The InternationalJournal of Nautical Archaeology (1999) 28.2:200-206 Article No. ijna.1999.0228 Refiews ® Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant SHELLEY WACHSMANN 448 pp., 679 B&W illustrations Texas A&M University Press and Chatham Publishing, London, 1998, US $80 and £55, ISBN 0-89096-709-1 (US) and 1-86176-068-X (UK) In Seagoing Ships and Seamanship #7 the Bronze Age Levant S. Wachsmann takes on a nearly impossible task: to catalogue and interpret evidence for seafaring in the Eastern Mediterranean from archaeological sources. Copiously illustrated, this volume presents the rich collection of images and models for the period as well as more certain evidence from seagoing and, from Egypt, river boats. Because only two Bronze Age sites with hull remains have been excavated in the Mediterranean, Wachsmann's discussion of ship construction relies primarily upon iconographic studies and the recent studies of the c. 1200 BC Cape Gelidonya and c. 1306 BC Uluburun ship- wrecks off the Turkish coast with reference to Nilotic vessels of the Bronze Age. A variety of archaeological discoveries indi- cate contact by sea, and contemporary texts, referred to in translation throughout the discus- sion, illuminate some aspects of the maritime world of the second millennium BC. As in L. Basch's compendium L'mus~e imaginah'e de la marine antique, Wachsmann also uses 20th cen- tury ethnographic examples, pharaonic river craft and cross-cultural observations to support his arguments for particularistic interpretations of boat models and representations from the region's seafaring cultures. As Wachsmann points out, when we see ships scratched on temple walls, painted on ancient pots, or, as carved tomb decorations, 'we see not ships but representations of ships "refracted" through the eyes, culture, schooling, mental attitudes, and skills of their creators'. How much more 1057-2414/99/020200 + 07 $30.00/0 difficult a task, then, to attempt segregating our own expectations and 'refractions' in such studies. Organization of the volume is first by culture (with about half this section devoted to Minoan and Aegean cultures) and then by topic, begin- ning with ship construction and considering propulsion, anchors, navigation, sea trade, war, piracy and law. An excellent glossary by F. M. Hocker provides invaluable and precise defi- nitions for ship components and associated terms. The bibliography is extensive, as is the fine index. The tight focus of this book will appeal particularly to those already familiar with the names and locations of islands, countries ancient and modern, shipwrecks and cities. All readers, however, could benefit from a comprehensive map in addition to the three simple examples in the navigation chapter that includes some of the harbours and shipwrecks mentioned in the text. Beginning in Egypt and working counter- clockwise around the eastern Mediterranean basin, appropriately concluding with those nomadic seafarers called 'Peoples of the Sea' in Egyptian inscriptions, Wachsmann takes us on a journey designed to present an exhaustive survey of data that may be brought to bear on the questions when, how, where, and why did Bronze Age peoples go to sea. Much of the evidence is familiar, and benefits from the large format presentation of photographs and line drawings, many of the latter redrawn by the author from original publications. Detailed discussions by specialists are valuable addi- tions. For example: T. G. Palaima reviews the Linear-B (Mycenaean Greek) rowing tablets from Pylos; John Lenz contributes a detailed analysis of Homer's epithet 'curved' as it applies to ships; and, an appendix provides recent translations of documents related to seafaring found at Ugarit by J. Hoftijzer and W. H. van Soldt. The perils and pitfalls Of iconography are many, and it is to his credit that the author carefully points out many potential sources of inaccuracy in ancient works, from technique to © 1999The Nautical ArchaeologySociety