APhoenician joint (Latin:coagmenta punicana) is a lockedmortise and tenon wood joinery technique used in shipbuilding to fasten watercrafthulls. The locked (or pegged) mortise and tenon technique consists of cutting a mortise, or socket, into the edges of two planks and fastening them together with a rectangular wooden knob. The assembly is then locked in place by driving adowel through one or more holes drilled through the mortise side wall and tenon.
ThePhoenicians pioneered the use of locked mortise and tenon joints in nautical joinery to secure the underwater planking of seagoing ships. The use of pegged mortises and tenons in shipbuilding spread westward from theLevantine littoral. Examples of the use of Phoenician joints in the ancient Mediterranean include theUluburun ship, datedc. 1320±50 BC, and theCape Gelidonya ship dated toc. 1200 BC.
By the first millennium BC, Phoenician joints became a common edge-to-edge fastening method.Ancient Greek andRoman shipbuilders adopted the technique of Phoenician joinery. Roman writers credited the joinery technique to Phoenicians by calling itcoagmenta punicana orPunicanis coamentis. The ancient Greek historianPolybius reported that the Romans copied the locked mortise and tenon technique from a Punic warship that ran aground in 264 BC. They exploited this technique to their advantage early in theFirst Punic War in 260 BC which allowed them to build a fleet of 100quinqueremes within a period of two months.
Model of Khufu'sSolar barque with its deck removed to expose the hull. The ship's planks and frames are lashed together withhalfah grass.[1]
Phoenician joints postdate the sewn watercraft lacing joinery technique.[2] Archaeological finds have revealed transitional watercrafts integrating elements from both mortise and tenon, and other joinery techniques.[3] Chinese Neolithic societies used the locked mortise and tenon method, but did not use a separate rectangular tenon nor edge-to-edge plank joining.[4] The locked mortise and tenon method occurs as ofc. 3000 BC in non-nautical Ancient Egyptian joinery, but not in hull-planking, which only featured unlocked mortises.[5]
In the third and early second millennium BC, theAncient Egyptians employed a similar technique, however, the mortise and tenon joints were not locked in place using pegs.[6][7][8] To ensure ship hull stability, the Egyptians used their unlocked fastening technique together with other methods of wood fastening. An example of this technique is theFourth DynastyKhufu funerary ship (c. 2600 BC), an intact 43.6 meters (143 ft) longLebanon cedarlashed-lug vessel, that was unearthed in theGiza pyramid complex. The barque's cedar planks were joined together using unlocked mortise and tenon, and two types of lashings between borderingstrakes and, fromsheer to sheer.[9][10][11][7] The mixed use of unlocked mortise and tenon with wood lashing is also attested in later ancient Egyptian ships fromLisht (c. 1950 BC) andDashur (c. 1859 BC).[12] The use of pegged mortise and tenon shipbuilding in Egypt is not supported by material evidence before around 500 BC.[13]
The Phoenicians were famed in antiquity for their shipbuilding skills. They often depicted ships and war galleys on their currency, theshekel.
The Phoenicians pioneered the use of locked mortise and tenon joints in nautical joinery to secure the underwater planking of seagoing ships.[14][15][16] The use of pegged mortises and tenons in shipbuilding spread westward from the Levantine littoral.[2] According to McGrail, this joinery method could have given rise to the Phoenicians' reputation for seafaring excellence.[14] The hull of theUluburun ship, an early Phoenician/Canaanite vessel datedc. 1320±50 BC,[17][18][19][20] is the earliest evidence of pegged Phoenician joints used in Mediterranean shipbuilding.[11][21] The ship's hull was built with Lebanese cedar, with oak tenons.[22][a] Additional early evidence of Phoenician joint usage comes from another Canaanite shipwreck inCape Gelidonya inTurkey datedc. 1200±50 BC.[25][26][27] The Uluburun and Gelidonya ships allowed scholars to date back the Phoenicians' maritime activity to an earlier period when it was thought that Canaanite seafaring did not start before the first millennium BC, and that maritime trade in the Eastern Mediterranean was solely conducted by Mycenaeans.[28][2]
By the first millennium BC, Phoenician joints became a common edge-to-edge fastening method in the ancient Mediterranean.[2] Greek shipbuilders abruptly abandoned the laced wood technique and adopted the Phoenician joinery.[29][16] Scholars posit that Greek shipbuilders acquired the mortise and tenon joinery technique from the Phoenicians.[30][31][32][33][34][35][16][15] Phoenician influence on Greek shipbuilding technology resulted from contact between the two people during the Phoenicians' westward colonization.[16] By the middle of the first millennium BC shipbuilders developed deeper understanding and expertise in the locked mortise and tenon joints as evidenced in the fourth century BC Kyrenia shipwreck and the third century BC wreckage of the Marsala Punic warship.[14]
In 264 BC, the Romans seized a Phoenicianpenteres that ran aground.Polybius reports that the ship served as a model for the Romans' fleet ships; they realized the advantage of using Phoenician joints in shipbuilding, as the lumber used in edge-joined shipstrakes does not have to bedried.[36] Early in theFirst Punic War in 260 BC, the Phoenician joint technique allowed the Romans to build a fleet of 100 quinqueremes within a period of two months.[36]
The technique is also seen in Vietnam. Excavation carried out in waterlogged burials inDong Xa inVietnam revealed the adoption of a variety of the locked mortise and tenon technique in the construction of a logboat. The boat dates back to theDong Son culture in the late Vietnamese prehistory (500 BC to AD 200).[37]
Mortise and tenon joints strengthened with dowels, as used in the construction of the hulls oftriremes.
