Phoenician Ship

ca. 700 BCE

Phoenician ship in Assyrian relief from palace of Sennacherib (reigned 705–681 BCE), Nineveh. Transport galleys flee Tyre in the face of Sennacherib’s attack in 701 BCE. Soldiers and passengers stand on the upper deck while oarsmen row from the lower decks. See also Destruction of City and Capture of Inhabitants in Assyrian Relief. References to Phoenician ships and shipping include the expert sailors Hiram sent to join King Solomon’s fleet in 1 Kings 9:27, references to Phoenician ships in the Latter Prophets, and Jonah’s attempted flight on a ship, to evade his divine mission of exhorting Nineveh to repent.

Credits

A. H. Layard, from The Monuments of Nineveh, (London: J. Murray, 1849), pl. 71. General Research Division, The New York Public Library. "Enemies of the Assyrians Taking Refuge in Ships." New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-4773-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.