“Our Life is the Sea: The Ship, the Coast and the Anchorage Know us”
The Life of the Red Sea Dhow
Professor Dionisius A. Agius (University of Exeter)
Waseda University, Waseda
Wednesday May 17, 17:15-18:45
This presentation is about the cultural memories of the Red Sea people in the past eighty years. The traditional vessel, the dhow, is at the centre of the present discourse; its cultural life as seen through the eyes of the people who build the dhows and seafarers who crossed the perilous Red Sea. We have insights into superstitious beliefs as the voyagers faced threats such as storms, wrecks, and pirates. People shared their recollections of the dhows sailing in convoy for trade; the hoisting of sails; the prayers they recited for fair winds and in despair when struck by gales. They remembered the pearling days of diving and the opening of shells; the songs they sang on board ship and the return of their journey joyfully welcomed by family and friends. It is true that mariners, traders,and craftsmen have in the past twenty years moved away from the sea and the coasts to inland regions or even abroad in search of new livelihoods as the traditional maritime industries have declined, but enough remains to demonstrate a continuum that reaches deep into the past. There is still an active maritime culture among the Red Sea fishermen which flourishes despite the encroachments of modern life.