The locked (or pegged) mortise and tenon technique consists of cutting a mortise, or socket, into the faces of two planks to be fastened together. A piece of wood called a tenon, usually taking the form of a rectangle, is inserted into each mortise to join the two planks together. The assembly is locked by driving a peg (or dowel pin ortreenail) through one or more holes drilled through the mortise side wall and tenon. This technique is known as Phoenician joint when applied to shipbuilding.[2][38]
The origin of the term Phoenician joinery comes from the Latin, since Roman writers credited the joinery technique to Phoenicians by calling itcoagmenta punicana orPunicanis coamentis.[39][40] The Latin term is known through the extant writings such as that ofCato the Elder. In his treatise on agriculture,De agri cultura,[b] Cato describes the construction of a wooden disk used in oil presses using locked mortise and tenon joinery; he refers to the technique asPunicanis coamentis, thereby crediting Rome's enemies.[41][39][42]
Punicanis means Punic and derives from theLatinpoenus andpunicus, which were used mostly to refer to theCarthaginians and other western Phoenicians. These terms derived from theAncient Greek wordΦοῖνιξ ("Phoinix"), plural formΦοίνικες ("Phoinikes"), anexonym used indiscriminately to refer to both western and eastern Phoenicians.[43]
Coamentis translates to the English "coagment" meaning to join together or unite.[39]
^Cedar is well documented in Bronze Age sources as the material of choice for shipbuilding.[23] This preference is due to its light weight, its resistance to saltwater damage from prolonged periods of submersion, and because it did not shrink excessively.[24]
^In Latin: "Orbem olearium latum P. IIII Punicanis coagmentis facito, crassum digitos VI facito, subscudes iligneas adindito. Eas ubi confixeris, clavis corneis occludito. In eum orbem tris catenas indito. Eas catenas cum orbi clavis ferreis corrigito. Orbem ex ulmo aut ex corylo facito: si utrumque habebis, alternas indito." "Make the oil press disk 4 ft wide, with Phoenician joints, 6 digits thick, add oaken tenons. When these have been fitted in their places, secure them with dowels of dogwood. Fit three battens to the disk; make the battens and the disk straight together by means of iron nails. Make the disk of elm or hazel; if you have both, lay them alternately."
Cartwright, M. (2022, July 25).The Phoenicians - master mariners. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/897/the-phoenicians---master-mariners/
Hepper, N. (2001b). The cedar of Lebanon in history . Autumn 2001/The Cedar of Lebanon in History - F. Nigel Hepper.pdfThe punic wars. (n.d.-b).
HOLST, S. (2021).Phoenicians: Lebanon’s Epic Heritage. SANTORINI BOOKS.
Kahanov, Y.; Linder, E. (2004). The sewing of the ship inThe Ma'agan Mikhael Ship: The Recovery of a 2400-Year-Old Merchantman: Final Report (Report). Vol. 2. Israel Exploration Society, University of Haifa. pp. 3–79.
Pomey, Patrice (2010).Introduction 3 [Introduction 3 - Technological transfers in Mediterranean naval architecture from Antiquity to modern times: technical identity and cultural identity. Proceedings of the Istanbul Round Table 19–22 May 2007]. Transferts technologiques en architecture navale méditerranéenne de l'Antiquité aux temps modernes: identité technique et identité culturelle. Actes de la Table Ronde d'Istanbul 19–22 mai 2007.Varia Anatolica (in French). Vol. 20, no. 1. Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes. pp. 131–136.
Prag, Jonathan R. W. (2006). "Poenus Plane Est – but Who Were the "Punickes"?".Papers of the British School at Rome.74:1–37.doi:10.1017/S0068246200003214.S2CID162396151.
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