Asbjorn Damhus

Thor Heyerdahl: The Tigris Expedition

Thor Heyerdahl

Thor Heyerdahl, Norman Baker

In 1977, Thor Heyerdahl built a reed boat, the Tigris (the name for the Tiger in Latin), whose task was to demonstrate that trade and migration contacts could exist between Mesopotamia and Indian civilization as represented by modern Pakistan. The Tigris was built in Iraq and set sail with an international crew of 11 on board across the Persian Gulf to Pakistan, and from there to the Red Sea. After about five months of sailing, the Tigris, which retained its seaworthiness, was burned in Djibouti on April 3, 1978 in protest against the wars that erupted in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.