The history of sailboats goes back more than one millennium. During this time, boats and sails changed in different ways. The first boats were small and had only one straight sail. Over time, the boats increased in size, structural elements were added to them for combat or for trade, and oblique and mixed sails began to appear. But all this will happen later, and for now we will be transported to Ancient Egypt.

The reed boat can be considered the ancestor of all ships. More precisely, it was a papyrus raft, because in Ancient Egypt there were no trees suitable for building boats. This boat was built approximately 3500 BC, and according to some sources even earlier. It did not have a mast, but there was a well-coordinated crew to control the boat: there was a helmsman at the back with a steering oar, he guided the boat, and people sat on the sides rowers who worked with oars, like on a canoe.

Reed boat. Egypt, 3500 BC

The next stage in the construction of ships already had significant progress - boats began to be made of wood and equipped with sails. Nile ships three thousand years BC still resembled a reed boat, but already had a mast, and it was then that the first straight sails were raised. The rudder was somewhat improved and attached to a pole directly under the stern.

Nile ship. Egypt, 3000 BC

Egyptian sailboats were built by tying together papyrus bundles, with the thickest of them placed on the outside. The sail was square, linen or papyrus. It was supported by two yards, connected into one long one, which was attached to a two-legged mast. When moving down the Nile, the wind was always headwind, and when moving up the current had to be overcome, so the sail was useful.

The fragile design did not allow the Egyptians to go to sea, so such ships moved only along the Nile. But the ships of the next millennium were much longer and allowed sailors to go to sea for thousands of miles. These were both merchant ships and warships, while the military ones had a more powerful ram bow.

Merchant ship. Egypt, 1500 BC

Military ship. Egypt, 1500 BC

In general, the history of shipbuilding in Ancient Egypt is very interesting and extensive. All ancient Egyptian shipbuilding is divided into several periods:

1. Predynastic period (5300 - 3500 BC) - it was at this time that the reed boat and the first ships with sails appeared.
2. The era of the pharaonic dynasties (3200 - 2240 BC) - then wooden shipbuilding appeared and began to develop in Egypt, the ships already had significantly larger sizes, somewhere during this period there was a transition from a primitive row to an oar (the Egyptians made the oar work on the lever principle). Merchant ships have already made long journeys, for example to India.
3. Times of the New Kingdom (from the 2nd millennium BC). The Egyptians began to use tall coniferous trees, specially imported for this purpose from Lebanon. Beams hewn from their long trunks made it possible to make ships of increased strength, make ship plating, and increase the size of sails and oars. The size of the vessels increased accordingly: length up to 30 - 40 m, width up to 4.0 - 6.5 m, displacement up to 60 - 80 tons.
4. Later times (II millennium - 300 BC) - warships appear in Egypt, which took part in naval battles on the islands of the Mediterranean Sea and on the coast of Southern Europe, ships travel around Africa, construction of the Suez Canal begins.

Since the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (1500 BC), the megalomania of Egyptian ships began. At her behest, a merchant ship was created with a displacement of 1.5 thousand tons, a length of 63 m, a width of 21 m, a side height of 6 m and a draft of 2 m; it was on it that two 350-ton granite obelisks were transported along the Nile from the rocks of Aswan to the holy city of Thebes. And then even more - a multi-tiered ship with a displacement of 3 thousand tons, a length of 128 m, a width of 17 m, the height of the bow and stern above the water is 22 m, the mast is about 40 m high, the length of the upper tier oars is up to 19 m, and this ship was steered by four thousand oarsmen.

The Egyptians used boats and ships not only in real life, but also in the afterlife. This is confirmed by boats found in various tombs. However, this is also a completely different story.

And reed boats, although they are the very first boats, are still used in our time in some countries, for example, in Peru or East Africa. In addition, the famous Norwegian archaeologist and traveler Thor Heyerdahl built a boat from papyrus in 1969 and set off on it to cross the Atlantic Ocean. But we'll talk about this some other time.

Chapter:

• PART 1
• SYNTAX. PUNCTUATION. A CULTURE OF SPEECH
• §41. Punctuation marks in sentences with homogeneous members

From each pair of sentences, make one with homogeneous members. Do not repeat the same words in composed sentences. Use conjunctions that make sense, don't forget commas. Emphasize the grammatical basics of the sentences.
1 . The ancient Egyptians made boats from reeds - papyrus. The Egyptians sailed along the Nile and even across the seas.
2. They once traveled around Rus' on wooden boats. They moved along rivers and lakes.
3. The inhabitants of the islands of Oceania also made wooden boats. They were hollowed out from a whole tree trunk.
4 . People built ships and boats. People still use boats.
5 . Currently, gondolas are used in Venice. They float along the streets and canals of this city.

