The maritime heritage of Yemen: a focus on traditional wooden "dhows"

Abstract

This paper investigates the disappearing heritage of Yemen’s large wooden boats (dhows), both in its current socio-economic context and in historical perspective. Fieldwork conducted by members of the MARES project in February 2009 along the coast between Aden and Salif sought to record remaining evidence of wooden boats and their related industries and practices. Wooden boat use has been in sharp decline in recent decades, as dhow-based commerce has declined, and fishing communities have switched to fibreglass vessels. The fieldwork sought to record remaining dhows through simple survey techniques including photography and illustration, as well as close observation. It also involved ethnographic interviews with people who worked on these vessels, either as builders or mariners. In terms of the vessels themselves, the aim was to produce a typology of Yemeni dhows; to record examples of each; to understand construction sequences; and to inventory the distribution of surviving craft. The findings are compared with previous literature on the subject.