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Arabian ships at scale. Ship models in a world turning back to maritime traditions.
The Omani evidence.

Carlos Montalvão.

Lecture at the Annual Conference of the Nautical Archaeology Society 18th November
2018, Newport, Wales, UK.

Key words: Maritime Heritage, ship models, Arabian ship building traditions,
National Museum of Oman.

Abstract:

To preserve maritime heritage, which is constrictively part of our personal and

collective identity, scientific and standard museum ship models are of great value,
enabling experts, common people and future generations to recreate, understand and
promote the legacy of ships and navigations.

Carlos Montalvão is a professional ship model maker and a maritime historian. He

works as a museum consultant in Europe and the Middle East. He has several ship
models on display, namely at the National Museum of Oman.

carlosmontalvao@gmail.com

Introduction

The Nautical Archaeology Society has a cry of alert on the home page of its web site
stating that: “our heritage is continuously under threat of damage or destruction by
environmental and human action”, and we are all concerned about it. Also concerning
but less evident is the fact that in major maritime museums throughout Europe,
important historical models are being removed from exhibitions and replaced by
interactive content.

In the Middle East the level of interest in maritime heritage and maritime issues is
rapidly growing for not only academics but also for the general public. This increasing
interest is driving numerous public and private initiatives.

Most of the Arabian costal capitals have kept traditional ships as exhibits in museums,
in strategic places near the sea, or sometimes even in the middle of the traffic. But with
demand and interest growing, countries in the region are doing more.

Impressive maritime museums are currently being planned and are already being built in
Oman, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. National museums that already have a strong maritime
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interest are eager to expand their collections with ship models and traditional ships at
true scale alongside with maritime artefacts.

Archaeological campaigns are being promoted to find evidence of shipwrecks and

collect artefacts to go directly from the bottom of the sea to museum showcases.

Cruising companies offer trips on local crafts adapted for tourists, enabling them to
have the experience of being on board a traditional Arabian sailing ship.

Local leaders own wooden traditional sailing vessels alongside their top designed
luxurious yachts and ancient shipyards are still actively building new vessels that are
made to look old and that are intended for use in races or parties.

All around the Gulf, cultural authorities are playing a key role in the promotion of
maritime heritage. They understand that traditional ships can serve as icon of
transcultural identity, they are vehicles for linking past and present under the spirit of
adventure and progress. The Arabs in general and the Omani in particular have been
able to generate and spread a cultural background, with a large political impact, in
favour of the traditions of the sea.

Sultanah. Scale 1/24. National Museum of Oman

While in Europe we are increasingly ignoring and diminishing the sea, its traditions, and
its important connection to our culture, in the Middle East the motus “follow the sea” is
a paradigm to action and promotion, in terms of Maritime Heritage.
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A short maritime history of Oman

The sea occupies a central position in the life and history of Oman.

For millennia, Oman has been the gateway to the Gulf and the Indian Ocean. It was
frequented by merchant ships on the way to East Africa, India, and China as it was the
first place where ships could take on fresh water and supplies on their journey to or
from the Indian Ocean. To illustrate this transcontinental movement of people, goods,
and ideas, the National Museum of Oman displays among other models, a
reconstruction of a Chinese junk from the XV, made by the author. As there was no
technical documents nor pictorial evidence to produce a scientifically grounded Chinese
ship model from the period, this work was based on studies and models of Chinese deep
sea trading junks from the XIX and XX.

Some features of the vessel may be discussible, but displaying ship models as historical
research hypothesis when there are no certitudes on the matter, not only materializes
what is already known, but also promotes the debate among experts. Debate among
experts promotes development of new perspectives and deepens understanding, which,
if appropriate, can then lead to building a new model that reflects those new
perspectives, which then triggers more debate, and so on, in a continual cycle of
increasing knowledge and historical accuracy.

At the same time, it is critically important that models are both beautiful and technically
accurate, so that the public can feel attracted and sponsors compelled to pay for the
research and the modelling work.
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Trading junk from the XV. Scale 1/30. The model is on display at the Land of Frankincense Gallery in the
National Museum of Oman.

In the early XVI the Portuguese took Oman. The first impact between them and the
Arabs was brutal, but after the Portuguese had consolidated their position in Muscat, for
almost 150 years it was “business as usual”. This period of the history of Oman is
illustrated by a Portuguese caravel and nau from the XVI, on display at Oman and the
World Gallery in the National Museum. These two models are the most reliable
versions of the Portuguese ships from the Discoveries incorporating, at scale, data from
the XVI Portuguese ship building treatises, information found on wrecks and epochal
iconography. The construction of these two models is the result of the research work I
performed as part of a master of arts thesis in maritime history.
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Portuguese caravel and nao from the XVI. Scale 1/30. The models are on display at Oman and the World
Gallery in the National Museum of Oman.

