Byzantine Ports and Ships
sing. λιμήν). The relatively small size of Byz. ships and the use of a keel that could be lifted meant that a natural harbor (a well-protected bay, a soft sandy bank upon which to drag boats) was preferred to a complicated system of harbor construction. The jagged coastline of the Aegean Sea, Cilicia, western Balkans, and the Black Sea provided Byz. with plentiful places for mooring, so that not only small towns but even individual monasteries (e.g., on Mt. Athos) possessed their own harbors. The larger ports had more complex equipment, including piers and skalai for landing, loading, and unloading ships, as well as shipyards (neoria), breakwaters, chains to seal off the bay as in Constantinople and Thessalonike, and lighthouses. City walls extended close to the sea to prevent attacks from hostile warships. The larger ports functioned as trade centers, sometimes as places where cargo was transferred for land transportation; they were also customs points, and centers of ship construction. A larger port usually was under the command of an archon. Special harbor dues (limeniatikon, katartiatikon, skaliatikon) were paid for use of the port, wharves, landings, etc.
During the late Roman period construction of ports continued: the harbor of Seleukeia Pieria was cleared under Diocletian and rebuilt under Constantine I; Lehmann-Hartleben (infra) lists Alexandria, Patras, Methone, and Aegina as ports reconstructed at this time. The underwater excavations in Caesarea Maritima have discovered the harbor of Herod; the port was rebuilt in the early 6th C. by Anastasios I (R. Hohlfelder, Mediterranean Historical Review 3 [1988] 55–62). After the 7th C. there are few references to harbor construction; in some cases, the threat of pirate raids compelled the transfer of the city center away from the shore, onto a hill; the cessation of dredging work could result in the transformation of an estuary into a swamp. In smaller centers, the coastal emporion was distinct from the polis proper. The major Byz. seaports, after the 7th C., were Constantinople, Thessalonike, Corinth, Monemvasia, Patras, Abydos, Smyrna, Ephesus, Miletos, Attaleia, Dyrrachion, Herakleia in Pontos, Trebizond, Cherson; from the 11th C. onward, Venetian and Genoese colonies were established in some of them. River harbors played no significant role in Byz. Metaphorically, the word limen was used to designate refuge, peace, or absence of persecution.Alexander Kazhdan
Kazhdan, Alexander. "Ports." In The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. : Oxford University Press, 1991.oxfordreference
Yassi ADA by Call Number: DS156.Y37 B37 1982ISBN: 0890960631Publication Date: 1982-08-01This book forms a final report on the underwater excavations I directed at Yassi Ada, Turkey, during the summers of 1961 through 1964 for the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. The excavation was the first to have been completed on the floor of the Mediterranean of a wreck with substantial hull remains. This pioneering work required the ingenuity, effort, and generosity of many people and institutions. The seventh- century ship was chosen for primary excavation not only for its lesser depth, which allowed longer working dives, but also because Throckmorton had uncovered traces of its timbers just beneath the sand and because it was more intelligible from the outset: a stack of concreted iron anchors, lying across the cargo at its upper end, suggested the forward part of the ship pointing up the slope, toward Yassi Ada, while a mass of broken terra-cotta tiles and cooking ware suggested the galley--and, presumably, the stern--at the deeper end of the site.
Maritime Studies in the Wake of the Byzantine Shipwreck at Yassiada, Turkey by Call Number: DS155 .M38 2015ISBN: 9781623492151Publication Date: 2015-07-10In 2007 a symposium was held at Texas A&M University to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Texas A&M University Press's publication of the first volume reporting the Yassiada shipwreck site. Seventeen papers from that symposium featured in this book broadly illustrate such varied topics as ships and seafaring life, maritime trade, naval texts, commercial cargoes, and recent developments in the analysis of the Yassiada ship itself.
Yenikapi Shipwrecks Volume II / Yenikapi Batiklari Cilt II by Call Number: VM111 .A43 2015ISBN: 9786054701872Publication Date: 2015-11-01Salvage excavations conducted at Yenikapi within the frame of Marmaray and Metro projects brought to light the Theodosian Harbour and rare archaeological remains. The new finds that extended Istanbul's history to 8000 BP include an assembly of 37 shipwrecks dated to the fifth through eleventh centuries AD. This book deals with the genus-species identifications of 27 shipwrecks unearthed by Istanbul Archaeological Museums Directorate and processed by the Division of Conservation of Marine Archaeological Objects, Faculty of Letters, Istanbul University. More than 3000 samples were analysed by Prof. Dr. Unal Akkemik of Istanbul University's Faculty of Forestry. All the shipwrecks uncovered belong to the Byzantine period; however, those of the fifth-seventh centuries were built with coniferous trees like cypress and pine whereas those of the ninth-eleventh centuries were built with broad-leaved trees like oak and chestnut. Ships of the seventh-ninth centuries, on the other hand, reflect a mixture of both tree groups. In overall, the wood identifications indicate a change from the coniferous trees to broad-leaved trees in the time span of fifth to eleventh centuries. Study of the 27 wrecks has not only cast light onto the shipbuilding techniques of the Byzantine period but also produced an invaluable database revealing the change in woods used.
