Ugarit and the Southern Levantine Sea-Ports
The texts studied in this paper show that the extent of the commercial and political relationships between Ugarit and the Phoenician cities, particularly Tyre, was far superior to that of the ties with the Southern Levantine sea-ports. However, the importance of the commercial ties between Ugarit and Ashdod may be defined using the written sources. In fact, if our interpretation of RS 19.96 is correct, the intensity of the contacts between both cities even led to the establishment of an Ashdodite merchant station in Ugarit, from which their commercial affairs were structured.
Canaanite Maritime Involvement in the Second Millennium B. C.
Professor Sasson traces the history of Cananite shipping. Since there is little documentation before the Late Bronze Age, little is known about the means of trade used by the Canaanites pre Bronze Age, but according to Professor Sasson, there is evidence that the Canaanites ruled the sea in the second millennium. Professor Sasson discusses the different types of ships built by the Canaanites and how they were used by them.
A Syrian Trading Venture to Egypt
IN 1895 Daressy published in Rev. arch. II, 286 ff., with pls. 14 ff., photographs of a painted scene showing ships manned by Syrian crews discharging cargo in some Egyptian town, presumably Thebes. Unfortunately the photographs of Daressy's original publication, having been made at a time before the general use of panchromatic plates and colour filters, obscure many of the less prominent details, and the original painting is now destroyed, but, fortunately for science, in the winter of 1922-3 the late N. de G. Davies copied on the spot the traces of the painting then surviving, and with the aid of Daressy's photographs was able to make a drawing of the entire scene which was included among the unpublished materials still in his possession at his death. 1 Since this is almost the only representation from an Egyptian source of foreign merchant ships-the sole exception is a badly damaged picture of a Syrian ship in Theban tomb No. 172-it seemed very desirable that Davies's drawing of this important scene should be made accessible to students. With this purpose in view, Mrs. Davies very kindly handed over to the Editor all her husband's notes and materials bearing on the topic; in the following account the present writer assumes responsibility for the discussion of the construction and rig of the ships, but the remainder is based entirely on the notes of the original author. The scene in question comes from Theban tomb No. 162, owned by one Kenamiin, Mayor of Thebes and Superintendent of the Granaries of Amun," who probably flourished under Amenophis III. On the left are depicted two ships under sail (pl. VIII) occupying the full height of the scene. To the right of these ships we see two groups of vessels with gangways down arranged in two registers; to the right of these again are three registers showing the disposal of the landed cargoes. As we shall observe below, the larger vessels on the left are connected by ropes with the smaller craft in the middle of the scene, and it remains uncertain how far the difference in size corresponds to reality; this difference, if in fact it existed at all, has undoubtedly been much exaggerated by the artist in order to fit his composition into the space available on the wall. The event here recorded was doubtless one of fairly frequent occurrence during the palmy days of the Empire, when Hither Asia still lay under the pax Aegyptiaca and conditions prevailed which favoured international commerce. We probably shall not be far wrong if we see in this representation the beginnings of that maritime trade from Syrian ports which was already extensive and flourishing when