John P Cooper
Biographic Data
| ID | 4065332 |
|---|---|
| NAME | John P Cooper |
| GIVEN NAMES | John P |
| FAMILY NAME | Cooper |
| SIGNATURE | COOPER J P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Exeter |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3144-6710 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 32 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1957 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Reflections on a Strategy of ‘Mixed’ Hull Construction – The Case of a Ngwanda , Zanzibar, Tanzania
This article explores the idea of ‘mixed’ construction in wooden boatbuilding through the building of a plank-built ngwanda of Zanzibar, Tanzania. This nebulous notion is the product of a longstanding polarity that largely characterises wooden hulls as ‘shell-built’, ‘frame-built’, or something in-between. We trace how our builder, Fundi Hamdan, planned his hull, then varied his dependence on framing and planking as determinant of hull shape. Whi…
Localizing Heritage: Archaeologies of the Recent Past in Postwar Jaffna, Sri Lanka
The role of archaeology in divisive nationalism, colonial supremacism, and the marginalization of subaltern groups is increasingly evident globally. Such legacies are visible in Sri Lanka, not least in its north and east, where many regard archaeology as either irrelevant or as a weapon directed against them. We outline the genesis of a UK-Sri Lankan project that responds to this situation and focus on a workshop held in Jaffna with University of…
Kachchhi-Gujarati navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: An intangible knowledge system, charted
This article offers a detailed analysis of a Kachchhi-Gujarati manuscript chart of the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden dating probably from the eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries and held at the Royal Geographical Society–Institute of British Geographers in London (mr Asia S.4.). The origins and possible dating of the manuscript are examined. Astronomical data inscribed on the chart, establishing latitude and providing sailing directions,…
The Mondal Family Build a Chhot: A Vanishing Boat Type in the Bengali ‘Stapling’ Tradition, West Bengal, India
When the ‘Asset’ Is Livelihood: Making Heritage with the Maritime Practitioners of Bagamoyo, Tanzania
This paper examines the dilemmas, obligations and opportunities faced by heritage professionals in elaborating cultural ‘assets’ among the breadwinning practices of contemporary, artisanal communities. It takes as its case study the authors’ Bahari Yetu, Urithi Wetu (‘Our Ocean, Our Heritage’) project and its engagement with maritime practitioners in and around the town of Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The article identifies Bagamoyo’s contemporary maritim…
Names of Contemporary Wooden Boats of Coastal East Africa: Origins and Meanings
The coast of eastern Africa, commonly referred to as the Swahili coast, has a rich artisanal heritage of boats — both in their building and use. This iconic history is marked by the presence of various boat types that have historically been used for fishing and transporting people and cargo between coastal settlements (of eastern Africa), the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, Comoros, Madagascar, and other distant parts of the Indian Ocean world…
Ship graffiti at the Zanzibar Gereza (Old Fort), Stone Town, Unguja, Tanzania
A number of graffiti of ships are to be found engraved into the plaster of the Gereza (Old Fort) of Stone Town on Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania. Most of those reported here appear on the ramparts of the southwestern tower, while some are on the western face of the main partition wall separating the western and eastern wards. Although sometimes sketchy, the images suggest a number of vessel types, including a frigat…
Contemporary Wooden Watercraft of the Zanzibar Channel, Tanzania: Type and Technology, Continuity and Innovation
This article documents and presents the range of wooden fishing and cargo-carrying watercraft in use in the contemporary Zanzibar Channel, Tanzania. The work is based on surveys conducted in 2018 on Unguja, the principal island of the Zanzibar archipelago, and in 2019–2020 in Bagamoyo, mainland Tanzania, and its immediate environs. The authors present a broad typology of the principal wooden vessel types in the form of 3D photogrammetric models, …
Building a Ngalawa Double-Outrigger Logboat in Bagamoyo, Tanzania: A Craftsman at his Work
This article documents master logboat-builder Alalae Mohamed’s construction of a ngalawa fishing vessel in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The ngalawa is an extended logboat with double outrigger and lateen sail used by low-income, artisanal fishers. It is the most common marine vessel type of the East African coast. This article follows the construction process from Alalae’s selection and the felling of the tree(s) to the launching of the vessel. It outline…
Islamic and Maritime Archaeologies
Sewn boats in the Qatar Museums collection, Doha: Baggāra s and kettuvallam s as records of a western Indian Ocean technological tradition
