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allusion

boats

books

color

de la bataille judaïque

dead sea

early printed books

flavius josephus

hands

buoyancy

public
1 media by topic ∙ page 1 of 1
68 CE: Vespasian, on a visit to the Dead Sea, demonstrates its famed buoyancy. He orders some non-swimmers to be thrown into deep water with their hands tied behind their back; all rise to the surface and float. Other remarkable properties of the Dead Sea are also described, such as the changing color of its water and its bituminous mud, so sticky that it can only be removed from the hulls of boats with women's monthly secretions. Use of this illustration of swans a-swimming is evidently an allusion to the buoyancy of the water.

68 CE: Vespasian, on a visit to the Dead Sea, demonstrates its famed b...

Public domain illustrated book page scan, medieval or early renaissance, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description.