"Hey, Sailor! Looking for a good time?"
Posted on 06/20/2008 2:50:54 PM PDT by blam
Coils of Ancient Egyptian Rope Found in Cave
Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
June 20, 2008 -- The ancient Egyptian's secret to making the strongest of all rigging ropes lies in a tangle of cord coils in a cave at the Red Sea coast, according to preliminary study results presented at the recent congress of Egyptologists in Rhodes.
Discovered three years ago by archaeologists Rodolfo Fattovich of the Oriental Studies University of Naples and Kathryn Bard of Boston University, the ropes offer an unprecedented look at seafaring activities in ancient Egypt.
"No ropes on this scale and this old have been so well preserved in their original context -- in Egypt or elsewhere," Bard told Discovery News.
Carefully wrapped in coils by ancient Egyptian sailors almost 4,000 years ago, the ropes were found in a hand-hewn cave at the ancient Red Sea port of Marsa Gawasis, 23 kilometers (14 miles) south of Safaga.
"The cave is really spectacular. Over 30 coils of ropes lie on the ground as if they had just been left there. Amazingly, these ropes were stored in the same way as nowadays sailors store their shipping cords -- just coiling and tighting them in the middle," archaeologist and rope analyst Andre Veldmeijer told Discovery News.
Most of the coils were recovered from the back of the cave. There are at least two layers of ropes. In their report, Veldmeijer and colleague Chiara Zazzaro of the University of Naples, estimated that more than 60 complete coils of cords are stored in the long, deep cave.
"Each cord is about 30 meters (98 feet) long and is very thick. No doubt these ropes were made for strong, heavy duties, Veldmeijer said. "Basically, they were hauling truss components. They ran above the deck, secured at the bow and at the stern, to produce structural cohesion for the ship,"
The theory is supported by the fact that the estimated length of the Egyptian ships is about 10 meters (33 feet) shorter than the ropes' lengths. This shows that sailors had five meters (16 feet) at both ends to tie the ropes.
The researchers are still puzzling over the material the ancient Egyptians used to make such a strong cordage. "It's really intriguing. We know that the ropes are made of vegetable fibers only," Veldmeijer said. "Moreover, they are of one type of vegetable fiber -- Egyptians never used different materials together to make ropes. We can exclude the usual, known materials, such as halfa grasses, papyrus and palm. It's possibly reed... We hope to solve the puzzle by the end of the year."
Meanwhile, excavation work at Marsa Gawasis continues. The site abounds with man-made caves cut into the rock. They all seem to be filled with seafaring remains.
"We found remains of ship timbers, anchors, expedition equipment, cargo boxes and pottery. Analysis has shown that these caves contain the world's oldest maritime artifacts," Fattovich said.
As for the ropes, the researchers believe they are the well-preserved riggings from an Egyptian seafaring expedition to the fabled Land of Punt (around present-day Somalia), in the 12th Dynasty, almost 4,000 years ago.
"We found hieroglyphic texts about these expeditions, and even some materials brought back from Punt, such as ebony, obsidian and pottery from eastern Sudan, Eritrea and Yemen," Bard said.
The most famous expedition to the mysterious and exotic Land of Punt was conducted during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut and is described in bas-relief inscriptions in her funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri.
"We are now excavating the harbor area. Other ship remains are coming to light. This is such an important site. There is much more to discover," Fattovich said.
Thanks for the ping!
Very cool!
Seems to me that if a shipyard was getting relocated or abandoned, the stuff would have been moved along with the ships.
I prefer to think it was a plot of some sort that got disrupted. The shipyard was already abandoned and some yahoos were using it to store up materials for nefarious deeds. They got caught but never spilled the beans about where they’d laid up all their ill gotten gear.
A piece of string walked into a small town on a hot, dusty day. He was thirsty, so he sauntered into the first establishment he encountered and asked the waiter for a glass of water.
“Sorry”, said the waiter, “we don’t serve strings here.”
Discouraged, the string walked out. A little further down the street, he met a stranger.
“You look hot,” said the stranger. “Why don’t you go into that cafe and get a drink of water?”
“I tried that,” said the string, “but the waiter wouldn’t serve me anything because I’m just a string.”
“No problem” said the stranger. “I’ll fix you up.” He grabbed the string, tied him in a bowline and frayed his ends. “Now try it.”
The string slipped back into the cafe and asked the waiter for a glass of water. “Hey,” said the waiter, “aren’t you the piece of string that was just in here?”
The string replied, “I’m a frayed knot.”
The noose is out! ;’)
You’re stringing me along, aren’t you?
Feeding us a line, at the very least.
If it pulled that ‘frayed knot’ carp on me, I’d whip its frappin’ hind end!
...or maybe feeding you a line...
Carp? The deim is complete.
A tip of the capstan to AppleGateRanch for beating me to that.
[humming] Applegateranch, won’t ya pun out tonight...
I think he’s slightly frayed from overuse.
OK. That’s it. I’m checking in with Ahab as we speak. I know he has a line on what’s going on.
The other end is attached to a harpoon, so hang onto your britches!
"Hey, Sailor! Looking for a good time?"
That pun really struck a cord with me.
Am knot.
[singing] Whale meat again, don’t know how, don’t know when...
I tried rigging it so it would. ;’)
bump for later
cool pic and quote of Marilyn Mon-row.
Belay that!
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