Vernacular sewn boats from southern Iran and Kerala, India, in the collection of Qatar Museums are documented and their construction described. The Iranian baggāras are unique preservations of sewn boats from the Arabian-Persian Gulf, notable for their previously undocumented keel-garboard sewing technique and extensive use of bitumen coatings. Comparison between individual boats enables conclusions to be drawn about the builders’ conception, as …
From Boatyard to Museum: 3D laser scanning and digital modelling of the Qatar Museums watercraft collection, Doha, Qatar
This article presents the results of a project to 3D laser scan and digitally model 14 watercraft from the Qatar Museums collection, comprising a range of regional vessels: most had not been surveyed previously. The project used the resulting point clouds generated 2D naval lines and orthographic records of the vessels in their current condition, and photorealistic 3D digital models for gallery display. This case study provides illustrative examp…
A Saxon Fish Weir and Undated Fish Trap Frames Near Ashlett Creek, Hampshire, UK: Static Structures on a Dynamic Foreshore
The remains of a wooden V-shaped fish weir and associated structures have been discovered near Ashlett Creek on the tidal mudflats of Southampton Water in Hampshire, southern Britain. Radiocarbon dating of oak roundwood stakes taken from the main weir structure date it to the middle Saxon period. Clusters of as-yet undated roundwood posts within the catchment area of the weir are interpreted as the frames for fish traps that are assumed to pre- o…
Remembering the Sea: Personal and Communal Recollections of Maritime Life in Jizan and the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia
People create narratives of their maritime past through the remembering and forgetting of seafaring experiences, and through the retention and disposal of maritime artefacts that function mnemonically to evoke or suppress those experiences. The sustenance and reproduction of the resulting narratives depends further on effective media of intergenerational transmission; otherwise, they are lost. Rapid socio-economic transformation across Saudi Arab…
The Medieval Nile: Route, Navigation, and Landscape in Islamic Egypt
This ground-breaking view of the navigational landscape of the Nile in medieval Egypt draws on a broad range of sources: medieval Arabic geographies; traveler accounts; archaeology; and meteorological, hydrological, and geological studies. John Cooper first charts the changing geography of the Nile waterways, particularly in the Delta, from the eve of Islam to the early modern period, and logs the “rise and fall” of these waterways for natural an…
The Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia: Towards a chronology of settlement
An archaeological survey of Saudi Arabia's Farasan Islands in May 2010 recorded a broad range of sites that have not previously been documented. The survey concentrated on Greater Farasan and Segid islands, and comprised a rapid recording of sites shown to the authors by representatives of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. The sites were photographed, their positions logged, sketch drawings made of the principal features and surfa…
A Stone Anchor from the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia: Notes
A large three-holed stone anchor has been found on the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia, in the southern Red Sea. The anchor was found on land, 2.6 km from the coast, on a fossil-coral plateau alongside the Wadi Matar valley. This short article describes the anchor, contextualises the find in terms of the wider archaeology of the islands, considers its likely date, and looks for typological comparisons. The authors tentatively suggest that the ancho…
Fatah al-Khair: Oman's Last Ghanjah- By Piotr Dziamski and Norbert Weismann
A review of 'Kuwait and the Sea: A Brief Social and Economic History' by Yacoub Yusuf Al-Hijji
Sons of Sindbad - By Alan Villiers: Reviews
Humbler Craft: Rafts of the Egyptian Nile, 17th to 20th Centuries AD
Accounts and images created by foreign travellers on the Egyptian Nile over the past four centuries indicate the widespread use of rafts and floats for both local and long-distance travel. Many of the materials employed survive poorly in archaeological deposits, or are otherwise easily overlooked as components of river-craft: moreover, several of these raft-types were built for a single journey or season, then dismantled. These travellers' accoun…
The Supplication against the Ordinaries Reconsidered
Journal Article The Supplication against the Ordinaries Reconsidered Get access J. P. COOPER J. P. COOPER Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXII, Issue CCLXXXV, October 1957, Pages 616–641, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXII.CCLXXXV.616 Published: 01 October 1957
The Supplication against the Ordinaries Reconsidered
Journal Article The Supplication against the Ordinaries Reconsidered Get access J. P. COOPER J. P. COOPER Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXII, Issue CCLXXXV, October 1957, Pages 616–641, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXII.CCLXXXV.616 Published: 01 October 1957
Building a Ngalawa Double-Outrigger Logboat in Bagamoyo, Tanzania: A Craftsman at his Work
This article documents master logboat-builder Alalae Mohamed’s construction of a ngalawa fishing vessel in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The ngalawa is an extended logboat with double outrigger and lateen sail used by low-income, artisanal fishers. It is the most common marine vessel type of the East African coast. This article follows the construction process from Alalae’s selection and the felling of the tree(s) to the launching of the vessel. It outline…