Solution

1. The ancient Egyptians made boats from reeds - papyrus, sailed along the Nile and even across the seas.
2. They once traveled across Rus' on wooden boats and moved along rivers and lakes.
3. The inhabitants of the islands of Oceania also made wooden boats, hollowing them out of a whole tree trunk.
4. People have built ships and boats, but they still use boats.
5. Currently, gondolas are used in Venice; they float along the streets and canals of this city.

Today, the participants of our Third Spring Fire Fighting Expedition spent a trip around the outskirts of Astrakhan and at the very border of the Astrakhan Biosphere Reserve.

We haven’t had any fires yet, but, nevertheless, the trip turned out to be eventful and full of discoveries.

One of the goals of our expedition is to reveal as fully as possible the possibilities of using reed in various areas of life. I spent a lot of time looking for information about reeds and other dry plant residues that are so mercilessly burned every spring over vast areas.

Today our group, driving through the Astrakhan region, saw how local residents use reeds to improve their lives. Igor Podgorny and Anna Baskakova will talk about this, and I bring to your attention the first part of the interesting material that I prepared for this trip.
So what do we know about reeds?

Reed is a large, widespread perennial herbaceous plant of the Poaceae or Poa family. It forms extensive thickets along the banks and deltas of rivers in warm countries.

Reeds are often mistakenly called reeds.
Reed is a completely different plant; it belongs to the Sedge family. Some types of reeds have a triangular, rigid stem, which is not typical for reeds.
Reed is a coastal aquatic plant, widespread almost throughout the globe.

Reed is a name known to everyone, but often it refers to completely different plants. Cattails are often called reeds.
Cattail is the only genus of plants in the monotypic family Cataceae. Swamp grass with loose inflorescences from light to dark brown.

Most likely, the confusion with the names arose from the prevalence of reeds; its name is more euphonious and over time passed on to other aquatic plants.

Reed is moisture-loving, grows along the banks of reservoirs, often at a considerable depth - up to one and a half meters - and is found in swamps and water meadows, close to groundwater in forests and salt marshes.
Reed always forms large thickets, which have important ecological significance: having settled in marshy or swampy places, the reed over time turns them into drier areas: a large mass of leaves and stems evaporates a lot of moisture, as if pumping it out of damp soil.

Reed filters water well, the spongy structure of its stems facilitates the delivery of oxygen to the root areas, enriching the bottom soil, which has a beneficial effect on the growth of other plants and the general condition of such ecosystems. Fish feel good in reed beds, find a lot of food, and lay eggs there.

The fauna of reed beds is rich and diverse. Many birds nest and winter in the reeds - swans, pelicans, white-tailed eagles, herons nest, many species of ducks, seagulls. Boars, wolves, swamp turtles, beavers, jungle cats, muskrats, stoats, muskrats - all these animals find food and a place to live in the reeds.

Man has used reeds and reeds in everyday life and in construction since ancient times.
In Ancient Egypt, ropes, ropes, shoes, and boats were made from the papyrus plant, which belongs to the Sedge family and is a relative of reeds.

In the 3rd millennium BC. The ancient Egyptians ate the stem of papyrus and made mats, fabrics, rafts from it, as well as writing material, which was also called papyrus.


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To do this, they cut the stems into narrow strips, soaked them, glued them into wide strips and laid them in a special way.

The width of the layers ranged from two to eight centimeters, since the work was done manually.

The highest quality layers were obtained from the cores of the table. The layers were laid out tightly relative to each other. A second layer was applied to the strips laid out in a row, but perpendicular to the first. There was no interweaving of layers. Then everything was pressed. Strength was achieved through the adhesive substances of the plant itself. After pressing, the papyrus sheets were laid out in the sun to dry.

Papyri made in Egypt were in great demand in Greece. With the help of Egyptian papyri, all business and literary activities of the Mediterranean in the 7th century BC were carried out. The demand for raw materials was so great that natural reserves were not enough; the Egyptians had to grow papyrus specially.

