It did not possess either mast or sail, but was propelled wholly by oars, which were of the same shape as those used anciently by the rowers in the round boats.

In the steersman's hand is seen an oar of a different kind.
It is much longer than the rowing oars, and terminates in an oval blade, which would have given it considerable power in the water.

[PLATE CXXXIII., Fig.

4.] The helmsman steered with both hands; and it seems that his oar was lashed to an upright post near the stern of the vessel.
It is evident that before armies could look habitually to being transported across the Mesopotamian streams, wherever they might happen to strike them in their expeditions, by boats of these two kinds, either ferries must have been established at convenient intervals upon them, or traffic along their courses by means of boats must have been pretty regular.

An Assyrian army did not carry its boats with it, as a modern army does its pontoons.