A Cultural History of Seaborne Exploration in the Islamic World
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Köp båda 2 för 1692 krThis a work of such scholarship and erudition that it should become a classic the second it is published. As a child sailing through the Red Sea on the army troop ships travelling to and from the Far East I have known and remembered these extraordinary and majestic boats. They sailed alongside us as we dropped anchor at Aden, circled us at Port Said and accompanied us through the Suez Canal. As old as time, and as pertinent today as they were before Abraham was born, these sturdy, graceful vessels did more than carry goods and people: they represented freedom, trade, exploration and endeavour, war and peace. Above all, they symbolize the interaction between Islam and the rest of the world; the publication of this book is timely indeed. A painting of dhows, reddened by the setting sun, hangs above my desk as I write. I can hear the creak of their timbers and the slap of the sails in my small study in London. Romantic, trustworthy, the dhow occupies a place in my heart reached by no other memory. * Joanna Lumley, OBE, FRGS * Reading this book, one has the feel of the sea: Dionisius Agius takes the reader aboard, shows how sailors lived and ate, where they went and what dangers they faced in the heat and wind of the Red Sea, observing the end of an era as the age-old sailing dhow gives way to fibre-glass and engine-power. * David Abulafia, LittD FBA, Professor Emeritus of Mediterranean History in the University of Cambridge and author of The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean * In this beautifully written study, Agius takes us on a journey through the rapidly vanishing world of traditional dhow and dhow voyaging. His exploration of this long-neglected subject relies on numerous informants and a wide-ranging array of important sources. This truly outstanding and definitive contribution to maritime history preserves priceless, vanishing traditional knowledge for future generations. A fascinating book to explore. * Brian Fagan, Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara and author of Beyond the Blue Horizon *
Dionisius A. Agius is Al Qasimi Professor of Arabic Studies and Islamic Material Culture at the University of Exeter. He is the author of numerous books including Seafaring in the Arabian Gulf and Oman (2005), winner of The Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah Foundation and British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize, and Class Ships of Islam (2008). He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Geographical Society.
Preface Acknowledgements List of illustrations List of abbreviations Note on the transliteration system 1. Cultural memories of the Red Sea 2. `Our life on the sea is gone but our stories will last for ever' 3. The geographic context 4. Red Sea corridor: the Early Modern period 5. The Red Sea sailing dhow 6. On building the dhow: sites, skills and techniques 7. Documenting and remembering old dhows 8. The sanbuks of the Red Sea 9. The dhow landscape: the northern and southern Red Sea 10. `Our life is the sea: the ship, the coast and the anchorage know us' 11. On board the dhow: eating, resting and entertainment 12. This dangerous sea 13. `You only ride the sea if you know the sea': winds and sails 14. `We set forth with a favourable wind': the Red Sea dhow trade 15. `We sail with the hope of a good catch': fishing and shell collecting 16. The dhow hunt: the slave trade and gun running in the southern Red Sea 17. The dhow, the coast and the sea: interacting with nature, the spirits and the supernatural 18. Cultural identities of a Red Sea landscape: recollections and reflections Glossary Appendices Notes Bibliography Index