The following paper attempts to contextualize the shipment of pine tar in nine Mendean amphoras f... more The following paper attempts to contextualize the shipment of pine tar in nine Mendean amphoras found in the Tektaş Burnu wreck assemblage. My goal in doing this is to extract as much information as possible concerning its role as part of the overall cargo of the ship. The paper was finalized in 2009 for publication as a chapter in the final volume dedicated to the wreck edited by D. N. Carlson. This chapter appears here in draft form with the permission of D. N. Carlson.
Students at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ, USA) investigated the reasons for an el... more Students at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ, USA) investigated the reasons for an elongated projection at the bow of Mediterranean galleys. Using a 1:20 base model adapted from the Trireme Trust's Olympias fitted with: 1) an elongated projection; and 2) a control bow similar to excavated merchant ships, tow-tank tests were carried out at various speeds. Hydrodynamic resistance and power were calculated for each bow type. Above speeds corresponding to 6 knots, the cutwater bow significantly attenuated the model's bow waves when compared to the control bow. These results were then compared to those of the ship with a ram-type bow from experiments conducted in 1985 at the National Technical University of Athens, which showed similar wave-attenuating characteristics.
The final battle of the First Punic war between the Romans and Carthaginians, the Battle of the A... more The final battle of the First Punic war between the Romans and Carthaginians, the Battle of the Aegates Islands, took place in 241 B.C. Under the Egadi Islands Survey Project led by the Soprintendenza del Mare, Sicily, intensive survey resulted in unique discoveries from an ancient battlefield. This publication includes the field seasons from 2010-15. Finds of bronze warship rams, armor, amphoras, inscriptions, and evidence of shipwreck sites confirm the discovery of this ancient naval battle landscape. Moreover, these artifacts provide new lines of inquiry into Latin epigraphy and the role of officials, the formation of battle landscapes, the dimensions of warships and their rams, types of personal armor, cultural change during the 3rd century B.C., and the economics of fleet construction during the First Punic War.
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Papers by William Murray