Nowadays, in Egypt, the production of papyri from plant materials has also been established, but for souvenir purposes.
In Ancient Egypt, boats and even entire ships were also built from papyrus. There were no forests in Egypt, so papyrus was the main building material. The most ancient records of boats were found in Egypt. Egyptian pharaohs traveled along the Nile on papyrus ships, and after the death of the pharaoh, his boat was buried with him.

Thin stems of papyrus were tied into large bundles, from which the hull of the ship was assembled. On such ships, the ancient Egyptians sailed not only along the Nile River, but also across large African lakes.
The papyrus boat was a fairly large structure: its length could reach several tens of meters. It was propelled by numerous slaves, each of whom rowed with one short oar. Later, on similar ships they began to use a large square sail, also woven from papyrus. A covered cabin or canopy was installed in the stern of the boat, under which passengers or cargo were placed.

The carrying capacity and stability of such ships were such that they even transported blocks of stone for the construction of pyramids.

In our time, the Norwegian researcher Thor Heyerdahl tried to repeat one of the journeys made by the ancient Egyptians along the shores of the African continent. For this purpose, according to ancient drawings and fossil remains of boats, a ship was built in 1969, which was named “Ra”, named after the Egyptian sun god. On this ship, members of an international expedition attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean, setting off from the coast of Morocco. However, due to flaws in the design of the papyrus boat, the expedition had to be interrupted. But the very next year, in 1970, the Ra-II boat was built, and already on it, also from Morocco, a second attempt was made, which was crowned with success: The boat crossed the Atlantic and reached Barbados, thereby confirming the excellent seaworthiness of light papyrus boats . This proved that the Egyptians were not only great builders, but also skilled sailors.

Papyrus boat "Ra" and living quarters on board

On the morning of May 17, 1970, Ra 2 left the Moroccan city of Safi (North Africa) and headed across the Atlantic Ocean to the shores of South America.
The crew of "Ra-2" consisted of eight people: Thor Heyerdahl (Norway), Norman Baker (USA), Carlo Mauri (Italy), Kei Ohara (Japan), Yuri Senkevich (USSR), Georges Sorial (Egypt), Santiago Genoves ( Mexico), Madani Ait Uhanni (Morocco).
After 57 days, the sailors reached the shores of Barbados. The total length of the voyage was 5,700 km. The success of the Ra-2 expedition confirmed Thor Heyerdahl's hypothesis about the possibility of ancient transoceanic contacts. In addition, the expedition collected samples of ocean pollution and submitted its report to the United Nations.
Currently, the legendary boat "Ra-2" is kept in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo.


Thor Heyerdahl and his boat "Ra"

The documentary film about the trip on the wooden raft "Kon-Tiki" received an Oscar, and the book about the voyage itself became a bestseller and sold millions of copies.

In 1977, Thor Heyerdahl undertook a new journey. This time he built a boat from reeds and named it "Tigris". It was the largest ship built by Thor Heyerdahl. Its length was 15 meters.
The Tigris was built in Iraq from Iraqi cane and sailed with an international crew on board through the Persian Gulf to Pakistan and from there to the Red Sea. Thor Heyerdahl confirmed his hypothesis that Mesopotamian reeds are as suitable for boat building as papyrus, but only need to be harvested in a certain season when they have water-resistant qualities.


Construction of the Tigris boat

In Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in the marshy southern regions of Mesopotamia, one of the most interesting national groups has been living for more than 5 thousand years - the “lake, or swamp, Arabs.”

Here is the town of Al-Qurna, surrounded on all sides by large and small lakes and swamps, overgrown with giant reeds, reeds and sedges. “Swamp Arabs” huddle on islands, often artificial, the size of a small garden plot, and their homes are built from bundles of reeds tied together. They communicate with neighboring families by traveling on small dugout boats. The source of livelihood is the sale of traditional cane products.

However, in our time, total reclamation and drainage of swamps has almost completely destroyed this nation. Now there are very few swamp Arabs left, but they continue to build houses from reeds.

In modern Iraq, reeds are used to build various buildings. For example, a house for receiving guests.

