Ship question

[Uwe Bahr]

Avete omnes,

on that site of Roma aeterna

[url:3m9dgy9z]http://www.romaeterna.org/galleria/index.html[/url]

I found these attached 2 pictures. My question is - what is depicted there?

We see two different cargo ships. On the first picture a man is holding another over board and a large fish - maybe a shark - has the man's head in his mouth. On the second picture the same scenario, the fish - clearly a shark - is approaching and opening his mouth. On board stands a decapitated man or woman. For the latter it is not recognizable whether the relief is damaged here or the sculptor wanted to depict a decapitated person.

Do we see here the punishment of stowaways or deadheads (!) ? :?

Greets - Uwe

[Jona Lendering]

punishment of stowaways or deadheads

No not at all. It's Jonah and the whale. No, I'm not joking (see my first name). The original of your first photo is in the Vatican, a replica is in Mainz, in the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum. It shows Jonah and Lazarus, who spent three days in the realm of death. Two photos:

Larger:
[url:29m9dv3r]http://www.livius.org/a/1/judaea/mainz_jona_1_rgzm.JPG[/url]
[url:29m9dv3r]http://www.livius.org/a/1/judaea/mainz_jona_2_rgzm.JPG[/url]
I don't know the whereabouts of the second one, but it's obviously Jonah again, see the dove top left (Jona = Hebrew for dove, pigeon).

Tonight, I also put Jonah online, a nice text I've always liked (for obvious reasons).

[Uwe Bahr]

Hi Jona,

thank You for the friendly informations. Obviously and for the heaven's sake I was totally mislead and in error. But indeed I could not really imagine that our beloved Romans could have been so cruel :wink: :lol:

Greets - Uwe

[hoplite14gr]

No they were never cruel to those who paid taxes promptly :twisted: :twisted:

Kind regards

[Commilito]

Hi Jona,

thank You for the friendly informations. Obviously and for the heaven's sake I was totally mislead and in error. But indeed I could not really imagine that our beloved Romans could have been so cruel :wink: :lol:

Greets - Uwe

Well, as I recall, in Roman and Greek cultures, death aboard a ship was considered a terrible omen, and the body would be dumped overboard as soon as possible. So images showing people being tossed off could refer to that.

EDIT: I guess I didn't see that the question had already been answered. Oh well.

[Uwe Bahr]

Salve Commilito,

I guess I didn't see that the question had already been answered. Oh well.

Don' t bother about that. Although Jonah gave a convincing explanation, You gave an additional and appreciated information about the ancient's customs. Thanks for that.

Greets - Uwe

[Felix Canus]

In the first image, is Jonah holding a small octopus?

I can't see it clearly in the second, but is that guy holding something too?


UPDATE : Oops. On review, I don't think it's an octopus. I think's it's a severed head. My mistake.

[Jona Lendering]

I don't think it's an octopus. I think's it's a severed head. My mistake.

It's neither: it's the long tongue of the big fish, from which water is dripping down. I will try to post a close up, but still have problems with my server, so it may take some time.