Archaeologica.org

A Bronze Age-style ship just sailed through the Persian Gulf 4,000 years after it was designed



Writings on an ancient clay tablet have allowed experts to reconstruct a Bronze Age ship made of reeds and sail it on a maiden voyage off the coast of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The vessel, known as a Magan boat, spans 59 feet (18 meters) in length and was assembled by a team of 20 specialists using techniques that date back to 2100 BC, when the Persian Gulf became part of global maritime trade across the ancient world.

Magan was once the name for a region that now encompasses the UAE and Oman. Magan boats were large and strong enough to enable the exchange of goods such as copper, textiles and semiprecious stones 4,000 years ago between societies living in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley in what is now Iraq, Pakistan and India, respectively.

And now, archaeologists, anthropologists, engineers, scientists and digital humanities experts have proven that ancient shipbuilding techniques can result in a seaworthy vessel. It is the world’s largest reconstruction of a Bronze Age Magan boat, according to the team.

“We gained a much deeper knowledge of the materials used to build such boats to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of these revolutionary craft,” said Eric Staples, associate professor within the college of humanities and social sciences at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, in a statement.