Alessandro Ghidoni
Biographic Data
| ID | 4065333 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alessandro Ghidoni |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alessandro |
| FAMILY NAME | Ghidoni |
| SIGNATURE | GHIDONI A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Exeter |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3143-8879 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 15 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
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…
Timber, Fibre, Resin and Cotton: South Asian Materials in Western Indian Ocean Watercraft
Geochemical study of the luting and coating of medieval watercraft from the ship timbers discovered in the citadel of al-Balīd, Oman: Composition and origin
The Wolf: The Last Remnants of the age of Sail in Southern Oman
This article looks at a specific southern Arabian sailing vessel named the Wolf (al-Dhi’b), in order to better understand the life of a coastal trader on the southern Arabian coast that lived in the last days of commercial sail. Vessels such as the Wolf carried local products such as sardines, abalone and frankincense to northern Oman and Yemen, returning with dates and necessary foodstuffs shipped to Aden from India and East Africa. The article …
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…
Sewn-plank construction techniques in the western Indian Ocean: Evidence from the timbers of Al Baleed, Oman
The boat timbers discovered in the Islamic port of Al Baleed in southern Oman constitute a unique collection within the context of the Indian Ocean’s maritime technology between the 10th and 15th centuries AD (Belfioretti, Vosmer 2010). The timbers consist of planks from sewn-boats that have been recycled in the site’s buildings, and include preserved ropes, caulking material and decorative motifs. A study of the remains reveals a variety of form…
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 …
Building Pâris’ Beden Seyad: A replica of the Omani 19th‐century sewn fishing vessel
The beden seyad is a simple yet elegant Omani sewn fishing craft documented by the French naval officer François‐Edmond Pâris during his visit in Oman in 1838–1839. A 10m‐long scaled‐down replica of the vessel was built by a team of experts in a traditional boatyard in Qantab, the Sultanate of Oman, and is displayed in the Maritime History Gallery at the National Museum of Oman. This article describes different aspects of the building process of …
The Battīl and Zārūqah of Musandam, Oman
Most of the traditional boats still in use in Musandam, Oman, are essentially batātīl or zawārīq. Both types of vessel are described and compared in detail and placed within the larger context of boat types found in the surrounding region. This article attempts to establish a classification based primarily on shape, construction and decorative features, and provides names of individual components in both in Arabic and Kumzari
Building Pâris’ Beden Seyad: A replica of the Omani 19th‐century sewn fishing vessel
The beden seyad is a simple yet elegant Omani sewn fishing craft documented by the French naval officer François‐Edmond Pâris during his visit in Oman in 1838–1839. A 10m‐long scaled‐down replica of the vessel was built by a team of experts in a traditional boatyard in Qantab, the Sultanate of Oman, and is displayed in the Maritime History Gallery at the National Museum of Oman. This article describes different aspects of the building process of …
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 …
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 Battīl and Zārūqah of Musandam, Oman
Most of the traditional boats still in use in Musandam, Oman, are essentially batātīl or zawārīq. Both types of vessel are described and compared in detail and placed within the larger context of boat types found in the surrounding region. This article attempts to establish a classification based primarily on shape, construction and decorative features, and provides names of individual components in both in Arabic and Kumzari
The Battīl and Zārūqah of Musandam, Oman
Most of the traditional boats still in use in Musandam, Oman, are essentially batātīl or zawārīq. Both types of vessel are described and compared in detail and placed within the larger context of boat types found in the surrounding region. This article attempts to establish a classification based primarily on shape, construction and decorative features, and provides names of individual components in both in Arabic and Kumzari
Building Pâris’ Beden Seyad: A replica of the Omani 19th‐century sewn fishing vessel
The beden seyad is a simple yet elegant Omani sewn fishing craft documented by the French naval officer François‐Edmond Pâris during his visit in Oman in 1838–1839. A 10m‐long scaled‐down replica of the vessel was built by a team of experts in a traditional boatyard in Qantab, the Sultanate of Oman, and is displayed in the Maritime History Gallery at the National Museum of Oman. This article describes different aspects of the building process of …
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 …
Sewn-plank construction techniques in the western Indian Ocean: Evidence from the timbers of Al Baleed, Oman
The boat timbers discovered in the Islamic port of Al Baleed in southern Oman constitute a unique collection within the context of the Indian Ocean’s maritime technology between the 10th and 15th centuries AD (Belfioretti, Vosmer 2010). The timbers consist of planks from sewn-boats that have been recycled in the site’s buildings, and include preserved ropes, caulking material and decorative motifs. A study of the remains reveals a variety of form…
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, …
The Wolf: The Last Remnants of the age of Sail in Southern Oman
This article looks at a specific southern Arabian sailing vessel named the Wolf (al-Dhi’b), in order to better understand the life of a coastal trader on the southern Arabian coast that lived in the last days of commercial sail. Vessels such as the Wolf carried local products such as sardines, abalone and frankincense to northern Oman and Yemen, returning with dates and necessary foodstuffs shipped to Aden from India and East Africa. The article …
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…
Geochemical study of the luting and coating of medieval watercraft from the ship timbers discovered in the citadel of al-Balīd, Oman: Composition and origin
Timber, Fibre, Resin and Cotton: South Asian Materials in Western Indian Ocean Watercraft
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…
Global Maritime and Colonial Histories (9 works) · Geography (8 works) · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology (8 works) · Archaeology (7 works) · History (5 works) · History (5 works) · Ancient history (3 works) · Engineering (3 works) · Geology (3 works) · Tanzania (3 works)