But it's not just swamp Arabs who live on floating reed islands.
In South America, in Peru, near the high-altitude Lake Titicaca, tribes of South American Indians Uru live in reed houses, which are built not on the shore, but on floating reed islands.

www.andreev.org

Each such island consists of several layers of dried reeds. The lower layers gradually rot and are carried away by water, while the upper layers are constantly renewed by the inhabitants.
Residential huts have been built on the islands. The water in Lake Titicaca is quite cold, so the climate in those places cannot be called hot. However, the Uru Indians have lived in reed houses for thousands of years. Some of them have solar panels installed.
Between the islands, residents travel by boats and canoes, which are also built from dried reeds. The lifespan of such a boat is about six months, then it begins to rot and then the Indians build a new one.
The areas of such islands are not so small.


Photo by Ekaterina Andreeva from the website
Photo by Mikhail Ushakov. www.mackeyka.ru

Souvenirs and decorations made of reed.


Photo by Ekaterina Andreeva from the site www.andreev.org

The value of reed is determined not only by its construction and thermal insulation qualities. Since ancient times and to this day, cane has been consumed as food. Reed rhizomes have more than once served as a food substitute during severe and prolonged crop failures. They were dug up, dried, ground and added in large quantities to wheat and rye flour and baked into bread.
Young, not yet greened reed sprouts, rich in sugar, are used for food. They are used to make puree, cook soups, and add to vinaigrettes and salads. A coffee surrogate is prepared from roasted rhizomes.

Cane rhizomes contain vitamins (B1, B2, C), proteins, fats, carbohydrates, asparamide, amino acids, fatty acids, steroid compounds, a-tocopherol, caffeic and gentisic acids, alkaloids and other nitrogen-containing compounds. The inflorescences, stems and leaves of the plant also contain flavonoids.

Common reed is widely used in folk medicine in some countries.

In Chinese medicine, rhizomes are used as an antipyretic, choleretic and antiemetic; it is part of an effective drug against pneumonia. A decoction of rhizomes or young stems and leaves was drunk as a diaphoretic and diuretic.

In Korean medicine, rhizomes of common reed are used for colds accompanied by fever and dry throat, urinary retention and inflammatory diseases of the ureters and bladder, and also as an antidote for poisoning with fish and crabs.

In folk medicine in Siberia and Altai, it is used for colds, as an antipyretic, and for inflammation of the bladder and prostate gland in men. For this purpose, rhizomes collected in autumn and early spring were boiled, and a drink was also prepared by adding alpine knotweed or sorrel herb.

In folk medicine of the Russian Far East, rhizomes are used as a diaphoretic and antidiabetic remedy. In the form of poultices, crushed rhizomes are used for arthritis, and their fresh juice is drunk for hemoptysis and thirst during febrile diseases, and compresses are made from it, applied to the bites of poisonous insects. An aqueous infusion of stems and leaves is used as a diuretic and diaphoretic.

We will talk about the problem of reed burning in our country, as well as possible ways to use it in construction and everyday life in the next part of our review.

From each pair of sentences, make one with homogeneous members. Do not repeat the same words in composed sentences. Use suitable ones

meaning of conjunctions, do not forget about commas. Emphasize the grammatical basics of sentences.
1. The ancient Egyptians made boats from reed - papyrus. The Egyptians sailed along the Nile and even across the seas.
2. They once traveled around Rus' on wooden boats. They moved along rivers and lakes.
3. The inhabitants of the islands of Oceania also made wooden boats. They were hollowed out from a whole tree trunk.
4. People built ships and boats. People still use boats.
5. Currently, gondolas are used in Venice. They float along the canal streets of this city

1 task

(1) At noon the weather changed. (2) It became warmer, softer. (3) Torn white clouds floated across the blue barrels of the sky slowly, waddling. (4) The sky released light fluffs of snow onto the ground. (5) There was no wind, and the forest copses, dressed in the newness of winter, looked solemnly elegant. (6) Black orchards were in flocks on the birch trees, peeling the buds. (7) The partridges, frightened by someone, flew screaming from coppice to coppice.

(8) I walked towards the river through thick spruce trees and thought _ Who disturbed the peace of the partridges _ (9) With great caution I began to make my way between the fir trees to the edge of the clearing. (10) Not reaching the edge by a meter, I parted the bushes of spruce paws and immediately saw the violators of the quiet grace of this little world. (11) About two hundred meters from me, the fox and his girlfriend were mouseing. (12) Wonderful couple! (13) I wish I could paint such a picture! (14) I took up the photo gun.

(According to E. Tverdov)
QUESTION
Which sentences (see text from question No. 1) contain compound words (words with 2 roots)?

