Bronze Age Boat Sails as Replica Made Using 4,000-Year-Old 'Shopping List'

A 60-foot-long reproduction of a Bronze Age boat—of a type that was in use more than 4,000 years ago—has successfully set sail. The replica vessel departed from the coast of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), covering a distance of 50 nautical miles in the Persian Gulf. With a crew of 20 people on board, it passed a number of rigorous tests over two days, reaching speeds of up to 5.

6 knots. The reconstructed "Magan" boat was designed and constructed by a multidisciplinary team of experts—including archaeologists and engineers—as part of a project led by Abu Dhabi's planned Zayed National Museum, in collaboration with Zayed University and New York University Abu Dhabi. The goal of the experimental archaeology initiative, launched in 2021, is to shed light on how people in the region lived more than 4,000 years ago while also preserving the UAE's maritime heritage.

The boat was built with raw materials described on an ancient clay tablet, while experts employed construction techniques dating back more than 4,000 years. The vessel's design was based on ancient models, with a naval engineer determining an appropriate length, width and depth for the boat to ensure it would float while carrying cargo and crew. "The smooth sailing of this reproduction of a 4,000-year-old Magan boat in the Arabian Gulf using materials known from ancient texts and archaeological evidence is a major milestone in the research program of Zayed National Museum," Peter Magee,.