With the exception, of course, of the Polynesians.
On the other hand, regarding slightly later Chinese sailors, Zheng He was Muslim.
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Nope. And they’re also not a fast growins species you want to use for ships. There’s a reason Muslim navigation involved small boats that hugged the shores. Quantity.
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Does Donald Moffitt know about this?
HadI been paying more attention, I’d probably have suggested afzalia. teak and coconut wood-- sewn together with coconut cord.
Wherever possible, the team employed the same wood that was used on the original ship. The Belitung wreck had been constructed primarily of African timber (Afzelia africana) and teak (Tectona grandis), along with others such as rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo), juniper, and palm wood. Timber trade was flourishing in the western Indian Ocean at the time the Belitung ship was built, but both the Indian subcontinent and Africa had plenty of excellent shipbuilding timbers, while the Arabian Peninsula would have had to import teak, rosewood, and Afzelia africana. India or Sri Lanka would have had no need to import Afzelia or rosewood, nor would Africa have needed the large pieces of teak that were part of the wreck. The provenance of these timbers—the Indian subcontinent, Arabia, and Africa—therefore indicate that the ship was most likely built in Arabia.
The Jewel of Muscat, reconstructing a ninth century sewn plank boat
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