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Assyrian soldier diving with an inflatable goatskin bag (ca. 865–860 BC)

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Re: Assyrian soldier diving with an inflatable goatskin bag (ca. 865–860 BC)

#31

Post by woofie11 »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #16

Fascinating, the second image attached to https://twitter.com/FedeItaliano76/status/143532682797161267... is good too -- I'm not settled in that confirming the second hypothesis (surface use), as the Twitter user says, it seems to me to also give stronger weight to the first (under water use). In this image the 'goatskin' users appear fully clothed in dresses (could they be scale armour or other weighted clothing), o…

I would too. Unfortunately, the last Assyrian historians died nearly 3000 years ago.

Re: Assyrian soldier diving with an inflatable goatskin bag (ca. 865–860 BC)

#33

Post by fsckboy »

woofie11 wrote: post #31
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #16

Fascinating, the second image attached to https://twitter.com/FedeItaliano76/status/143532682797161267... is good too -- I'm not settled in that confirming the second hypothesis (surface use), as the Twitter user says, it seems to me to also give stronger weight to the first (under water use). In this image the 'goatskin' users appear fully clothed in dresses (could they be scale armour or other weighted clothing), o…

I would too. Unfortunately, the last Assyrian historians died nearly 3000 years ago.

There are still Assyrians today, they are a persecuted Christian minority in the lands currently disputed between Shia and Sunni factions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_continuity

Re: Assyrian soldier diving with an inflatable goatskin bag (ca. 865–860 BC)

#34

Post by wil421 »

3pt14159 wrote: post #28
notorandit wrote: post #24

You cannot dive with an inflated goatskin, unless you carry extra weight, like stones.

Swords and armour are heavy.

Then you would just become buoyant and not even sink. Try to bring a basket ball to the bottom of a pool. Grab some bricks and a basket ball then see what happens.

Re: Assyrian soldier diving with an inflatable goatskin bag (ca. 865–860 BC)

#35

Post by abeppu »

ddalex wrote: post #23
abeppu wrote: post #18

I think it's interesting that he's shown swimming mostly nude but wearing a protruding hat which seems pretty impractical. Is the hat symbolic?

In certain societies (Thracians, for example) the type of hat and decorations on it would indicate the social status of the wearer.

Yeah, in general that wouldn't be surprising. The OP describes this guy as a "soldier", but I wonder if there's enough info to know whether he's just a soldier perhaps someone more important.

Re: Assyrian soldier diving with an inflatable goatskin bag (ca. 865–860 BC)

#36

Post by killjoywashere »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #16

Fascinating, the second image attached to https://twitter.com/FedeItaliano76/status/143532682797161267... is good too -- I'm not settled in that confirming the second hypothesis (surface use), as the Twitter user says, it seems to me to also give stronger weight to the first (under water use). In this image the 'goatskin' users appear fully clothed in dresses (could they be scale armour or other weighted clothing), o…

The work of submerging air at atmospheric pressure vastly exceeds the potential energy value extractable from the oxygen in terms of ATP. He's using it to float.

Re: Assyrian soldier diving with an inflatable goatskin bag (ca. 865–860 BC)

#37

Post by zeteo »

nradov wrote: post #2

He's swimming on the surface. That bag would be too buoyant for diving.

Agreed, also I think he's breathing into the bag not out of it. If you have a flotation device that's not fully sealed then you need to periodically re-inflate it a bit. It's the equivalent of keeping a leaky boat afloat by bailing water.

Re: Assyrian soldier diving with an inflatable goatskin bag (ca. 865–860 BC)

#38

Post by biot »

wavefunction wrote: post #4
nradov wrote: post #2

He's swimming on the surface. That bag would be too buoyant for diving.

Why have an inflatable goatskin that you're inhaling from for swimming on the surface? Considering the fish next to him it seems more likely the artist left out the boring aspects of holding rocks or whatever to reduce buoyancy.

Did you also consider the horse depicted below the fish?
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