Alas! little remains of the vessels of antiquity and most of the pictures which have been found, are much less clear than are those of the Egyptians. The sculptors devoted their attention more to the beautiful lines of the ship than to the necessity of giving an exact idea of its construction. Writers, on the other hand are distinguished by exaggeration and emphasis when it is a question of the size of vessels. There is nothing certain known in regard to dimensions, to the form of ships or to the number of oars. It is not likely that ships of extraordinary dimensions existed. ~Jal~ expresses this so well, when he says in his work already mentioned the “_Archéologie navale_”: “I do not believe any more in the ‹_quadraginta ordinum_› galley, 143.43 m. long, 15.27 m. wide and 23.38 m. high above the water than I believe in the long horse which carried the four sons of Aymon” (p. 117.) (See also _Dictionnaire des Antiquités grecques et romaines_, part 36, p. 24; Dr. ~Moritz Rühlmann~, p. 62; ~Jal~, _Archéologie Navale_, 1840, Vol. I, p. 110.) The art of shipbuilding was developed in the beginning among the Phœnicians and allied peoples, but it is not possible to say exactly which of these nations was its true promoter. The most primitive forms were found at that time side by side with more perfect models. So it is that Herodotus tells us that the peoples of Asia Minor (Armenians) came down the river toward Babylon in small boats having a hull made of linden branches covered with skins. (See ~Witsen~, pp. 9 and 16; _Livre d’Hérodote_, I, 194; Dr. ~Moritz Rühlmann~, p. 27; ~A. Jal~, p. 88.) Straw was laid on the bottom of the boat and one or two asses were carried in addition to the cargo. Arrived at Babylon, the boatmen sold their cargo, as well as the straw and the timbers of their boat, and, with the skins loaded on the backs of the asses, made their way back home. The current of the river was too strong to allow taking the boats up stream. [Sidenote: II 21]