Contemporary Wooden Watercraft of the Zanzibar Channel, Tanzania: Type and Technology, Continuity and Innovation
This article documents and presents the range of wooden fishing and cargo-carrying watercraft in use in the contemporary Zanzibar Channel, Tanzania. The work is based on surveys conducted in 2018 on Unguja, the principal island of the Zanzibar archipelago, and in 2019–2020 in Bagamoyo, mainland Tanzania, and its immediate environs. The authors present a broad typology of the principal wooden vessel types in the form of 3D photogrammetric models, …
Sewn boats in the Qatar Museums collection, Doha: Baggāra s and kettuvallam s as records of a western Indian Ocean technological tradition
Vernacular sewn boats from southern Iran and Kerala, India, in the collection of Qatar Museums are documented and their construction described. The Iranian baggāras are unique preservations of sewn boats from the Arabian-Persian Gulf, notable for their previously undocumented keel-garboard sewing technique and extensive use of bitumen coatings. Comparison between individual boats enables conclusions to be drawn about the builders’ conception, as …
From Boatyard to Museum: 3D laser scanning and digital modelling of the Qatar Museums watercraft collection, Doha, Qatar
This article presents the results of a project to 3D laser scan and digitally model 14 watercraft from the Qatar Museums collection, comprising a range of regional vessels: most had not been surveyed previously. The project used the resulting point clouds generated 2D naval lines and orthographic records of the vessels in their current condition, and photorealistic 3D digital models for gallery display. This case study provides illustrative examp…
The Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia: Towards a chronology of settlement
An archaeological survey of Saudi Arabia's Farasan Islands in May 2010 recorded a broad range of sites that have not previously been documented. The survey concentrated on Greater Farasan and Segid islands, and comprised a rapid recording of sites shown to the authors by representatives of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. The sites were photographed, their positions logged, sketch drawings made of the principal features and surfa…
A Stone Anchor from the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia: Notes
A large three-holed stone anchor has been found on the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia, in the southern Red Sea. The anchor was found on land, 2.6 km from the coast, on a fossil-coral plateau alongside the Wadi Matar valley. This short article describes the anchor, contextualises the find in terms of the wider archaeology of the islands, considers its likely date, and looks for typological comparisons. The authors tentatively suggest that the ancho…
Humbler Craft: Rafts of the Egyptian Nile, 17th to 20th Centuries AD
Accounts and images created by foreign travellers on the Egyptian Nile over the past four centuries indicate the widespread use of rafts and floats for both local and long-distance travel. Many of the materials employed survive poorly in archaeological deposits, or are otherwise easily overlooked as components of river-craft: moreover, several of these raft-types were built for a single journey or season, then dismantled. These travellers' accoun…
When the ‘Asset’ Is Livelihood: Making Heritage with the Maritime Practitioners of Bagamoyo, Tanzania
This paper examines the dilemmas, obligations and opportunities faced by heritage professionals in elaborating cultural ‘assets’ among the breadwinning practices of contemporary, artisanal communities. It takes as its case study the authors’ Bahari Yetu, Urithi Wetu (‘Our Ocean, Our Heritage’) project and its engagement with maritime practitioners in and around the town of Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The article identifies Bagamoyo’s contemporary maritim…
Names of Contemporary Wooden Boats of Coastal East Africa: Origins and Meanings
The coast of eastern Africa, commonly referred to as the Swahili coast, has a rich artisanal heritage of boats — both in their building and use. This iconic history is marked by the presence of various boat types that have historically been used for fishing and transporting people and cargo between coastal settlements (of eastern Africa), the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, Comoros, Madagascar, and other distant parts of the Indian Ocean world…
Ship graffiti at the Zanzibar Gereza (Old Fort), Stone Town, Unguja, Tanzania
A number of graffiti of ships are to be found engraved into the plaster of the Gereza (Old Fort) of Stone Town on Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania. Most of those reported here appear on the ramparts of the southwestern tower, while some are on the western face of the main partition wall separating the western and eastern wards. Although sometimes sketchy, the images suggest a number of vessel types, including a frigat…
A Saxon Fish Weir and Undated Fish Trap Frames Near Ashlett Creek, Hampshire, UK: Static Structures on a Dynamic Foreshore
