact, the earliest ship of which we have cognizance.

But credit for the further development of the ship and of the art of navigation clearly belongs to the Phoenicians. The earliest and almost the only evidence that we have of this development is to be gathered from Assyrian representations. The Assyrians were an inland people, and the navigation with which they were familiar was that of the two great rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, but after the conquest of Phoenicia we find that the war galley of the Phoenicians was represented on the walls of the palaces unearthed by Layard and his followers in Assyrian discovery. But the date does not carry us to an earlier period than 700 B.C. The vessel represented is a bireme war galley which is "aphract," that is to say, has the upper tier of rowers unprotected and ex posed to view.

The Phoenicians at an early date constructed merchant vessels capable of carrying large cargoes, and of traversing the length and breadth of the Mediterranean. They in all probability (if not the Egyptians) invented the bireme and trireme, solving the problem by which increased oar-power and consequently speed could be obtained without great increase in length of the vessel.

Greek Vessels.

It is, however, to the Greeks that we must turn for any detailed account of these inventions. The Homeric vessels were "aphract" ("uncovered"), not even decked through out their entire length. They carried crews of from fifty to a hun dred and twenty men, who all took part in the labour of rowing, ex cept perhaps the chiefs. The galleys do not appear to have been armed as yet with the beak, though later poets attribute this fea ture to the Homeric vessel. But they had great poles for use in fighting. The general characteristics are indicated by the epithets in use throughout the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Homeric ship was sharp and swift, hollow, black, vermilion-cheeked, dark prowed, curved, well-timbered, with many thwarts. The stems and sterns were high, upraised, and resemble the horns of oxen. They presented a type of Mediterranean ship parallel with that of the Vikings' vessels of the North Sea.

The trireme was succeeded and in a measure superseded by the larger rates,—quadrireme, quinquereme, and so on, up to vessels of sixteen banks of oars. How these were arranged is the subject of much discussion and argument which cannot be dealt with in the compass of this article.

The terms "Aphract" and "Cataphract" meant "unfenced" and "fenced," and referred to the bulwarks which covered the upper tier of rowers from attack. In the aphract vessels these side plankings were absent and the upper tier of rowers was exposed to view from the side. Both classes of vessels had upper and lower decks, but the aphract class carried their decks on a lower level than the cataphract.