5. The Rise of the Tonnage in the Hellenistic Period

The available data on local boat-building techniques during the Late (664–332 BC) and Ptolemaic Periods (332–30 BC) of Ancient Egypt received a considerable boost from the more than sixty Ancient Egyptian ships that were found on the site of Thonis-Heracleion in 2000. Many of these ships seem to belong to the baris-type as described in Herodotus in his Historia. This chapter is an attempt to determine the space of navigation of these ships by examining the direct evidence derived from their construction, as well as indirect evidence drawn from the state of the ships’ timbers and the results of reconstruction of their hulls, and of their propulsion and steering systems.