Laser Scans Reveal Ship Images on Cyprus Temple Wall

LARNACA, CYPRUS—High-resolution laser scans of the walls of a temple at the site of Kition Kathari in Cyprus have revealed an additional 23 carvings, Phys.org reports. In 1982, a study of the temple’s southern wall, which overlooks a bay where the ancient city’s harbor was likely located, recorded 19 ship images, all thought to have been carved at about the same time. “We had not expected to find them—our intention going into the project was to laser scan the blocks in order to add to our larger study about ashlar masonry and Late Bronze Age masonry practices on the island,” said Caroline Barnes of the University of British Columbia. One of the blocks, which had been added to the wall as a repair some 150 years after the wall's original construction, was also carved with an image of a ship. Therefore, the newly identified carvings are thought to have been made over a period of as many as 300 years. The illustrations have been identified as Levantine merchantmen, Minoan sailing ships, galleys from the Carmel Coast, and a local Cypriot vessel. The styles of the boats depicted also date the carvings to a span of several centuries, Barnes explained. “We can imagine that ships and seafaring were a common part of everyday life in the community,” added Graham Braun of the University of Cincinnati. Read the original scholarly article about this research in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. To read about a fourth-century b.c. Greek merchant vessel recovered off the coast of Cyprus, go to "History's 10 Greatest Wrecks: Kyrenia."