Reed boat sealed with bitumen
Embarcación de juncos calafateada con betún
- Date
- c. 5300 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- H3 As-Sabiyah, Kuwait Bay, Kuwait
- Credited to
- Ubaid culture in the Persian Gulf
- Field
- Movement
What it is
Bitumen slabs bearing impressions of reed bundles and barnacles, plus a clay boat model, documenting waterproofed seagoing reed vessels. The first direct evidence of maritime navigation in the Gulf.
The H3 model may show a mast, which would push back the date of the sail; there is no consensus.
What it led to
- Ubaid maritime trade between Mesopotamia and eastern Arabia (pottery, beads)
- The Gulf route that later links Sumer with Dilmun, Magan and the Indus
- Industrial use of bitumen as a waterproofing agent