The maritime forces operated by the Egyptian state were not challenged by any other
state’s maritime forces throughout Pharaonic times. They were in effect the major if
not the only naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Even such
potential rivals as the Syrians, Minoans or Myceneans, made up of loose coalitions of
city-states, were not capable of sustained maritime operations against the powerful
territorial state that was Egypt.
the powerful territorial state that was Egypt.
Fragmentary reliefs from King Sahura’s Temple depict a fleet of seagoing ships returning
from an expedition, while the number of Syrians onboard suggests the ships had sailed the Mediterranean to Byblos or some other destination in Syria.
Sahura’s ships were over 17.5m long, 4m wide, with a draught of approximately 1m and an average plank thickness of 10cm.
The ships had either 14 or 16 oars for propulsion, six steering oars, a bipod mast for a trapezoid sail and an anchor. There were at least four ships in the fleet and each ship was crewed by approximately 20 people made up of Egyptians, Syrians and perhaps other maritime peoples.
The seagoing ship hulls were long and slender with pointed ends, which provided greater stability in relatively high seas, while the hull strength was improved by using a girdle-truss. However a girdle-truss could not provide longitudinal strength to a seagoing ship, for that purpose a hogging-truss was required.
Ancient Egyptian mariners developed a hogging-truss — a thick rope connecting the fore and aft parts of a ship to increase the vessel’s longitudinal strength — especially to overcome this problem.
As such Sahura’s seagoing boats reveal the high level of sophistication of early Egyptian ship construction techniques.
Like many Celtic saints, St. Cybi was close to wild animals. Once while hunting, the king of Gwynedd was chasing a she-goat with his hounds. Escaping them, the goat ran up to St. Cybi’s hermitage hut. The enraged king ordered the hermit to give him the goat—otherwise he would be driven out of the kingdom. The saint answered humbly that to drive him away was not in the king’s power, but in God’s power alone, and suggested he devote this goat to the Lord. Ashamed, the king agreed, and it was decided that the land that the goat was to walk around would be allotted to found a monastery by St. Cybi. The goat walked round quite a large area and by the evening returned to its master’s dwelling. The king kept his promise and the monastery was built there.
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