Calkers

Calkers were craftsmen who filled and sealed the seams of ships to make them watertight. The word appears twice in Ezekiel's lament over Tyre (Ezekiel 27:9, 27), where the city's maritime greatness is described in elaborate detail. The calkers of Tyre were men of Gebal (Byblos), a Phoenician city renowned for its shipbuilding expertise. The image of calkers abandoning their posts is part of Ezekiel's portrait of Tyre's total commercial and maritime collapse at divine judgment. The term underscores the highly specialized and organized nature of ancient Phoenician shipbuilding.