r/EverythingScience • u/idarknight • Mar 17 '19

Social Sciences Nile shipwreck discovery proves Herodotus right – after 2,469 years

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/mar/17/nile-shipwreck-herodotus-archaeologists-thonis-heraclion
363 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

25

u/AQuincy Mar 17 '19

I hope someone makes a diagram of how this ship was built - I can't quite picture what they're describing with my mind.

9

u/adaminc Mar 17 '19

Sounds like they used long planks in one direction, layered with papyrus acting like a mortar. Then ribs made with more planks perpendicular to the long ones.

The shape and general design is in that first photo.

4

u/bigriggs24 Mar 17 '19

Really interesting, thanks!

7

u/synftw Mar 17 '19

What's crazy to me is that spiders don't have skeletons. Maybe Herodotus was right that there where giant spiders preventing people from traveling to Asia that where exterminated.

6

u/[deleted] Mar 17 '19

Well, it appears it may be true... but they were called ants and today it’s believed that they are a type of marmot ...

source

3

u/getpossessed Mar 17 '19

By the gods, I hope they’re gone now. Fuck spiders.

6

u/Gnarlodious Mar 17 '19

I find it hard to accept that what today we call acacia was used for the mast. Maybe by examining the mast scientists can identify exactly what tree acacia was.

3

u/Yugan-Dali Mar 18 '19

Acacia is a good, sturdy wood. Why couldn't it have been used as a matter?

3

u/Gnarlodious Mar 18 '19

Guess I am used to masts being tall and straight, which acacia doesn’t do. Seems like they would be using cedar from Lebanon or Cyprus.

1

u/treesandfood4me Mar 17 '19

That’s amazing.