İstanbul : 8000 years brought to daylight : Marmaray, metro, Sultanehmet excavations by Call Number: DR725 .G8620 2007ISBN: 9789756959398This catalog has been prepared for the exhibition "İstanbul : 8000 years brought to daylight- Marmaray, metro, Sultanehmet excavations", between 26 June and 31 December, 2007.
The 'old ships' of the 'new gate' = Yenikapı'nın eski gemileri by Call Number: DR431 .O53 2012The Directorate of Istanbul Archaeological Museums was appointed to lead the archaeological excavations at Üsküdar, Sirkeci, Sultanahmet and Yenikapı station constructions of Marmaray and Metro Projects, among the most important transportation projects of Turkey. Our largest area of excavation is at Yenikapı on the Marmara coast, the area known as Langa, which housed the harbour of Byzantine Istanbul. Excavations at Theodosian Harbour brought to light, to date, a total of 31 shipwrecks of various sizes and types. Archaeological work on shipwrecks requires an entirely different expertise; therefore, our Museum has authorised Istanbul University’s Department of Restoration and Conservation with the documentation, lifting, conservation-restoration works as well as preparing the shipwrecks for display at the museum. The team started the work with a big staff and has already completed the lifting of and has taken into conservation eleven shipwrecks in conformity with the international norms and standards. The book in your hands explicitly presents the work conducted by the IU team employing the latest technology available, their scientific approach and the care and importance they pay to the work. Dr. Ismail Karamut, Director of Istanbul Archaeological Museums.
Stories from the hidden harbor : shipwrecks of Yenikapı by Call Number: DR431 .S2513 2013In 2004, the Istanbul Archaeological Museums started large-scale salvage excavations at Yenikapı within the scope of Marmaray-Metro projects. For the first time in Istanbul’s history, archaeological excavations were conducted at one of its Byzantine harbors. When the excavations started, it was not known what this ancient harbor at the mouth of the Lykos (Bayrampaşa) River would yield. At first, Ottoman remains were encountered in the excavation area, which covers over 58,000 square meters. Then, one of Constantinople’s most important, and the world’s best known harbors, the Theodosian Harbor, was reached only 1 meter below sea level. During the ongoing excavations, countless small finds and works of architecture were unearthed. In addition to wood and rope fragments, an unexpected find, a shipwreck, was found in 2005. As the excavation area expanded, a total of 37 ships dating between the 5th and 11th centuries were brought to light. Among the finds are very well preserved small and large merchantmen, as well as galleys from the Middle and Late Byzantine periods, which have been found for the first time. The Yenikapı wrecks constitute the largest collection of shipwrecks ever found together.Another surprise was waiting for the archaeologists 6,3 meters below sea level: Istanbul’s oldest settlement. This Neolithic settlement dates back 8000 years and changes the writing of Istanbul’s history. The footprints of Istanbulites who lived there thousands of years ago were found a few meters below. As the excavations go on uninterrupted, we have now acquired much new information about the city. This exhibition has been prepared in light of the finds from Yenikapı and their scientific study. It presents a section of the city from its first inhabitants to the present, and allows a multidimensional view of trade, seafaring, shipbuilding technology, and everyday life in Constantinople through four wrecks that were found together with their cargo.
Bizans'tan Osmanlı'ya İstanbul Limanları by Call Number: HE560.I83 M85 2003"O gün İstanbul'da poyraz çok sertti; Sarayburnu'nu dönüp Haliç'in güvenli sularına girebilmek marifet gerektiriyordu. Çift direkli yelkenlinin kaptanı zarif bir yelken manevrasıyla bu işi başarınca kazasker kaptanı yanına çağırttı, bir kese para sıkıştırdı eline..."Bu haberi 1849 tarihli bir gazeteden alan Wolfgang Müller-Wiener, bir görüp bir daha ayrılamadığı İstanbul Limanı hakkında yıllar boyu süren araştırmasında böyle binlerce renkli ayrıntıyı bir araya getiriyor. "Bildlexicon zur Topografie Istanbuls" adlı çok önemli kaynak kitabın da yazarı olan Müller-Wiener, efsanevi Byzas'tan bu yana İstanbul'daki irili ufaklı limanları, tersaneleri, rıhtımları ve iskeleleri inceliyor. Limandaki yüzlerce tekne, kalyonlar, kadırgalar, kökeler, mavnalar, pazar kayıkları, yandan çarklılar, Boğaz vapurları onun hikayesinin bir parçasını oluşturuyor. Bizanslılar, Pisalılar, Cenevizler, sonra İngilizler, Fransızlar, Hollandalılar, Amerikalıların yanında kaptanlar, gemiciler, hamallar, forsalar, yetmiş iki milletin tacirleri bu liman kentindeki canlı faaliyetin içinde yer alıyorlar. Müller-Wiener Roma'dan Bizans'a, Osmanlı'ya ve Cumhuriyet'e İstanbul'da limanın ve denizciliğin gelişmesini anlatıyo
