No 23

Location: On the wall plaster between the fifth and sixth turns of the path through the south-west ramp.

Material: Wall plaster, 6th century.

Dimensions: Height 35 cm, length 75 cm, at 98 cm from the floor level.

Condition: clearly and deeply carved engraving in places, not intersected by others.

Technique: Incised.

Description: The graffito takes the form of a complete ship. It is a long, oared–sailing vessel moving to the right, shown from the starboard side. The hull is very long, with a flat deck and low freeboard. The stern is strongly rounded and rises gently upward; above it is depicted the skeletal framework of a tented superstructure shown in a three-quarter view. Two of the stern lanterns are discernible. Beneath the stern, a small, sickle-shaped rudder following the curve of the hull is visible. The bow is slightly raised, with a raked stem and a strongly projecting spur terminating in a short flagstaff. In the bow area a small rectangular superstructure with two arched openings is shown. The two upper lines, which start from the stern superstructure at a slight incline and continue horizontally towards the bow, likely show the parapet of the rowing platform (postica), from which the oars were deployed. The 33 diagonal lines descending from it can be interpreted as oars, schematically drawn beneath the ship's hull. The ship is two-masted. The mainmast is evidently located slightly forward of the ship's centre. Only its upper part is shown, terminating in a spear-like tip with a long, narrow triangular flag flying from it. Below it, there is a large basket-like crow's nest, slung towards the stern. The long yard (rue) is also shown. A rope descends from the yard, passing through a square element (block, sheave). From it, three ropes branch off towards the hull, representing the system of braces for controlling and orienting the yard and sail relative to the wind. Ahead of the mainmast, the upper part of a second, slightly forward-raked mast, or foremast, is shown, with a long triangular flag flying and a basket-like crow's nest below it. The thin ropes (matafioni) holding the inclined yard with its furled sail are also visible. From the forward-projecting end of the yard, with a flag flying in the wind, the fore brace descends to the deck.

Type: C/Ia.

Publications: Th. Thomov. A Ship Graffito of Baştarda at Hagia Sophia/Aysofya, Bulgaria mediaevalis, XVI, 2025. 

Commentary: The long oared–sailing vessel in the drawing has a slight overhang of the superstructure from the side and rear of the stern, which emerged from the mid-15th century and subsequently became progressively larger and more pronounced[1]. Two of the stern lanterns (traditionally three), called fano, are discernible; they are placed vertically one above the other and are a visual marker of the vessel's flagship status. On the bow, until the 16th century, the spur was relatively short, thick, and used as a boarding bridge, but from the second half of the 15th century onwards, it began to lose its primary function, becoming longer, narrower, and lighter[2]. Furthermore, it should be noted that the lower hull with the more elongated spur is a characteristic feature of Ottoman galleys and suggests the possibility that the graffito depicts precisely this type of vessel[3].

In the bow area a small rectangular superstructure with two arched openings is shown. It appeared around 1535[4] and is known as a rambade or arrumbada; it represents a large, permanent fighting platform formed by the raised side walls of the forecastle and covered with a roof. It occupied the space immediately in front of the first row of rowers, was as wide as the galley, did not exceed three meters in length, and was just over a man's height; viewed from the bow, it had a trapezoidal shape[5]. However, unlike the galleys of the Spanish, Genoese, French, and the Papacy, the Ottomans and Venetians avoided using such structures until the very end of the 16th century[6]. According to A. Güleryüz, however, galleys built according to the plan of the French "La Ferme" from 1691, which had such a forward platform[7], also appeared in the Ottoman fleet. This suggests a possible dating of the ship graffito to that century[8].

The rowing platform (postica), from which the oars were deployed is one of the most common elements in depictions of galleys from the Late Middle Ages onward[9]. The 33 diagonal lines descending from it can be interpreted as oars, schematically drawn beneath the ship's hull, as is often seen in medieval ship graffiti[10].

A distinctive feature of galleys is clearly visible in the drawing – the long yards (rue), in some cases almost equal to the length of the ship itself.

A distinguishing mark of the galley in the drawing are the flags, which are an important means of determining a vessel's affiliation and function[11]. The main flag bearing the owner's insignia was hoisted on a staff, often as tall as a small mast, to the right of the stern superstructure, while another flag of the same size and bearing a coat of arms was placed at its rear[12]. The schematically drawn flag at the stern in our drawing, however, does not allow for more than a general observation of its presence[13]. From this point on, everything related to its form falls into the realm of hypotheses. The galley shows long, narrow flags with pointed ends, flying in the wind at key locations on the vessel (masts, yards, and spur), which can be defined as pennants[14].

It should be stated that the hull form is clearly associated with vessels typical of the "long ship"/galley category or derivative types C/Ia[15]. Among the numerous ship graffiti on the same wall where this drawing was found, it stands out as the largest and most compositionally loaded, which can be interpreted as a deliberate emphasis on a hierarchical and prestigious type of ship. An additional indicator of a representative and command function is the multitude of flags, which in the Ottoman fleet were directly linked to signalling, the presence of high command, and flagship status.