The remains of a wooden V-shaped fish weir and associated structures have been discovered near Ashlett Creek on the tidal mudflats of Southampton Water in Hampshire, southern Britain. Radiocarbon dating of oak roundwood stakes taken from the main weir structure date it to the middle Saxon period. Clusters of as-yet undated roundwood posts within the catchment area of the weir are interpreted as the frames for fish traps that are assumed to pre- o…
The Medieval Nile: Route, Navigation, and Landscape in Islamic Egypt
This ground-breaking view of the navigational landscape of the Nile in medieval Egypt draws on a broad range of sources: medieval Arabic geographies; traveler accounts; archaeology; and meteorological, hydrological, and geological studies. John Cooper first charts the changing geography of the Nile waterways, particularly in the Delta, from the eve of Islam to the early modern period, and logs the “rise and fall” of these waterways for natural an…
The Supplication against the Ordinaries Reconsidered
Journal Article The Supplication against the Ordinaries Reconsidered Get access J. P. COOPER J. P. COOPER Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXXII, Issue CCLXXXV, October 1957, Pages 616–641, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXXII.CCLXXXV.616 Published: 01 October 1957
Humbler Craft: Rafts of the Egyptian Nile, 17th to 20th Centuries AD
Accounts and images created by foreign travellers on the Egyptian Nile over the past four centuries indicate the widespread use of rafts and floats for both local and long-distance travel. Many of the materials employed survive poorly in archaeological deposits, or are otherwise easily overlooked as components of river-craft: moreover, several of these raft-types were built for a single journey or season, then dismantled. These travellers' accoun…
A review of 'Kuwait and the Sea: A Brief Social and Economic History' by Yacoub Yusuf Al-Hijji
Sons of Sindbad - By Alan Villiers: Reviews
A Stone Anchor from the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia: Notes
A large three-holed stone anchor has been found on the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia, in the southern Red Sea. The anchor was found on land, 2.6 km from the coast, on a fossil-coral plateau alongside the Wadi Matar valley. This short article describes the anchor, contextualises the find in terms of the wider archaeology of the islands, considers its likely date, and looks for typological comparisons. The authors tentatively suggest that the ancho…
Fatah al-Khair: Oman's Last Ghanjah- By Piotr Dziamski and Norbert Weismann
The Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia: Towards a chronology of settlement
An archaeological survey of Saudi Arabia's Farasan Islands in May 2010 recorded a broad range of sites that have not previously been documented. The survey concentrated on Greater Farasan and Segid islands, and comprised a rapid recording of sites shown to the authors by representatives of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. The sites were photographed, their positions logged, sketch drawings made of the principal features and surfa…
The Medieval Nile: Route, Navigation, and Landscape in Islamic Egypt
This ground-breaking view of the navigational landscape of the Nile in medieval Egypt draws on a broad range of sources: medieval Arabic geographies; traveler accounts; archaeology; and meteorological, hydrological, and geological studies. John Cooper first charts the changing geography of the Nile waterways, particularly in the Delta, from the eve of Islam to the early modern period, and logs the “rise and fall” of these waterways for natural an…
Remembering the Sea: Personal and Communal Recollections of Maritime Life in Jizan and the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia
People create narratives of their maritime past through the remembering and forgetting of seafaring experiences, and through the retention and disposal of maritime artefacts that function mnemonically to evoke or suppress those experiences. The sustenance and reproduction of the resulting narratives depends further on effective media of intergenerational transmission; otherwise, they are lost. Rapid socio-economic transformation across Saudi Arab…
A Saxon Fish Weir and Undated Fish Trap Frames Near Ashlett Creek, Hampshire, UK: Static Structures on a Dynamic Foreshore
The remains of a wooden V-shaped fish weir and associated structures have been discovered near Ashlett Creek on the tidal mudflats of Southampton Water in Hampshire, southern Britain. Radiocarbon dating of oak roundwood stakes taken from the main weir structure date it to the middle Saxon period. Clusters of as-yet undated roundwood posts within the catchment area of the weir are interpreted as the frames for fish traps that are assumed to pre- o…
From Boatyard to Museum: 3D laser scanning and digital modelling of the Qatar Museums watercraft collection, Doha, Qatar
This article presents the results of a project to 3D laser scan and digitally model 14 watercraft from the Qatar Museums collection, comprising a range of regional vessels: most had not been surveyed previously. The project used the resulting point clouds generated 2D naval lines and orthographic records of the vessels in their current condition, and photorealistic 3D digital models for gallery display. This case study provides illustrative examp…
Islamic and Maritime Archaeologies
Sewn boats in the Qatar Museums collection, Doha: Baggāra s and kettuvallam s as records of a western Indian Ocean technological tradition
