The Gurob Ship-Cart Model and Its Mediterranean Context: An Archaeological Find and Its Mediterranean Context

Chapter 2. The Iconographic Evidence

Despite its Egyptian provenience, as we shall see, the ultimate prototype of the Gurob ship model is clearly a Helladic-style galley of the Late Bronze/Early Iron Ages.1 All later Greek galleys of the Protogeometric, Geometric , Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods essentially evolved from this original Mycenaean galley type.2 The model is remarkable in being the most detailed known representation of this galley type, supplying structural details in a unique, multihued, three-dimensional manner, which contemporaneous ship depictions either ignore or, at best, illuminate in two dimensions only. The model takes on added significance considering that the hull of such a ship has yet to be found, and, even if one were to be discovered in the future, it would be unlikely for its superstructure to have survived. The Helladic galley also saw service with the Sea Peoples, who adopted and adapted it to their needs.3 As we shall see, this may explain the appearance in Egypt of a modelofthisshiptype.4 ItsusebytheSeaPeoplesalsosupportstheevidenceofsignificantMycenaeanlinksrecorded in the material culture of the Philistines, who remain the best archaeologically and historically documented of the various ethnic groups that made up the Sea Peoples.5 Helladic Ship Representations in Egypt Representations of Helladic ships appear at two other Egyptian sites: Medinet Habu and Dakhla Oasis. Medinet Habu.—Ramses III reports that in his Year 8 (ca. 1176 b.c.) Egypt came under attack by a coalition of Sea Peoples, whom he defeated in two clashes, one on land, the other on water. Tableaus depicting these events decorate the central part of the northern exterior wall of his mortuary temple at Medinet Habu.6 The naval encounter was not a sea battle per se as it must have taken place inside the Delta, possibly on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile.7 The combat pitted the invading Sea Peoples’ fleet against Egyptian ships and land-based archers (Fig. 2.1). In the tableau, the invading galleys float immobile in the water, with their sails furled and their oars shipped. Apparently, Ramses surprised the enemy while they lay at anchor or were moored alongshore.8 Regrettably, the relief is a far cry today from how it wouldhaveappearedtoavisitorinthetwelfthcentury b.c. The wall had been both carved and painted. No traces of 34 Fig. 2.1: Ramses III’s naval battle scene at Medinet Habu (NTS). From MH I: pl. 37. Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Iconographic Evidence 35 the paint remain now, and the layers of plaster employed to smooth the surface and to make corrections have long since crumbled away. Notes H. H. Nelson:9 Another point not always appreciated in dealing with these Medinet Habu reliefs is the extensive ancient use of plaster to cover up defects in the masonry and to eliminate lines or whole figures which, although already carved into the stone, were nevertheless expunged from the final composition. The surfaces of the temple walls, when the masons had done with them, presented many hollows or depressions where certain stones did not come out quite to the plane of their fellows. These hollows, as well as the interstices between the stones, were filled with plaster so as to present an even surface to the artists who were to adorn the building. This plaster, especially in the exposed portions of the wall, has for the most part fallen away, carrying with it practically all of the design once carved into or painted upon it. Though this method of work was slovenly, the result produced when the building was new was not, for the time being , unpleasing; but it has had disastrous effects on the permanency of the records. In this art form, the Egyptians did not differentiate between carved and painted detail. If anything, carving was apparently subordinate to the painted detail. The staggering loss of detail that may have disappeared with the paint may be inferred from Nelson’s description of another battle scene at Medinet Habu where the paint survived:10 Here, in the upper portions of the relief, even the water-color paint is unusually well preserved, and we find that the bare sculpture has been extensively supplemented by painted details distinctly enriching the composition. The colors of the garments worn by the Tjemhu stand out clearly. Between the bodies of the slain as they lie upon the battlefield appear pools of blood. The painter has suggested the presence of the open...