The Athlit ram bronze casting reconsidered: scientific and technical re-examination

The Metal Casting Traditions of South Asia: Continuity and Innovation

“…For example, the bronze ram from the prow of a Hellenistic warship, found at Athlit, off the coast of Israel, weighing about 500 kg (which together with runners, risers and sprues would have required about 1,000 kg of metal). This was first published as a sand casting (Casson and Steffy eds., 1991), and latterly as a lost wax casting (Oron, 2006). Neither study produced convincing evidence, but both assumed the metal was poured from crucibles without appreciating this would have entailed approximately 1,000 separate pouring made in very rapid succession, or trying to visualise how it could have been achieved.…”

The Belgammel Ram, a Hellenistic-Roman BronzeProembolionFound off the Coast of Libya: test analysis of function, date and metallurgy, with a digital reference archive

“…The chemical composition of the ram is in keeping with the sort of alloy used for large castings in late Classical, Hellenistic and Roman times (Craddock, 1977). The copper-tin ratio of the alloy is similar to the Athlit Ram (Oron, 2006), but the Athlit Ram contains no lead. In contrast, the Acqualadroni rostrum found near Messina in 2008 contained 70% copper, 10% tin, and 20% lead (Caruso et al, 2011).…”

“…In the near future it should be possible to compare and examine the metallurgy, casting methods, and functions of a variety of rams which have been recovered from the Mediterranean. Descriptions of the Athlit Ram, which is larger than the Belgammel Ram, have been published by Linder and Ramon (), Casson and Steffy (), Pridemore () and Oron (). Oron's MA dissertation () describes in detail the techniques of lost‐wax casting and the use of chaplets to support the core within the mould.…”

Physico-Chemical Characterization of the Acqualadrone Rostrum

“…The results of the ICP–OES analysis carried out by us on another rostrum found by the Soprintendenza del Mare della Regione Sicilia near the northwestern area of Sicily (Aegadian islands), and those of the Athlit rostrum taken from the literature (Oron 2006), are given in the same table for comparison.…”

“…The Hellenistic Athlit rostrum was found south of Haifa (Israel) in 1980 and was dated to 220 bc . Its archaeological and metallurgical analysis data, based on physico‐chemical and metallographic analyses, provided unique information about bronze casting and the construction of warships during the Hellenistic period (Oron 2006; Hoban et al . 2007).…”