Furthermore, the number and distribution of the oars, including their local grouping in the stern area, are compatible with the al scaloccio (alla scaloccio)[16] rowing system, characteristic of Ottoman galleys from the 16th–17th centuries. This feature, together with the overall silhouette, low freeboard, melon-shaped stern, two-masted configuration with developed rigging, as well as the emphatically large size of the ship and the rich flag signalling (banners and pennants) including the stern lantern[17], points decisively towards a bastarda (baştarda) galley – an enlarged and representative variant of the kadırga (cadirga)[18]. It was equipped with 26 to 32 benches (rows) with five to seven oarsmen per oar and served as the flagship in the Ottoman fleet. The bastarda is subdivided into different types depending on size, but mainly into medium (orta) and large, called "imperial" (hümāyūn)[19]. The latter designation is associated with the typical bastarda, which became the ship of the kapudan pasha (kapudan-ı derya) and even of the Sultan himself[20].

Iconographic parallels from Ottoman miniatures also present the bastarda as a larger and visually emphasized ship compared to regular galleys. The closest parallel supporting the identification of the vessel in our drawing as a bastarda galley is found in three depictions of this ship type: an engraving attributed to the Danish artist Melchior Lorck (1571)[21], a Dutch engraving from 1680 (R. C. Anderson's copy from Nicolaes Witsen's Scheepsbouw of 1680)[22], and an Ottoman miniature from the Surname-i Vehbi (A Celebration for the Circumcision of the Son of Sultan Ahmed III at Okmeydani)[23]. In all three examples, a galley is presented with a strongly elongated and low hull, a clearly defined rowing area, a two-masted configuration with lateen sails, and a highly developed stern section marked as a representative and command zone by a tent and numerous flags.

Date: between 16th–17th century AD.

[1] V. Mondfelʹd, Galery ot srednevekovʹja do novogo vremeni, Perevod s nemec. A. Čebana, Moskva-Sankt-Peterburg 2000, 70.

[2] In the 17th century, the spur became a decorative element. See Mondfelʹd, Galery, 16, 62; Ju. Katorin, N. Volkovskij, Vse o korabljah. Ot grebnogo flota drevnego mira do naših dnej, Moskva 2010, 76.

[3] J. Guilmartin, Gunpowder & Galleys. Changing Technology & Mediterranean Warfare at Sea in the 16th Century, Revised Edition, London 2003, 223.

[4] Guilmartin, Gunpowder & Galleys, 221; Katorin, Volkovskij, Vse o korabljah, 78.

[5] Guilmartin, Gunpowder & Galleys, 221.

[6] Guilmartin, Gunpowder & Galleys, 222 and even expresses doubt that Muslim galleys ever possessed such a platform. Cf. also J. Guilmartin, The Early Provision of Artillery Armament on Mediterranean War Galleys, The Mariner's Mirror, 59/3 (1973) 267.

[7] A. Güleryüz, Kadırgadan Kalyona Osmanlıda Yelken: Mikyas-ı Sefain, Istanbul 2005, 25, III-A IV-A (drawing).

[8] J. Guilmartin, Galleons and Galleys, London 2002, 113; Guilmartin, Gunpowder & Galleys, 120, 221-22 (until the very end of the 16th century, the absence is characteristic “of Muslim and Venetian galleys”); A. Кonstam, Renaissance War Galley 1470-1590, New York 2002, 14. According to Güleryüz, Kadırgadan, 25, III-A IV-A (drawing) , however, galleys built in the Ottoman fleet according to the plan of the French La Ferme of 1691 also appeared, and these had such a forward platform.

[9] U. Alertz, The Naval Architecture and Oar Systems of Medieval and Later Galleys, In: Age of the Galley: Mediterranean Oared Vessels Since PreClassical Times, R. Gardiner (ed.), Havertown 1995, 149-150. Mondfelʹd, Galery, 15; J. Pryor, Geography, Technology and War: Studies in the Maritime History of the Mediterranean 649-1571, Cambridge Press 1988, 66.

[10] O. Meinardus, Medieval Navigation According to Akidographemata in Byzantine Churches and Monasteries, Δελτίον τῆς Χριστιανικῆς Ἀρχαιολογικῆς Ἑταιρείας 6 (1970-1972) 39-41, Fig. II - IV.

[11] G. Hutchinson, Medieval ships and shipping, London 1994, 153; Chr. Weber, Flags and Banners, In: Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia, vol. 1-2: A-Z, Ch. Kleinhenz (ed.), London-New York 2004, 341; Al. Znamierovskij, Flagi. Vsemirnaja ènciklopedija, (perevod I. Komarovskoj), Moskva, 88.

[12] N. Bogoljubov, Istorija korablja. Častʹ 2-ja: Sudostroenie i sudohodstvo v srednie veka, Moskva, 149; Mondfelʹd, Galery, 107.