In 1624 a new dynasty of rulers, the Ya’rubid, emerged in Oman unifying the land
against the Portuguese and taking Muscat in 1650. They managed to defeat the
Portuguese ships deploying a powerful fleet of European designed vessels, first taken or
copied from the Portuguese and then amplified with British and Dutch vessels of war.
There is minimal documentation or information available for ships from the Ya’rubid
period. To solidify understanding of that period, the Sultanate is currently making
efforts to turn the less known Ya’rubid fleet into tangible objects.

The Ya’rubid were removed from power in 1744 by the Abu Said, who transformed
Oman into a prosperous seaborne empire. In 1806, Sayd Bin Sultan came to power and
extended his influence over both the Persian and Omani sides of the Arabic sea,
deploying a fleet which included the most updated and efficient European design
merchant and war vessels of several typologies. His ships were predominant in the
Indian Ocean and were regularly seen in China.

Meanwhile, Sayd Bin Sultan sent his ambassadors to New York and London aboard a
fully rigged ship named Sultanah which is currently very famous in Oman, being
considered a national symbol and an icon of friendship, modernity and welfare.

Sultanah was a 312 tons European design men-of-war with 14 guns, built at the
Bombay dockyards, in 1833. It was made with the precious Malabar teak wood and
measured 121 feet of extreme length (length from the aft side of the upper part of the
stern –taffrail – to the fore part of the figure head or stem) and 27 feet and 6 inches for
breadth extreme.
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Sultanah the Model

Five years ago, the Ministry of Heritage and Culture commissioned a model of Sultanah
for the National Museum. They required a scientifically grounded top rate quality scaled
model: something that would be historic, accurate, artistic, and that would last for
generations to come.

Sultanah. Scale 1/24. National Museum of Oman

Based on those requirements, a model, which follows the archaeological principles

used to build replicas of historical ships, was crafted. Every detail was carefully
designed and manufactured to reproduce, at scale, the information found in epochal
documentation. All materials were carefully selected according to aesthetical and
preventive conservation criteria. The resulting model, currently on display, fulfils all the
museum’s requirements: it is a piece of art, historically accurate and made to last for
generations.

Sultanah’s model was built at scale 1/24. The model is 2.15 metres long and 1.70
metres high.

The first step of construction was building a half hull. The half hull was made
according to the dimensions given by the nineteen century British treaties of
construction and the main structure of the model (ribs, keel, stem and stern posts) was
made in maritime plywood, the most convenient material to give stability to a moulded
hull when the internal framing doesn’t have to be put on display. The hull was then
dressed with Swiss steamed pear wood and African Ebony, chosen for their nobility,
beauty and mechanical qualities.
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Half hulls were used to define, correct or improve the geometry of ships

Geometric drawings were used to design the ribs and an axial single frame - keel and posts. The first layer
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of birch wood planks makes a perfect basis for the second planking. Sultanah. Scale 1/24. National
Museum of Oman.

The visible pear and ebony hull planking was laid as a second layer on top of an initial
base layer of planking of birch wood. This planking technique, using two layers of
different species of wood instead of one, is used to prevent the hull and deck from later
cracking. This approach is also relevant in order to achieve a perfect hull in terms of
geometry and symmetry.

Hull and deck planking design follows precisely the nineteens rules for ship
construction.

External planking in pear wood and first ebony strakes. False beams and deck planking. Sultanah. Scale
1/24. National Museum of Oman
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The external planking is ready to be copper sheeted. Sultanah. Scale 1/24. National Museum of Oman

Under the waterline, the model was copper sheeted. More than one thousand three
hundred and fifty small copper sheets were individually molded, cut precisely at scale
and fixed on the model without any defect, fingerprint or stain. It was a very delicate
and time consuming job.

Copper plates cut and patterned in a special device to replicate the nailing of true scale coppering.
Sultanah. Scale 1/24. National Museum of Oman
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The fittings are precise replicas of the ones used on board the ships of the period.

The blocks are fitted at scale and are functional.

Sultanah was rigged as a fully rigged ship of the nineteen century British regiments. A
precision rope walk was used to produce the maritime ropes at scale, in different colours
(black for the standing rigging and brown for the running one). Diameters and twist
orientation were also reproduced at scale. More than 45 kilometres of cotton tread were
used to make the ropes and before being fixed they received a treatment to prevent them
from rot in the long-term.

