Syria - Mesopotamia :|: Document

Chypriot model from Amathus tomb n°83 (3)

ref. : en.1069.2014 |

7 October 2014 | by Francis Leveque
modèle - terre cuite | VIe century BC
Chypre ( Chypre )

Painted terracotta model of a boat, hand-made, found in Amathus, site E, tomb 83(?). Excavated by Turner Bequest Excavations, acquired in 1894. It is dated Cypro-Archaic II period (600-500 BC).

Model made of fairly coarse reddish clay with traces of red and yellow painted stripes on the exterior (very worn, though much more obvious when excavated). Part of the hull at the bow end is missing, and the extant part is made up of several reassembled fragments.

Raised prow and stern with fish-tail like projections; there is a cross-beam at the stern and a hole pierced in the port side (possibly for the steering oar).

The whitish band around the interior seems to be the traces of the yellow paint noted in the original report. In the centre of the interior is a socket for a mast.

Dimensions
Length: 21 centimetres
Width: 7 centimetres (amidships)
Height: 5 centimetres (amidships)

Bibliography :

A.S. Murray, A.H. Smith, HB. Walters, Excavations in Cyprus, British Museum Press, Londres , 1900, p.112-113, n° 19, fig. 164

L. Burn, R. Higgins, H.B. Walters, D.M. Bailey, Catalogue of Terracottas in the British Museum, (Terracotta ), vol. I-IV, British Museum Press, Londres , 1903, n° A203

K. Westerberg, Cypriote ships from the Bronze Age to c. 500 BC, P. Åström, Göteborg , 1983, p.31-32, n° 33, fig. 33