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Athlit Bronze War Galley Ram
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The Athlit ram, found in 1980 off the coast of Israel near at Athlit Bay (just south of Haifa), is the one of a few surviving ancient war galley rams. Carbon 14 dating of timber remnants date it to between 530 BC and 270 BC. It was once fit on the prow of an ancient oared warship. This would be driven into the hull of an enemy ship in order to puncture it and thus sink, or at least disable, the ship. It is made of a single casting of bronze weighing 465kg and measures about 2.10m long. The ram is thus one of the largest bronze objects to survive from the ancient world and is currently on display in the National Maritime Museum, Haifa, Israel. Captured rams were once used to ornament Octavian's battle monument at Actium, Greece. Only the sockets that held them remain. The valuable bronze was melted long ago.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_ram
http://www.learningsites.com/Athlit/AthlitRam_home.php
For other recovered galley rams see:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/04/rare-bronze-rams-found-at-site-of-final.html
https://www.historytoday.com/ann-natanson/roman-naval-power-raising-ram
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