Vernacular sewn boats from southern Iran and Kerala, India, in the collection of Qatar Museums are documented and their construction described. The Iranian baggāras are unique preservations of sewn boats from the Arabian-Persian Gulf, notable for their previously undocumented keel-garboard sewing technique and extensive use of bitumen coatings. Comparison between individual boats enables conclusions to be drawn about the builders’ conception, as …
Contemporary Wooden Watercraft of the Zanzibar Channel, Tanzania: Type and Technology, Continuity and Innovation
This article documents and presents the range of wooden fishing and cargo-carrying watercraft in use in the contemporary Zanzibar Channel, Tanzania. The work is based on surveys conducted in 2018 on Unguja, the principal island of the Zanzibar archipelago, and in 2019–2020 in Bagamoyo, mainland Tanzania, and its immediate environs. The authors present a broad typology of the principal wooden vessel types in the form of 3D photogrammetric models, …
Building a Ngalawa Double-Outrigger Logboat in Bagamoyo, Tanzania: A Craftsman at his Work
This article documents master logboat-builder Alalae Mohamed’s construction of a ngalawa fishing vessel in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The ngalawa is an extended logboat with double outrigger and lateen sail used by low-income, artisanal fishers. It is the most common marine vessel type of the East African coast. This article follows the construction process from Alalae’s selection and the felling of the tree(s) to the launching of the vessel. It outline…
When the ‘Asset’ Is Livelihood: Making Heritage with the Maritime Practitioners of Bagamoyo, Tanzania
This paper examines the dilemmas, obligations and opportunities faced by heritage professionals in elaborating cultural ‘assets’ among the breadwinning practices of contemporary, artisanal communities. It takes as its case study the authors’ Bahari Yetu, Urithi Wetu (‘Our Ocean, Our Heritage’) project and its engagement with maritime practitioners in and around the town of Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The article identifies Bagamoyo’s contemporary maritim…
Names of Contemporary Wooden Boats of Coastal East Africa: Origins and Meanings
The coast of eastern Africa, commonly referred to as the Swahili coast, has a rich artisanal heritage of boats — both in their building and use. This iconic history is marked by the presence of various boat types that have historically been used for fishing and transporting people and cargo between coastal settlements (of eastern Africa), the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, Comoros, Madagascar, and other distant parts of the Indian Ocean world…
Ship graffiti at the Zanzibar Gereza (Old Fort), Stone Town, Unguja, Tanzania
A number of graffiti of ships are to be found engraved into the plaster of the Gereza (Old Fort) of Stone Town on Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania. Most of those reported here appear on the ramparts of the southwestern tower, while some are on the western face of the main partition wall separating the western and eastern wards. Although sometimes sketchy, the images suggest a number of vessel types, including a frigat…
The Mondal Family Build a Chhot: A Vanishing Boat Type in the Bengali ‘Stapling’ Tradition, West Bengal, India
Reflections on a Strategy of ‘Mixed’ Hull Construction – The Case of a Ngwanda , Zanzibar, Tanzania
This article explores the idea of ‘mixed’ construction in wooden boatbuilding through the building of a plank-built ngwanda of Zanzibar, Tanzania. This nebulous notion is the product of a longstanding polarity that largely characterises wooden hulls as ‘shell-built’, ‘frame-built’, or something in-between. We trace how our builder, Fundi Hamdan, planned his hull, then varied his dependence on framing and planking as determinant of hull shape. Whi…
Localizing Heritage: Archaeologies of the Recent Past in Postwar Jaffna, Sri Lanka
The role of archaeology in divisive nationalism, colonial supremacism, and the marginalization of subaltern groups is increasingly evident globally. Such legacies are visible in Sri Lanka, not least in its north and east, where many regard archaeology as either irrelevant or as a weapon directed against them. We outline the genesis of a UK-Sri Lankan project that responds to this situation and focus on a workshop held in Jaffna with University of…
Kachchhi-Gujarati navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: An intangible knowledge system, charted
This article offers a detailed analysis of a Kachchhi-Gujarati manuscript chart of the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden dating probably from the eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries and held at the Royal Geographical Society–Institute of British Geographers in London (mr Asia S.4.). The origins and possible dating of the manuscript are examined. Astronomical data inscribed on the chart, establishing latitude and providing sailing directions,…
Global Maritime and Colonial Histories (15 works) · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology (15 works) · Geography (13 works) · Archaeology (11 works) · History (10 works) · History (9 works) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (7 works) · Ancient history (6 works) · Art (6 works) · Islam (6 works)