Ship Ahoy! Ancient Boat Model

[@dankolar6066]

This piece reminds me of several wooden toys that my father made for my son. My son has grown and my father has died long ago, but those toys are piled in the junk room. What is striking about these toys is that they were fabricated from reclaimed lumber and they were unduly elaborate. There can be no accounting for the time and care that a grandpa will invest in a toy for the grandson.

[@sweatyslapfight7900]

I really love your content, just wanted to say that. This type of videos in my opinion really help humanize people from the past and history

[@chrisball3778]

I'm imagining a kid playing in the dirt, putting bugs in it and pretending to be Utnapishtim. It's a wonderful find.

[@cynthiadugan858]

Thank you! Very much enjoy your sharing some of the artifacts from the site.

[@Livingvapour]

thousands of years apart yet humans are still being humans. thanks for sharing the find.

[@maggie8324]

thank you

[@hillaryallan5426]

Lately I've been entrenched in studying the history of ships and the roles/status of ships in various cultures. Thanks for the tid-bit. I didn't expect reeds and bitumen would make a decent ship for mercantile transport.

[@sarahrosen4985]

Didn't you watch Irv's reproduction of Noah's ark?

[@fuzielectron5172]

@@sarahrosen4985 I would second that, very worth watching, educational and funny. The point about bitumen source was of particularly noteworthy.

[@hillaryallan5426]

@@sarahrosen4985 No, I haven't. I've only recently begun enjoying this area of interest with archeology and history as passtime while working. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@theviperiscalling]

A benchy! Finally indisputable evidence for ancient 3d printing

[@floopusdoopus]

Ancient Benchy

[@nanardeurlambda]

I don't know why, but I imagine ancient Ur children playing battleship.

[@chubbymoth5810]

You would think it would be a fairly expensive toy, but ceramics was quite the hobby those days. Toys however make sense to me as it would be the equivalent of cars in our society.

[@fuzielectron5172]

It is interesting, as you day a window into the people of the past, easy to imagine a child playing with it or perhaps several each with their own.

[@Stewie-Griffin]

4:51 now that's a good lamentation

[@pencilpauli9442]

I'm wondering about how it was made. Presumably it was built using slabs of clay, but they are very fine slabs (about 1/4" thick?) From my limited attempts at clay work, that takes no little skill to pull off. There seems to be some decoration on the side. Would be interesting to know who owned the little boat. If it was a toy, it would span the millennia for everyone who played with a toy boat as a child or makes models for a hobby (or a living) Great stuff, thanks.

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

There is a bit of a curl to the edge that would correspond to a gunwale on modern boat. I'm not sure if that was intentional, as it is only pronounced on one side. I didn't find any other decoration, though it would have been nice to get more details like reed patterns or some such.

[@mists_of_time]

What amazing artefact, thank you!

[@korstmahler]

They might also be Ancient Wargaming miniatures. Or part of a board game.

[@gazeboist4535]

IIRC most ancient game pieces that we can be sure of were quite small. If you're living with one or more other people in a smallish room, a modern boardgame along the lines of Catan takes up a noticeable amount of space even when stored, and requires even more if you want to actually play it. Plus, of course, developing the rules for something like a modern tabletop war game requires significant leisure time.

[@hyperflares2879]

Thank you! This was really fascinating!

[@jackdaniel4446]

This is really interesting. I know it's not confirmed that this was a child's toy, but we hear so little about childhood in ancient times. Was there some sort of schooling, or did they follow in the parent's footsteps as soon as they were able or..... any number of possibilities. We see buildings, which are the work fo adults, and we see some written works, which are also the works of adults, but we see very little from the children of the time, and this sort of thing makes you realise that they were just that: kids with toys.

[@durden91tyler]

wild how what separates the world from its history is a guy and a toothbrush.

[@paigeh4231]

Love this video!

[@phonotical]

Was that shard painted at one time? Could not the hole be for an anchor point?

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

I couldn't find any paint on it. I looked carefully before I washed it, while flaking dry dirt off, and then again after gentle washing. Painted pottery of any sort isn't common in this period but I do wish they had put more detail on it to give us more clues. I suppose the hole could have been for an anchor rope, but I would think that attaching it that high up wouldn't be all that smart for a real boat. Not that I know exactly, but I would expect an anchor to be thrown over the side rather than holding from the high end.

[@phonotical]

@@artifactuallyspeaking perhaps for mooring? Maybe itrs where you'll have to make your own and find out!

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

Yes, I think mooring would be likely. There's also some slight evidence that they used boat bridges, tying boats together so that people could cross a canal. Maybe they tied them together by these uprights?

[@phonotical]

@@artifactuallyspeaking interesting!

[@ShubhamBhushanCC]

Ancient Benchy

[@maggie8324]

your welcome