| Did you know that Archimedes built a boat? King | | | | of 1985-1986 had lowered the level of the lake |
| Hiero II of Syracuse in Sicily, is said to have | | | | such a lot that relic hunters felt sure that the |
| asked him to design and oversee the building of a | | | | exposed mud would yield some exciting discovery. |
| very large boat of particular magnificence - a sort | | | | It did. A boat which dates back to the time of |
| of Titanic of its day. This was around 200 BC. | | | | Christ. Experts note its mortise and tenon joints, |
| A quick reminder. Archimedes was an all-in-one, a | | | | typical of how wooden joints were made at that |
| mathematician, engineer, designer, inventor - you | | | | time. The boat is 27' long and 7½' wide, which |
| name it. He was the Einstein of his day. He is very | | | | means that it was able to take a crew of around |
| well remembered for shouting out 'Eureka', when | | | | 19 people, 4 of whom would be rowers, and one |
| he solved a particular troublesome problem. | | | | a helmsman. |
| Google "Eureka". 3,350,00 searches are made | | | | A mast would have meant it could also be sailed. |
| each month for it. What is it people are expecting | | | | Purportedly, excellent craftsmen had built it. The |
| or hoping to find? Eureka is a Greek word | | | | wood was mainly cedar planks, but 12 different |
| meaning "I have found it!" (Perhaps a goodhearted | | | | types of wood were used. This suggests that the |
| reader could comment here). | | | | owner was probably not well off as the planks |
| The boat he designed had a gymnasium, baths, | | | | were not of the best cut. |
| garden and covered walkways. Apparently though | | | | This type of boat would have been used for |
| it was too large for the port of Syracuse. (Whose | | | | fishing, or as a ferry or for military purposes. |
| fault would that have been?) Archimedes, by all | | | | However the extensive repairs and the quality of |
| accounts, was noted for precision accuracy. | | | | the wood used in repairing it suggest that it was |
| Perhaps it was King Hiero's zeal for the large and | | | | most likely to have been used for fishing. It has a |
| splendid that led the King to overlook this small | | | | flat bottom and shallow draft. The method of |
| point. | | | | building in those days was to put the planks on |
| Not having had much, if any, use when a famine | | | | first and then fit the ribs. |
| occurred a few years later, the King is said to | | | | One last point of interest is the manner in which it |
| have loaded the boat to the brim with fish, meat, | | | | was preserved after it was recovered. In order |
| corn and clothes and had it anchored in the Nile | | | | to stop the wood drying out and crumbling, |
| Delta. The story stops here, so presumably, that | | | | opaque wax was used to replace the evaporating |
| is where she still is, but now preserved in mud. A | | | | water from the wood. The boat lay in a 'bath' for |
| vintage sailboat. | | | | 7 years until it was deemed safe to put it on |
| A few years ago, a boat was dug out of the | | | | display. Another vintage sailboat. |
| mud of the Sea of Galilee. (Mud is a good | | | | Perhaps some day Archimedes' vintage sailboat |
| preserver as it puts a halt to the bacterial | | | | might have a chance of rediscovery. |
| decomposition of the wood). The severe drought | | | | |