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Bodrum Guide Bodrum
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Sailing For Over Two Millenium Historian and archaeologist Sir Charles Newton suggests that both the Lelegians and the Carians were a pre-Hellenic race of nomad character inhabiting areas of Asia Minor: "According to Herodotus, the Greek and Carian mercenaries arrived in Egypt in the days of Psammetichos, brought by a gale. . . Certain lonians and Carians, voyaging for plunder, were forced to put in on the coast of Egypt, where they disembarked in their mail of bronze...."(Hdt.II, 154). Around 500 B.C., the city of Myndos, on the western tip of the Bodrum peninsula, contributed one ship to the fleet of Aristagoras the Milesian (Hdt. 5.33). Artemis I: A Renowned Female Naval Commander Artemisia I, ruler of Halicarnassus, was one of Xerxes' closest advisors, and Herodotus relays the following: "The Carians furnished seventy ships, and were equipped like the Greeks, but carried, in addition, falchions and daggers."(Hdt VII) The fighting vessel of the time was the trireme. While evidence is lacking as to whether the furnished boats were built in Halicarnassus, Artemisia I proved herself a hero at the ensuing battle where she was in charge of her own trireme: In 353 B.C., King Mausolus, the appointed Persian satrap of Caria and Halicarnassus, died and was succeeded by his wife (also his sister), who out of love for her husband (brother), began construction of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Artemisia II, great granddaughter of Artemisia I, was equally as savvy at naval warfare as her great grandmother had been. Ptolemy IV of Eygypt Commissions a Megaship After the reign of Alexander the Great, the Greek world was divided into four. Ptolemy ruled Egypt and the Carian region of Asia Minor until his defeat by the Syrians in 193 B.C. It is recorded that during this time, Halicarnassus paid its taxes to Egypt in the form of a trireme (5). Interestingly, also during the reign of the Ptolemies, references have been found to the largest oared vessel ever built: Darker Ages There are few available written references to sailing or boat building on the Bodrum peninsula after the 1st century until Ottoman times. Economically and politically, Halicarnassus seems to have fallen in importance for several centuries, and recorded references to shipbuilding are not found again until the Ottoman Empire. By using other resources, however, we can attempt to guess at the type of boats that might have made Bodrum a port of call during these long centuries. The kind of vessels that were sailing the Aegean during Byzantine times included the dorkon around the 6th century, a swift-sailing highly maneuverable vessel with lateen sails. According to Dr. Bass, also appearing around this time is the dromon, similarly lithe and swift but with a protective upper deck for the rowers. Dromons were warships usually consisting of two banked galleys with not less than twent- five oars per bank.
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