Why are no triremes pictured on the bas-reliefs at Medinet Habu?
The bas-relief is crowded with ships. The Egyptian vessels have a decorative lion head jetting out at the bow which could be used to ram other ships [5240]. The Persian vessels have a straight up bow with a small point protruding at the bow. For a better view of these items click Here! Diodorus wrote the Persians had 300 triremes and 200 vessels with 30 oars which apparently were not triremes and smaller since they take second place. These ships were probably commandeered from the Phoenician coast since the Persians themselves had apparently not an online Persian natives owned shipyard at this time. The Persians were also accompanied by a great number of supply ships. While Ramses III did not illustrate triremes it does not mean therefore that this battle could not be a sea battle of the 4th century BC. Reading carefully about the extensive preparations Egypt made to meet the crisis, it is very probable that the delta waters did not allow unhindered movement of the warships in many pla