Sultanah. Scale 1/24. National Museum of Oman

The guns are scaled down replicas of the 12-pounder Blomefield pattern and were cast
in light metal. An innovative technique, mixing high technology mould and patterns
production with old foundry procedures was used in the workshop to cast the guns.
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Canon’s casting process. A master was designed and produced using 3D milling technologies. The mould
is from silicon able to withstand high temperatures. Finishing made by hand. Sultanah. Scale 1/24.
National Museum of Oman.
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Sultanah. Scale 1/24. National Museum of Oman

Other European design ships to be built at scale

Sultanah is certainly the most famous of the Arabic ships of that period, but not the
most powerful or prestigious vessel of the Omani fleet. The 74 gun ship Imaum was the
biggest and most powerful ship of Sultan bin said fleet.

A 1/48 measure drawing of Imaum from 27 February 1836, at Portsmouth. – National Maritime Museum
- London
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Epochal records mention at least seventeen European designed ships, (one 74 gun ship,
one 56 gun frigate, one 40 guns frigate, two 36 gun frigates, one 28, one 24, one 18 gun
corvette plus several armed merchant vessels and several traditional designed vessels).
Omani cultural authorities are currently making efforts to incorporated Sultan Sayd’s
fleet in their museums, at scale and in 3D representations.

Omani ship building traditions

European designed ships cannot eclipse traditional ones and Omani cultural authorities
are currently commissioning ship models of Arabian vessels.

Let me introduce you to some of them.

Arabian ships are noted for their beautiful lines, seaworthiness and speed. They are
reputedly good sea boats, sturdy and weatherly, but they are not pleasure boats, they are
built for a long, hard, tough working life. They are inherently simple and perfect for
their purpose.

These ships were used for fishing, pearl-diving, deep-sea-trade, costal trade and for
local and international transportation.
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Stern of a baghla. Sur, Oman 1974

Omani and Arabian traditional vessels are commonly known as “dhows”. Dhow is a
generic term with a wide range of variation in terms of space and time. The name also
makes some locals and maritime historians uncomfortable due to the link of the term to
a nineteenth century colonialist perception of the maritime activities of the Arabs as
slave traders. No mariner in the Gulf would use the term "dhow" to describe a sailing
vessel. In Arabia, sailing ships are known by names that indicate their hull form or the
purpose for which they were built. There are at least some eighty names and sub-names
for Arabian vessels in the Gulf and Oman and the nomenclature varies from one region
to another and from time to time. It may happen that two different types of vessels have
the same designation or that the same type of vessel is called a different designation,
according to their port. For example, a vessel called sambuq in Oman can be designated
as a sh’ui in the Northern Gulf and an Omani shu’i can be called sambuq in the Gulf.

The Arabs didn’t use plans or patterns and built their ships only by the eye on a shell
first carvel base with the internal framing acting as a mere reinforcement of the
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construction. Before the arrival of the Portuguese the Omani vessels were all sewn, a
technique that was still in use in the XX in medium size fishing boats and parts of
bigger trade ones. Coir fibre was available anywhere at low cost and sewing a boat
made it more durable than nailing it, as in the Indian Ocean iron nails rot in 3 years and
teak wood may last for one thousand years. Sewed vessels were also more flexible than
nailed ones, but they couldn’t resist to the impact of cannon balls.

Stitched Omani traditional vessel named Sohar. 1980.

The ships could have up to three masts, generally the main one raking forward.
Arabian lateen sails (also called settee or Muslim sails) are hanged on big yards. The
settee sail is very difficult to handle, but also very elegant. A lateen yard always bends,
and Arabian sails always have wonderful harmonious curves.

For decoration, the Arabs use geometrical and floral patterns and often carve a prayer
or a verse from the Quran in the stern of the ship.

Basically, traditional Arabian vessels are divided in two categories, depending on

whether they are double ended or square-sterned.

The most famous double ended vessels are the badan, the boom and the battil.

The most well-known squared stern vessels are the sambuk, the shui, the baghala and
the ganjah.

The badan

The badan was a small/medium size vessel of peculiar hull form, belonging to Muscat
and the Oman coast.
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The fishing badan had a bow profile similar to a schooner or clipper. It was basically a
sailing boat, but could also be rowed.

