
The stamp shows something of the ancient maritime connections of the Jews beginning with a craft of the period 200-400 A.D., largely drawn from a model made by M. Pliner, a naval architect. This craft was between 40 and 50ft. in length with a tonnage varying from 70 to 90. She depended on a large square sail and was steered by two great oars over the stem. The model, now in the Maritime Museum at Haifa, was made from a drawing of an ancient merchant vessel discovered in the cave tomb at Beith She'arim in 1936.
SG143 Sea Breezes 2/58