The Life of the Red Sea Dhow: A Cultural History of Seaborne Exploration in the Islamic World

For centuries the waters of the Red Sea have been amongst the most hazardous and feared in the world. Strong or erratic winds have taken lives and broken boats, smashed against rocks or hidden sandbars. Pirates too have menaced: some out for booty alone
others for slaves. Many seafarers have been terrified by the capricious genies of the ocean, and only by prayer and ritual might crew members hope to ward off any disaster or evil that might befall their ship. Central to this archetypal and perilous maritime scene has been the dhow, the versatile sailing craft that survives to this day and that for many hundreds of years has linked the commercial and pilgrim centres of sea and desert. Few images are as evocative as the silhouette of the Arab dhow as, under full sail, it tacks to windward on glittering water before moving across the face of the rising or setting sun.

In this authoritative new book, Dionisius A. Agius, one of the foremost scholars of Islamic material culture, offers a lucid and wide-ranging history of the iconic dhow from medieval to modern times. Traversing the Arabian and African coasts, he shows that the dhow was central not just to commerce but to the vital transmission and exchange of ideas. While the history of global and seafaring exploration is more popular than ever, seaborne discovery from the Islamic lands remains an understudied subject. Whether discussing trade and salt routes
shoals and wind patterns
spice harvest seasons
the symbols and decorative motifs on ships that were considered to have special powers
litanies and votive offerings to the sea
or the deep and resonant connection between language, memory and oral tradition, this is the first book to place the dhow in its full and remarkable cultural contexts.