The Hellenistic Age spreads from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. to 30 B.C. the year of the death of the last of the Ptolemies, Cleopatra VII, (some historians however consider that the Hellenistic World in the East continues up to the third, even the fourth century A.D. until to the end […]

During the years of Early Byzantine Period (4th – 7th century AD), when the Empire was dominant in the Mediterranean, the Aegean islands formed part of the chain which consisted of Crete, Cyprus, Sicily, Malta and Sardinia and secured unity in its naval communications. The theme of the Aegean, as an administrative region of the […]

Piracy From the 16th to the beginning of the 18th century AD, the “White Sea”, as the Aegean was named by the Ottomans, was a “turbulent archipelago”. Muslim and Christian pirates and corsairs were active in its waters. The latter were in the service of combative powers interested in damaging the enemy’s shipping and trade […]

The long 19th century In the 19th century, the Mediterranean was at the fore center of international commerce. The ships traveled from the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea to the West carrying grain, wool, cotton, linseed and animal fat, and returned from there laden with coal and industrial products. The Black Sea was the […]

We cannot ascertain when Man ventured in the open sea; this question will never be plausibly answered. The great navigator and pioneer in nautical experimental archeology, Thor Heyerdahl rightly said that: “Man learned to use a paddle and a sail well before he rode on an animal back and made a saddle”. Man’s venture on […]

The sources for our understanding of the ancient ship For the Paleolithic and Mesolithic there are no written sources or representations of water-crafts, nor do we have any archaeological finds that can help us understand the type of crafts used and the methods of construction of our ancestors. We only rely on learned guessing and […]