Perhaps workmen accompanying the timbers sailed aboard Phoenician ships, similar to the scale model. As you study it, recall that after Jehovah assigned Jonah to Nineveh, the prophet fled in the opposite direction. “[Jonah] finally came down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid its fare and went down into it, in order to go with them to Tarshish from before Jehovah.”​—Jonah 1:1-3.

Apparently, Jonah boarded this kind of seaworthy cargo ship, which was able to make the long voyage from Joppa to Tarshish (likely ancient Spain). It probably had a high carved prow, near which hung a stone anchor. Passengers, rowers, and some cargo could fit on the deck, which is not shown in this model. Below deck was a hold, where more cargo would be stored and where Jonah went to sleep. The ship was made of sturdy juniper planks and had one cedar mast to support a large linen sail. Note on each side the line of long oars (probably of oak from Bashan). Now imagine the ship at sea and threatened by a violent storm. Hear the mariners cry out to their gods for help until finally they are forced to toss Jonah overboard so that they themselves would not perish.​—Ezekiel 27:5-9; Jonah 1:4-15.

[Picture Credit Line on page 17]

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.