The mtepe is a boat associated with the Swahili people (the word "boat" in the Bantu Swahili language being ''mtepe''). The mtepe's planks are held together by wooden pegsA.H.J. Prins. "Uncertainties in Coastal Cultural History: The Ngalawa and the Mtepe” ''Tanganyika Notes and Records'' No.55: pp.204-214 and

coir Coir (), also called coconut fibre, is a natural fibre extracted from the outer husk of coconut and used in products such as floor mats, doormats, brushes, and mattresses. Coir is the fibrous material found between the hard, internal shell an ...

, so it is a

sewn boat A sewn boat is a type of wooden boat which is clinker built with its planks sewn, stitched, tied, or bound together with tendons or flexible wood, such as roots and willow branches. Sewn boat construction techniques were used in many parts of the ...

designed to be flexible in contrast to the rigid vessels of western technique.

Extinction

Mtepe on the beach at Zanzibar (about 1890)

The cessation of the production of ''mtepe'' has been ascribed to the arrival of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean in the 15th century, leading to boat builders adopting alternative, western shipbuilding techniques.Robert Marshall Adams B.A.S. ''Construction and Qualitative Analysis of a Sewn Boat of the Western Indian Ocean''. University of Minnesota, 1985.

Preservation

Nearly a dozen photographs and nine known model ''mtepe'' have been preserved. Three models are kept at the Fort Jesus Museum, a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

fort built in 1591 located on

Mombasa Island Mombasa Island is a coral outcrop located on Kenya's coast on the Indian Ocean, which is connected to the mainland by a causeway. Part of the city of Mombasa is located on the island, including the Old Town. History The old town of Mombasa is ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

. One model is kept at the Lamu Museum, north. One model is kept at the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. One model is kept at the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...

, Kensington,

External links

Indigenous Boats: The Mtepes of Kenya
with images

* James Hornell, 1941. "The Sea-Going Mtepe and Dau of the Lamu Archipelago" In: ''Mariner's Mirror'', January 1941. * A.H.J. Prins, 1959."Uncertainties in Coastal Cultural History: The Ngalawa and the Mtepe.” In: ''Tanganyika Notes and Records'' No.55: pp.204-214. * A.H.J. Prins, 1982. “The Mtepe of Lamu, Mombasa and the Zanzibar Sea.” Pp. 85-100. In: ''From Zinj to Zanzibar: Studies in History, Trade and Society on the Eastern Coast of Africa.''(In Honour of James Kirkman). Eds. J. de V. Allen and Thomas H. Wilson. ''Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde'' Vol.28. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag. * A.H.J. Prins, 1986. "Second Case Study: the Mtepe of the Swahili Coast." Pp.64-92. In: Ibid. ,''Handbook of Sewn Boats: The Ethnography and Archaeology of Archaic Plank-Built Craft.'' Maritime Monographs and Reports No.59. Greenwich, London: The National Maritime Museum. *''Arabia to China the Oriental Traditions'', Jeremy Green, in ''The Earliest Ships: The Evolution of Boats Into Ships (Conway's History of the Ship)'',

Naval Institute Press The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is a private non-profit military association that offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds se ...

Extinction

Preservation

See also

External links

Further reading

References

Citations

Notes