Exploring Biblical Boats: From Noah’s Ark to Roman War Ships

By Elizabeth Prata

Boats are often mentioned in the Bible. Aside from the Ark that carried Noah and his family, a once in a history boat, there is a lot of shipping going on, much traveling on boats, shipwrecks, and references to boats. There is also the symbolism of boats. Let’s dig in.

The port city of Tyre was known for his boats, shipping, and valuable products. Ezekiel 27:3, and say to Tyre, who sits at the entrance to the sea, [ports, harbors] merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.‘

1 Kings 9:26-27 also mentions not only ships, but a navy. Solomon used these ships to bring in much gold and silver. King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.

Numbers 24:24 also mentions ships, “And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.“

Grain boats of Egypt. Nile River. The boats used for carrying freight are built with a narrow keel, the stern and prow, as in ancient time, rising high above the water. They are usually managed by three or four men and carry what is known as the lateen sail. This is a large triangular sail. In Joseph’s day Egypt was the great granary of the world. Source: Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 47

In the New Testament also there are mentions of shipping and passenger travel. Famously, Paul was shipwrecked. Acts 27:14-44 describes in some detail a difficult passage, and Paul’s ship eventually wrecked.

What kind of boats were these? Seagoing merchant ships, Galilean fishing boats, slave triremes, pirate ships, ferries (2 Samuel 19:18) …all types.

In 1986 in the Sea of Galilee a boat was discovered. The drought had caused waters on this freshwater large lake to recede and a 27′ long, flat bottomed boat was revealed. They call it the “Jesus boat” not because it has any connection to Jesus but the style of boat dates it to about Jesus’ time. It was about 7 feet wide and could hold 10 passengers if used as a ferry boat. If used as a fishing boat it could hold about five crew members and a catch of 600 pounds up to a ton of fish. It had 4 rowing stations and a mast for a sail.

remnants of ancient boat called Jesus boat.

We usually think of these kind of boats but the ancients were masters of shipbuilding. Aside from camel or donkey, ships were the only other mode of travel. They excelled at finding way to construct large vessels to get goods or people where they needed to go.

We read at Answers in Genesis,

In the writings of Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79), I discovered the table (below) about ships of antiquity. This documents the rapid advances the ancients made in ship-building technology in just a few centuries. The time period in the table is from about the seventh century BC to the end of the third century BC.

Jonah’s ship was large enough so he could ‘go down to the lowest part of the ship’ and fall asleep. (Jonah 1:5).

Below is a modern reconstruction of a Roman War Ship docked near Ephesus from Holy Land Photos. It is called a penteconter. You see the box-like structure along the side, that is where the oars would poke out. The holes above are for light and ventilation for the oarsmen. These ships typically lacked a full deck. “They were versatile, long-range ships used for sea trade, piracy and warfare, capable of transporting freight or troops. A penteconter was rowed by fifty oarsmen, arranged in a row of twenty-five on each side of the ship” says Wikipedia. These ships evolved into the more famous triremes.

There is a ‘ram’ at the bow just under the surface of the water.

There were skiffs, highly maneuverable smaller boats used to transport goods, rowboats, smaller sailboats… In fact the Romans were so good at shipbuilding they became experts at building piers to dock the many ships. Some of their piers are stronger than ours built today. How?

How Roman concrete became strong: (AI overview)
“Roman concrete was made from volcanic ash, lime, volcanic rock, and seawater. When seawater interacted with the concrete, it dissolved components of the volcanic ash. This allowed new minerals to grow, including aluminous tobermorite and phillipsite. These minerals reinforced the cementing matrix, making the concrete stronger. This process continues over thousands of years.”

Paul used some maritime references to the faith. Though the Hebrew people were pastoral and agricultural, showing no inclination to become seafaring, they did know what these terms meant. In 1 Timothy 1:19, Paul wrote that some have rejected the faith ‘keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith‘.

Jude warns in Jude 1:12 that false teachers are like hidden reefs which would cause the ship to be torn apart from stem to stern and sink.

Newfoundland: the skiff rounds the point widely, avoiding the visible rocks and the further hidden reef under the surface. Art high tide the rocks would be covered. EPrata photo

Hebrews 2:1 reminds us that we must pay close attention lest we “drift away”. Isaiah 57:20 refers to the wicked being like the sea itself, But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

Larry Pierce said in his article at Answers in Genesis, Just because we cannot duplicate something that was done thousands of years ago, it does not mean the ancients could not do it either!

The biblical world was full of coming and going. The ancients were experts in many things, some of which we can’t even discern how they did it! Pyramids, anyone? The ancient world is fascinating, including maritime advances.

Further reading

A Day in the Life of a Fisherman

The Galilean fishermen and their boats (and calming of the storm)