In the 7th and 8th centuries AD, Arabs, inspired by their new religion, Islam, repeatedly attacked Byzantine ports. Substantial changes in ship construction began to appear in the eastern Mediterranean, due in part, historians suspect, to exposure to Arab ships and seafarers. One such change was the adoption of lateen sails, previously used on Roman coastal vessels, but later seen on Arab sailing ships called dhows. Triangular in shape, lateen sails enabled a vessel to sail almost directly into the wind-a feat not possible with square sails. Byzantine dromons appeared with Arab-influenced lateen rigging by the 6th century, and by the 9th century the square sail had all but disappeared in the Mediterranean and farther south.
Shipbuilding techniques also changed in this period. Instead of building with the traditional shell-first construction, in which the builder joins planks tightly with fasteners to form the ship's hull, shipwrights began building a skeletal framework first, then fixing the planking to the frame. Evidence from an 11th century shipwreck found in present-day Serçe Liman, Turkey, exemplifies the typical changes. This small coastal freighter supported two masts carrying lateen sails, and the frame was clearly constructed first (Lateen-Rigged Ships, Arab ships, Ships in 7th, 8th and 11th century, coastal vessels, Byzantine).
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