1)
sentence 1

2)
sentence 3

3)
sentence 5

4)
sentence 7

5)
sentence 10

6)
sentence 11

1) Not far from us, in a spoon near the Shilovsky smooth surfaces. the wolves howled. (2) An answering howl was heard from the other side of the river. (3) There was no more silence. (4) She left with a wolf

th song. (5) A lynx jumped out onto the crop, stopped, sniffed, and immediately lashed into a birch tree. (6) From there, the clapping and cries of partridges reached our ears.
(7) “It’s the partridge that glorifies the night, sends thanks to the moon, but the darkness responded and let us have breakfast,” Denis whispered and smiled: “(8) It’s wonderful in the forest, like near Lukomorye.”
(9) By the river, someone laughed so fervently and loudly that he made me stop and listen. (10) Denis looked at me, narrowed his eyes, shrugged his shoulders, and said:
(11) _Let's go to the hut, otherwise the owl will put the dead man on his feet_
(12) I followed Denis, and in my eyes, frame by frame, birch copses, fiery boreas and pine forests, small and large spruce forests, aspen forests, and not wide mowing clearings, dusted with snow, floated by. (13) Denis walked with a leisurely gait, stepping softly with his boots, fearing to damage the small growth. (14) He often bent down, picked up every twig that had fallen from a spruce or pine tree, put it on the rhizome, and it became clear to me: Denis was walking through a large field. (15) This was a beloved, primordial field.

1. Indicate sentences in which one of the main members is missing or omitted:
1) Sentence 3
2) Proposition 10
3) Proposition 11
4) Proposition 12
5) Proposition 14
6) Proposition 15

2.What means of expression are used in sentences 8-12?
1) Expanded metaphor
2) Epithet
3) Phraseological phrase
4) Personification
5) Comparison
6) Antithesis

3. Among sentences 9-15, find a sentence related to the previous one using a demonstrative pronoun and lexical repetition. Enter the number of this offer
1) Proposition 9
2) Proposition 10
3) Proposition 12
4) Proposition 14
5) Proposition 15

No one knows exactly when man first used the wind to propel a ship. Sails first appeared on the Nile. The oldest depiction of a Nile sailing boat appears on a vase dating back to approximately 3200 BC. e. In ancient Egypt there were few trees suitable for building ships, so boats were made from papyrus stems, which were bundled and sealed with resin. This probably explains why later wooden Egyptian boats were painted in all shades of green. However, yellow and blue colors were also used quite often.

Main characteristics: length - 14 m; width - 3.8 m.

Depictions of the earliest seagoing vessels are known from bas-reliefs in a royal tomb dating back to approximately 2500 BC. e. Egyptian ships were built from cedar, acacia or acanthus using the “end-to-end” method - without frames. The hull was reinforced with a thick rope, which stretched from bow to stern and was supported by vertical posts. The rope was tensioned by a twist rod inserted between its strands. This method was used throughout the next millennium. The propulsion force in a tailwind was a narrow quadrangular sail, stretched on a two-legged, collapsing mast, and in calm or headwinds - oars. To steer the vessel, rudder oars were also used - three on each side.

Main characteristics: length - 34 m; width - 9.2 m. Color: body - light blue; bulwark, Egyptian cross on the sternpost - dark red; sail - light red; stem, sternpost - cream; deck, yard, mast, steering oars, support posts - natural wood color.

An Egyptian papyrus ship is one of the most ancient in the world. At first it was just a papyrus raft, but by about 3500 BC. e. it was already a ship. It was used almost exclusively for sailing on the Nile. Its bow and stern were specially raised to make it easier to drag over shallows. But, having provided for the possibility of raising the bow and stern even higher with the help of cables, the Egyptians eventually began to go to sea on these ships.

Egyptian sailboats were built by tying together papyrus bundles, with the thickest of them placed on the outside. The sail was square, linen or papyrus. It was supported by two yards, connected into one long one, which was attached to a two-legged mast. When moving down the Nile, the wind was always headwind, and when moving up the current had to be overcome, so the sail was useful. Rafts and vessels of this type are used in East Africa, the Persian Gulf and South America to this day.

Model of an ancient Egyptian papyrus boat.

The sea with salt water, according to superstitious Egyptian views, which prohibited the consumption of sea fish and sea salt, was represented as the kingdom of the evil spirit Typhon and inspired horror, therefore, before the accession of the more free-thinking pharaoh Psammetichus (664-664 BC), Egyptian sea trade was only passive. On the other hand, the Nile with its branches, which served as a natural route of communication, greatly contributed to the fact that in Egypt, the oldest cultural country, river navigation developed very early and on a large scale.

