They were small, apparently, and inconspicuous, being little dwarf figures, regarded as amulets that would preserve the vessel in safety.

We do not see them on any representations of Phoenician ships, and it is possible that they may have been no larger than the bronze or glazed earthenware images of Phthah that are so common in Egypt.

The Phoenicians called them _pittuchim_, "sculptures,"[919] whence the Greek {pataikoi} and the French _fetiche_.
The navigation of the Phoenicians, in early times, was no doubt cautious and timid.

So far from venturing out of sight of land, they usually hugged the coast, ready at any moment, if the sea or sky threatened, to change their course and steer directly for the shore.

On a shelving coast they were not at all afraid to run their ships aground, since, like the Greek vessels, they could be easily pulled up out of reach of the waves, and again pulled down and launched, when the storm was over and the sea calm once more.