[13] As its closest parallel, one may cite the graffiti drawings of galleys from Capdepera, the tower of Canyamel, Mallorca, 14th century. See L. Bucherie, E. González, Panorama des Graffiti Maritimes en Méditerranée, In: Actes XI Colloque International de Glyptographie de Palma de Majorque, du 2 au 9 juillet 1998, 2000, 77, № 15 (flag on a stern flagstaff). Сf. also L. Bash, Graffiti navals grecs, Le petit perroquet 22 (1978) 41, fig. 12 (c. 1630, flag on a stern flagstaff); L. Ray Martin, The Art and Archeology of Medieval Ships and Boаts, London 2001, 137, fig. 125 a prison cell of the Doge’s Palace in Venice, mid-15th century (flag in front of the stern superstructure); Stella Demesticha, Katerina Delouca, Mia Gaia Trentin, Nikolas Bakirtzis, Andonis Neophytou, Seamen on Land? A Preliminary Analysis of Medieval Ship Graffiti on Cyprus, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 46/2 (2017) 356, fig. 6а, CYP035_ S01_D05 (flag on a stern flagstaff, Selimiye Mosque [former church of Hagia Sophia], Nicosia).

[14] It dates from the 13th century or earlier and was initially used to decorate the tops of masts: E. Barraclough, Flags of the World, second edition, London-New York 1965, 127. V. Dygalo, Otkuda i čto na flote pošlo, Moskva 2000, 117 defines pennants as “triangular flags in various colours, letters, or even numbers” indicating the affiliation of a vessel, while A. Basov, Istorija voenno-morskih flagov, Sankt-Peterburg 2003, 8, 31, emphasizes that the pennant differs from the stern flag and that its place is at the top of the ship’s masts; see also pp. 33 (“the most important things for every galley are its banners and pennants”), 35–36. Cf. also Mondfelʹd, Galery, 107; R. Gluzman, What Made a Ship Venetian? (Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries), In: Cultures of Empire: Rethinking Venetian Rule, 1400-1700: Essays in Honour of Benjamin Arbel, G. Christ & Fr.-J. Morche (eds.), Leiden 2020, 299 and note 4. The pennant is a very long and narrow flag, with a length-to-width ratio of 1:12 to 1:15, with a pointed end, sometimes split and called a “swallowtail.” On this, see Johnson’s Universal Cyclopaedia. A New Edition, Ch. Adams (ed.), New York 1805: III, 408; Iconographic Encyclopaedia of Science, Literature and Art, J. Heck (ed.), New York 1851, 711; Voennaja ènciklopedija, pod red. V. Novickogo, Sankt-Peterburg-Moskva 1912, VII, 104; Barraclough, Flags, 15, 127 (“dating from the 13th century, if not earlier”); G. Unden, R. Cooper, A Dictionary of British Ships and Seamen, New York 1980, 367; Басов, История военно-морских флагов, 8, 30, 36 (sometimes ending with two streamers).

[15] For the classification of watercraft based on graffiti drawings, see Tomov, Potajnostite na "Sv. Sofia", 14-21.

[16] This system provided an extension in the size of oars and increase in the speed of galleys. Cf. Pryor, Geography, 67.

[17] See, for example, Dutch engravind of 1680 (one of thirty plates added to R. C. Amderson’s copy of Nicolaes Witsen’s Scheepsbouw of 1680) where is shown an Ottoman baştarda decorated with all its banners and ensigns: Güleryüz, Kadırgadan, 33.

[18] E. Özveren, O. Yildırım, An Outline of Ottoman Maritime History, In: New Directions in Mediterranean Maritime History, ed. G. Harlaftis & C. Vassalla, Newfaundland 2004, 150. For visual reconstruction, see Güleryüz, Kadırgadan, V-A.

[19] For Turkish maritime terminology, see H. Kahane, R. Kahane, A. Tietze, The Lingua Franca in the Levant. Turkish Nautical Terms of Italian and Greek Origin, Istanbul 19882, 105-108. I. Bostan, Osmanlı Bahriye Teşkilatı XVII. Yüzyılda Tersane-i Amire, Ankara 1992, 86. S. Souček, Certain types of ships in Ottoman-Turkish Terminology, Turcica VII (1975) 233-249. Cf. also N. Melis, Le tecnologie marittime degli Ottomani, Cooperazione Mediterranea 1/2 (2003) 50-62.

[20] At the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the baştarda galleys of Müezzinzâde Ali Paşa, the kapudan paşa (chief admiral), and of Pertev Paşa (described by I. Bostan as commander-in-chief) were destroyed. See İ. Bostan, Ottoman Attitude Towards the Defeat at Lepanto (1571), Librosdelacorte.es PRIMAVERA-VERANO 26 (2023), 195 (191-208).

[21] The drawing depicts the galley "Sultana" of Müezzinzade Ali Pasha (or Sufi Ali Pasha) at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. See Weltgeschichte: Der Orient, J. von Pflugk-Harttung (ed.), Berlin 1909, 259; Güleryüz, Kadırgadan, 33

[22] Güleryüz, Kadırgadan, 37.

[23] The miniature is from the Surname-i Vehbi by Seyyid Vehbi, describing the “Tulip Era” (1718–1730). See Güleryüz, Kadırgadan, I-B.