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I - 31 : Sails - Mankind's Biggest Game Changer

  • hbanziger
  • Jun 18
  • 5 min read

Updated: Jun 19

Felucas on the Nile, sailing upriver with the prevailing Desert Wind


A few months ago I wrote a blog about ropes. Always wanted to follow it up with a piece on sails – the ground breaking innovation that changed mankind and history. The project took longer than anticipated. It led me to fascinating subjects such as the DNA of the human louse, the art of weaving baskets, prevailing winds in Africa, the Aborigines’ migration to Australia, the Ukrainian river system in the last ice age, why Madagasse people talk a Polynesian language, findings from Egyptian tombs, the Pharaohs' search for the mysterious Land of Punt and many more.

The amazing Migration of the Polynesians - the World's true Sea People


The sail was invented independently several times. Could not find enough material to write about the Polynesians who sailed 5’000 years ago from Taiwan to eventually settle the Philippines, Indonesia, Polynesia and - most surprisingly - Madagascar. True sea people! They journeyed on catamarans with sails.But I do not know how they did it and what type of sail they used. Instead I focus on people in the Fertile Crescent - living on the banks of the Euphrates, Tigris and Nile. It was on these banks that sails were invented. Someone had the idea to hold up a piece of cloth and use the wind for propulsion. That person had to have a piece of fabrics though. No textiles – no sails.


The Human Body Louse (Pediculus Humanus)


Given the delicate nature of fibers, little evidence survived. We need to work with indirect clues. The funniest is the DNA of the human louse who only survives in human clothes. Its DNA splits from the lice family tree around 40’000 to 170’000 years ago. Human clothes are thus older than 40’000 years. The above time frame works well with the migration of homo sapiens from Africa. But it says nothing about textiles - humans first wore animal skins. It also doesn’t  tell us what hominids like Neanderthals and Denisovans wore – they were living in the northern hemispheres 300’000 years before we arrived.


The oldest Needle in the World was found in Russia


Next clue is the appearance of needles. Textiles have to be sown together. No needles - no clothes. The oldest needle was found in the Altai Mountains in Russia and dates from 50’000 years ago. The eyed needle was made from a large bird bone to accommodate the fine thread. It is a precious little thing and illustrate the sophisticated craftsmanship of its makers. So no clothes before 48'000 BC.


This Ancient Basket (woven) was found in the Judean Desert]


Ancient fabrics also provide clues. The oldest surviving piece is a 10'500 years old basket found in the Judean desert above the Black Sea. We forget that the earliest settlers in the Fertile Crescent were nomads who had items to store. There was food, tent material, stone tools and tinder to make fire. Most likely they stored their stuff in baskets. Reminds me of my straw bag in the Ardèche which I use for visiting the farmers’ market. Dried straw fibers are stiff, sturdy and light. I would not be surprised if our ancestors learned weaving textiles from making baskets. Thus, a piece of fabric cannot be older than 10'000 years


"Ripe" Cotton in a Cotton Field in the United States


Another piece of indirect evidence is the domestication of plant and animal fibers. Without fibers – no textiles. We know that flax was used for quite some time – the first remains of linen fibers date back to 35’000 BC. More importantly, there is evidence of flax fields in Mesopotamia by 7’000 BC.  Sheep were domesticated around 10’000 BC. Cotton from the Indus Valley follows by 6'000 BC. The oldest garment so far is the Tarkhan Dress from near Cairo. It was found in a non-descript mud-brick tomb. It dates from 3'200 BC.


The Tarkhan Dress is the oldest intact Garment in the World


This gets us back to the sail. Our ancestors were able to weave by around 10'000 BC and domesticated fibres suitable for making clothes and sails by about 7'000 BC. Humans built boats however far early. What started with hollowed out trunks became quickly boats with planks. We know that the ancestors of the Australian Aborigines crossed the Sunda Strait by about 50’000 BC. But they must have done this with paddles. There were no sails yet. Not unimaginable when looking at the long tradition of large paddle boats in Polynesia.


The Sumer in Mesopotamia traded with both the Indus Valley and People Up-River


Another piece in the puzzle is the import of wood, wine and metals by the Sumer culture (Mesopotamia) from Kurdistan as early as 5’000 BC. These trade goods floated down the Euphrates and Tigris on large rafts and small boats. Once arrived, the rafts were untied, the trunks sold as timber. But how did the boats get back? Both rivers flow slowly. Paddling upriver is tedious though. I guess they used sails to get back home. This would give us around 4'000 BC for the invention of sails.


The Sail was probably invented in areas like today's Marshes in the Euphrates-Tigris Delta


On the Nile, at about the same time, something similar happened. Boats loaded with agricultural products, building stones and artifacts travelled down the Nile. Lacking wood (palm trees are unsuitable for construction), they used reeds for boats. Once down river, they also had to get back south again. Using constant winds to sail upriver is an energy saving innovation. By 5'000 BC Egyptians had probably mastered the production of textiles. I guess by 4'000 BC they had sails. The oldest preserved dress is from 3'200 BC. But fibers are delicat and decay unless preserved in a very arid environment.


Egyptian Relief with Sailors lifting Sails, 2465 BC


Form Egypt and Mesopotamia, the sail now conquered the maritime world. Sumer and Egypt traded with each other via Indian ocean by 3’000 BC - if not earlier. What could not be more convenient than using a technique that worked well on the rivers to power ships on the sea? No such vessel was ever found. But we find the first sail ever depicted on the Gerzean Vase from Egypt which dates back to 3'300 - 3'100 BC. In my view the invention of the sail happened in the 4th millenia BC.


Gerzean Vase from 3'300 - 3'100 shows a Reed Boat with a Sail


Always hungry for lighter construction material than mud and stone, the Egyptian loved cedar wood from the Levant. Once they controlled the area, they began importing it on a large scale. Assyrian stone carvings show sail boats hauling logs to Egypt. The sail had mastered the Mediterranean. It was quikly adopted by Minoans and Phoenicians and used by Queen Hatshepsut on her expedition to the Land of Punt (Yemen and Somalia) in 1'500 BC. She was looking for slaves, gold, spices and scent.



The invention of the sail was truly revolutionary. It gave humans the tool for long-distance traveling on the sea, allowed them to discover and conquer new worlds and establish the long distance trading networks that - in one way or another - survive to today.

 

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This blog is about getting to places which are today off the beaten track but where once the world met. It talks about people, culture, food, sailing, architecture and many other things which are mostly forgotten today.

 

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