On shallow river channels, from time immemorial, light rafts with raised ends, made, due to the lack of wood, from bundles of papyrus, have been used. They were driven by poles and served to transport people and animals, even oxen, and to deliver goods to markets. One of the images of such a raft dates back to the reign of the VI dynasty (mid-III millennium BC).

Building a boat in ancient Egypt

The first wooden ships appeared in Egypt at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. The Egyptians already had several fairly technically advanced types of ships, such as, for example, flat-bottomed ships, 10-16 meters long, that were used to transport people, sailing under oars and sails. Due to the lack of sufficiently strong spar trees, instead of a mast, two-legged goats with a horizontal short yard were used, on which a narrow high sail was attached.

In addition to the sail, lancet-shaped oars, numbering from 8 to 26 on each side, were also used for movement; To steer the ship, 2 to 5 oars were used on each side in the stern. On ships intended for long journeys, there were cabins woven from reeds. The number of the team reached 70 people. The largest of these vessels are similar to the vessels of the Ugandan ruler Mtesa on Lake Victoria, described by Stanley in his book "Across the Black Continent", published in 1878, that is, more than 4600 years later.

In design, Egyptian ships were much like earlier Nile reed ships or rafts. The only wood suitable for shipbuilding in Egypt was acacia, a hard and fibrous tree that cannot be made into long planks. Short pieces of wood were fastened together using mortises and tongues (Herodotus therefore compared the plating of Egyptian ships with brickwork), and the hull was covered with cables for greater strength. The sides ended with a gunwale, and beams were attached at the gunwale level. These beams and the striper that ran from stem to stern directly below them gave the hull additional strength. The frames were missing. A stretched cable between the high bow and stern helped keep them in this position. The keel as such was absent - it was replaced by a longitudinal keel strip, and the double mast, which stood closer to the bow, rested on the sides, like those of reed ships, the bottom of which could not provide a reliable support for it.

The oldest Egyptian wooden ships were recently found in Abydos, in burials from the beginning of the first dynasty - the time of kings Aha (Menes) or Djer, around 3000 BC. Unlike the IV Dynasty vessels from Giza, they were buried assembled. They reached 20-30 meters in length, the cladding boards, as expected, were fastened with cables, and the cracks between them were caulked with papyrus fibers.

There is also information about the first long voyages of the ancient Egyptians. Back in 2300 BC. from the harbor of Levkos Lymen (now Cozeir), where the road leading to the Red Sea from Koptos on the upper Nile ended, they sailed to the fabulous country of Punt. More accurate information about maritime affairs in antiquity is given to us by inscriptions and images in the Theban temple of Deir el-Bahri, dedicated to the expedition sent to Punt through the Red Sea by Queen Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BC) around 1470 BC. e.

The hulls of the ships depicted on them have more elegant outlines; they have stern and bow decks with bulwarks; the stem is straight, the stern is smoothly curved and ends with a lotus bud. The ends of the deck beams were passed through the skin, which gave the structure greater strength. There was no longer any need to encircle the ship's hull with a cable. The mast is lower than on earlier ships, the number of stays has been reduced, but the sail, like on river ships of that time, is wide and low.

Already after 1400 BC. Egyptian shipbuilding underwent significant changes and developed within the framework of the general Mediterranean tradition, where the tone was set first by Crete, and then by the Phoenicians and Greeks. The cargo brought from the country of Punt consisted of gold, silver, ivory, black and other valuable wood, live fragrant plants in tubs, fragrant resin, leopard skins, women, children and two breeds of baboons. However, there is debate as to whether the sailors were Egyptians or Phoenicians. What speaks for the Phoenicians is the fact that among the frescoes of a recently discovered tomb in Finae, dating back to the same era, there are images of the same ships, but with a Phoenician crew. It is possible that these were mercenaries, similar to the Phoenician mercenaries of the Tyrian king Hiram, who 600 years later made a trip on Solomon’s ships to the country of Ophir and returned from there with similar booty. 1000 years later, King Necho equips a flotilla to circumnavigate Africa, and the crew is again recruited from the Phoenicians. Although by this time the Egyptians, in theory, should have gotten rid of the fear of the sea, under the influence of Greek influence that penetrated Egypt under King Psammetichus. The Egyptians provided their maritime trade to the same Phoenicians.

pirateghostship.narod.ru

Images of ships in Ancient Egypt

Thor Heyerdahl (b. October 6, 1914, Larvik, Norway, d. April 18, 2002, Colla Michieri, Italy) first attracted attention with the Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, when he tried to prove the possibility of contacts between South America and Polynesia.

