Evrim Yazgin
Cosmos science journalist
An 18-metre-long vessel set sail earlier this month off the coast of Abu Dhabi. The boat is the largest ever reconstructed from the Bronze Age Magan culture.
It was made using materials described on an ancient clay tablet and techniques dating back more than 4,000 years. The research project behind the reconstruction aims to deepen our understanding of how Bronze Age societies lived and the secrets of their ancient craftspeople.
Magan is the ancient name for the region which today encompasses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman on the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Magan is first referred to in Sumerian texts as far back as about 2300 BCE and existed until about 550 BCE. It was a source of copper and diorite (a type of igneous rock used for decoration) for ancient Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.
UAE island Umm an-Nar features an archaeological site dating to 2500–2000 BCE which has yielded many clues to the lives of the people who lived in the region during the Bronze Age.
Umm an-Nar was one of the largest ancient ports in the region.
The reconstructed boat covered more than 92km over 2 days, reaching speeds of up to 5.6 knots (about 10.4km/hour).
More than 20 specialists from 5 countries including curators, archaeologists and shipwrights worked on the reconstruction. The boat’s shape was based on ancient illustration. The finished vessel required a crew of more than 20 people to lift the goat hair sail and rigging.
About 13.6 tonnes of reeds were soaked, stripped, crushed and tied into bundles. These were placed into the internal structure of the boat and coated in bitumen. This waterproofing technique was common among ancient ship builders in the region.
“It has been a long and exciting journey from discovering ancient fragments of Magan boats on the island of Umm an-Nar to the iconic moment the boat’s goat hair sail was raised and she set sail from the coast of Abu Dhabi, traversing the same route these monumental vessels would have travelled 4,000 years ago towards the open sea and the coastline of India,” says Dr Peter Magee, Director of Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi.
The boat will be on display in the museum once it opens.