The cargo badan served as a costal trading and fishing vessel. The ship was double-
ended and double-keeled with a long slim hull, with a sharp needle-nose stem and high
stern post. It could take up to 12 rowers. Some badans were 30 to 40 feet long and
carried a weight of some 10 tonnes. Larger badans could have two sails. The stem and
stern post were sewn with coir ropes because these parts tended to break frequently
while pulling off the boat ashore and pushing it to the sea. It was easier for fishermen to
repair them by stitching, instead of nailing them to the hull.

Model of a badan seyed in the Musee de la Marine, Paris and bedan safar beached near Muscat in 1974.
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The boom

The boom was a large double ended fully decked vessel.

The boom had two masts. The larger booms could have up to three masts. It was unique
among the Gulf vessels in having the yoke-steering arrangement in the rudder.

The boom had almost no carvings except for the upper part of the topsides, where bands
or ribbons could be painted or carved.

The boom could carry up to 550 tons and have a crew of 40 men. Top speed could reach
13 knots.

The most common usage of a boom was as a cargo vessel, carrying mangrove poles
from East Africa and teak from India, but also rocks or stone, cement, iron and camels
in the Gulf. Though used mainly for trading, some were also engaged on the pearl
diving.

A boom under full sail carrying a jib to take advantage of the wind. Allan Villiers 1939.

The battil

The battil was a large double ended completely decked vessel, with two masts (smaller
battils may have only one) with a curved stem ending in a fiddle-head shape and a
sternpost looking like a dog’s head silhouette. It was very fast and used for coastal
trade, pearling and war vessel.

The rudder was detachable and deeper than the boat, and therefore had to be unshipped
in shallow water or when the boat was beached.
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The battil’s cargo capacity varied from 150 to 300 tons and some could transport
around 200 people.

The vessel was made for speed and sat low in the water, attributes which improved the
ability of the battil to attack or defend itself from aggressors. It was one of the most
ancient types of vessels in the Gulf. Two battils are mentioned in a 1797 document as
being used by the Qawasin pirates and in the beginning of the twentieth century they
were still used for war.

Pearl diving battil from Kuwait

Square sterned.

The shu’i

The Omani shu’i, was a fishing and coastal trade medium size vessel. Nowadays the
shui is motorized and used for tourism activities. In the northern Gulf it was used for
pearl diving and it could be propelled by sweeps or sails.

A shu’I beached in Sur. Oman. 1974

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The sambuq

The sambuq was a cargo and passengers’ vessel typical of the Red Sea (it was the vessel
of the pilgrims on the way to the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina), but they were also
common in the Gulf and shores of Oman from where they departed to journeys as far as
Mumbai or Zanzibar.

The sambuqs had two masts. The stern curved up from the keel and the short head of
the stem post had the form of a broad board set on edge with the upper edge cut into a
concave curve rising to a sharp point at the end.

Sambuqs had no carvings, but some were lavishly painted.

A large sambuq beached in Aden 1939. Alan Villiers

The baghla

The baghla was the traditional deep-sea trading and cargo carrier vessel of the Gulf. It
was the largest type of all, with a size range between 150 and 600 tons and larger ones
were occasionally coppered.

The baghla had two, occasionally three, masts. The baghla was the most ornamented of
all the big Arabian ships and was considered the aristocrat vessel of the Indian Ocean.

The baghla’s also fitted on each side with projections similar to quarter galleries, to
resemble those found along the sides of the European designed line-of-battle ships from
the XVIII and XIX. These quarter galleries were entirely ornamental, carved out of
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solid lumps of teak in order to give the stern the authentic shape and fair it into the lines
of the hull.

The stempost of a baghla curved up gently to the stem-head prolonged by the addition
of a bollard decoration, peculiar to the baghla.

A baghla beached in Kwale Island. 1939. Alan Villiers

The ghanja

The ganjah was a large vessel similar but smaller than the baghla and less decorated
than their Indian counterpart khotia. The main distinction of the ghanja was its well-
raked stem moderately rounded and the figure head, an Indian origin stylized head of a
bird looking backwards over its shoulder, carved in wood. Like the baghla, the stern of
the ghanja was adorned with two quarter galleries and the transom was beautifully
decorated with floral and geometrical patterns plus a carved inscription with a verse of
the Quran or a prayer.
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Fatah Al Kair,. Sur. Oman

Conclusion

As stated in my introduction, I believe that ships can serve as icons of national and
transcultural identity, vehicles of communication and sharing, linking past and present
under the spirit of openness, tolerance, adventure and progress. A well-built model,
accurate and historic, can be both a beautiful piece of art and a physical manifestation of
this multi significant reality.
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