Thor Heyerdahl

In 1969 and 1970, he undertook expeditions on the boats "Ra" and "Ra 2", named after the Egyptian sun god and built from papyrus, to prove the possibility of contacts between Ancient Egypt and America.

In Africa, the technology for producing papyrus boats has still been preserved. Similar boats are made in Bolivia.

Modern papyrus boats on Lake Chad, Republic of Chad, Africa, papyrus boats on Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, South America.

Examples of Predynastic rock paintings of papyrus boats, some of them shown with sails. (Landstrom, Ships of the Pharaohs, 1972, p.16.)

Model of Heyerdahl's boat.

Heyerdahl bought 15 tons of papyrus in Eritrea (Egyptian is now too small), hired shipbuilders from Chad and they fulfilled his order, building a 15-meter boat.

Heyerdahl set off not from the Egyptian, but from the Phoenician port of Safi to Morocco and raised the flag of the United Nations, having a team of 7 people from seven countries. One of them was the Russian doctor Yuri Senkevich. The boat traveled 5,000 km (2,700 nautical miles) in 56 days and the crew was forced to abandon it 500 miles from the island of Barbados.

Ra 1

Amendments had to be made to the design - the stern was not raised high enough; in addition, so that the boat did not fall apart, it was more reliable to tie it with a single rope several hundred meters long. This is how papyrus could withstand storms.

Ra 2

After 10 months, Heyerdahl had a smaller one - 12 m long - "Ra 2" ready. This sailing ship crossed the Atlantic at its widest point (6,100 km - 3,270 nautical miles) in 57 days and brought travelers to Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados.

Structurally, "Ra-2" was built from short bundles of papyrus. Long strands absorb water much less. "Ra-2" was created by Bolivian Indians living on Lake Titicaca. Since ancient times, they still sail on such reed ships, calling them “totoras”. Currently, "Ra-2" is in a museum in Oslo, next to the famous "Kon-Tiki".

Cover of National Geographic magazine.

Thus, it was proven in practice that the papyrus boats of antiquity could be used for intercontinental contacts. However, it is difficult to believe that such voyages could be regular.

Later, Heyerdahl undertook another expedition - on the Tigris.

Tigris crew. In the bottom center are Thor Heyerdahl and Yuri Sienkevich.

From an interview with Yu. Senkevich.

When Heyerdahl took seven people from different countries on his first expedition, we (the participants) even joked: there are two of every creature. Because not only were we people on the boat, we also had a monkey, there was a drake, then, already in the ocean, a dove flew to us, which, as you know, also took part in the journey on the real Noah’s Ark.

If we resort not to mystical, but mythological (I hesitate to say: biblical) analogies, then, of course, Heyerdahl wanted to demonstrate to the world the following: it doesn’t matter what color a person’s skin is, what religion he professes, what nationality or political orientation he is - if everyone is purposefully united by one common cause, they can live in friendship and harmony, they can solve any problems and issues. This is what happened in the end.

And what color of your skin is, whether you are Arab or Jewish, communist or capitalist, it makes absolutely no difference. These “questions” are resolved, first of all, by the conditions in which people find themselves, and secondly, by a generally important and necessary matter. People understand that everything else is unimportant. If you are white, but at the same time you can’t do anything and are also a coward, then they will simply stop respecting you, and they will respect a black person who possesses these qualities. Here, in an extreme situation, purely human qualities always come first: professionalism, courage, dexterity, strength, the ability to live in one team, the ability to get along...

Heyerdahl

Of course, Heyerdahl’s goals in his expedition were primarily scientific; he wanted to prove to the world community, to all people, that in ancient times it was possible to cross the ocean on this type of papyrus ships. But along the way, knowing the world well, and what was happening in the world in politics, in economics, being a man of pacifist sentiments (Heyerdahl was a participant in World War II), he wanted to demonstrate to the world how important it is for people to live in peace and harmony. And this gave the expedition some additional social significance.

Thor Heyerdahl.