Arwad Island

The boatman, taking us from Tartous’s marina to Arwad Island, laughed when I asked him: “Can we reach Arwad with these high waves? he said: “If these are high waves, what did you leave for the real waves!? My colleague, the photographer, and I, rushed inside the cabin of the boat which began bouncing up and down, swerving right and left until we landed at Arwad’s marina where there were dozens of boats and ships calmly perching. From Tartous, Arwad seemed like a giant seagull lurching over the sea. Here, there is Phoenician Arwad, hugging us, alluring us into its lap and motivating our sense of curiosity to ask ourselves: Where did our ancestors bring these giant stones from? How did they shape them to build the wall that protected them and their island from invaders, conquerors and even from the raging sea? What was their knowledge about architecture and engineering ? How did they build their well known ships to link them with the world? Arwad is not a bustling island. It is serene, very familiar with its wall, castle and crowded houses.

The island inherited its physical landscape from its original builders who shaped it in accordance with their nature, to be copied later on the faces of its inhabitants who, when they recognized us as journalists ,advanced to offer every help they could give. In Arwad we moved from one point to another to explore not only the island, but the Arwadi man, with his civilized manners, courtesy and hospitality. Ancient people of Arwad Since the first group of people landed in Arwad, they resorted to ship building as a profession, still no.  business in the Island.

People told us about a Yugoslav naval engineer who visited Arwad to make a research about Arwadi handcrafts, known all over the world. The Yugoslav engineer expected to see large workshops and heavy machines. Instead he found that a single Arwadi can build his boat on his own, without a schema.He is the carpenter, the mechanic, the electrician and even the painter. At the end, the Yugoslav left Arwad with many miniscale models to use them as examples in his country. By the way, Arwadis export their products to Cyprus, Lebanon, Libya and Saudi Arabia, and boast that their distinguished boats are known all over the world. Living with boats is the main skill of the Arwadi . He spends all his life either on board, faring the seas or at the sea side building a boat.

Nowadays Arwadis plan, with the help of the state, to develop this skill, and to work collectively, so that they can build larger and more vessels for export. A Journey into History Every stone around the island reminds us of our forefathers. Each item is a souvenir that says here they were, and haunts our minds with dozens of questions and series of surprises. How did they gather their advanced knowledge? How did they build such building? The island stands erect in the sea, three miles to the west of Tartous. It was a big rock of 20 acres area surrounded by water. and in Tell EL-Amarneh boards, the annals of the Assyrian kings and Ugariti texts. Arwad was the most important city in the Phoenician Kingdom, which flourished in the second millennium B.C. and extended beyond the northern river (Alkabir Alshamali) south of Lattakia. It had economic relations with Kingdoms beyond the Euphrates River. In 64 B.C. it was called the crimson port, and during the Byzantine period it became part of Greater Phoenicia, the fourth region of Antioch’s patriarchal Syria under the Byzantine Empire.

It was later conquered by Junada Bin Umayya, a Moslem leader. Arwad was a target for many invasions, so was its commercial fleet. After the destruction of Ugarit by invaders from Aegia and the Black Sea countries, Arwad rose to prominence to flourish in the 14th-18th centuries B.C., during which it had a mandate over coastal and mountainous cities like Cyano, Mukas and Jabala (now Jableh) along the Syrian coast. The Castle In the center of Arwad stands the ancient castle looking proudly at Tartous. Its gate is ornamented with designs engraved at the frontal arch. Its large rectangular courtyard is surrounded by rooms with wide corridors. Water cisterns dug in the rocks to collect rain water.Watch towers look all round the island to help detect incomers deep in the sea. One of the towers is now used as a lighthouse. Some rooms have been used as a museum to ehhibit ancient discoveries, old apparatuses pertinent to navigation, fishing, ship building, old naval guns, lead bell, a converted funnel, some statues and clay pipes that carried fresh water from Amrit river. During the French occupation in Syria, 1920-1946 , the castle was used as a prison where French authorities used to confine activists and leaders of the Syrian resistance.

The most important parts of Arwad are the royal pool and the moat. The royal pool is 5000 years old. It was dug in the western part of the island, and was designed to keep water at a certain fixed level through man-made holes that allowed sea water to get in and out at the same quantities. The pool was surrounded by high walls of large stones to prevent water from pouring into the pool when the waves get high. The pool still keeps water to this date and it is open to any visitor.

Another wonder, which was discovered only after the municipality tried to build a road around the island , is the moat of the pier. Studies said the moat’s design is as unique as that of the Pyramids. It is made of a levelled platform, a deep moat and then the main pier. The platform receives the main thrust of the wave , allows it to fall down into the moat, and then to shrink at the main pier moderately with fading effect. A design that surprised naval engineers and architects as well. Now let us scrutinize the present. Marine life in Arwad pushed people to work hard, to make maximum use of the sea, since it is their main source of living. Here we have to say that all the Arwadis, children and adults, males and females are good swimmers even in adverse weather drowned. Many tales can be told about Arwadi sailors who could swim for several days to reach Arwad safe and sound. Sea faring is a common hobby among Arwadis. For them the sea is an obsession. They eat from the sea, mummify its creatures, and change its mother of pearl into items of art.

Women excel in making fish- ing nets and in cooking the “Sayadiya“ (cooked rice with fish) and the “Hot Fish“ (fish roasted with chili, pepper , pine nuts and tomato paste). “Hot fish“ was our favorite meal for lunch. When the plates arrived at the table, good smell spread inviting us to an uncompromised pleasure, a specialty of Arwad. I met Abou Safwan, a man who spent all his life building boats. He was singing some lyrics of “Abdul Wahab“ . Despite the burden of the long one hundred years over his shoulders, he walks, eats and enjoys good health and sharp memory that helps him to remember minute details of the past events, stressing the fact that fish and fresh air, coming straight from the sea, made him live longer. Abou Safwan says: “Wherever you go all over the world, you meet Arwadis: captains, sailors, mechanics,…etc. We have a flotilla of 400 boats of international standards, a source of attraction to our island“.The mayor of Arwad told us that in winter, Arwad accommodates20000 inhabitants. In summer the number doubles with other several thousands visiting the island daily . “To receive this large number of visitors certain measures should be taken,” the mayor said. “Visitors spread all around the island, consume double the average need of the island inhabitants of food and beverages. The municipality worked hard to open a road of 2 km long west of the island ,to allow visitors have a look at all the island, since it was difficult to reach that part of it. There they discovered the pier and the pool. “We look forward to building hotels, restaurants and other facilities to accommodate visitors. Therefore, we would welcome Arab and Foreign investors,” the mayor added. Nearest to Arwad ,there is a smaller island locally called “Alnamel Island“. It is large enough to become an integrated tourist resort.

Arwad is a generous island, gives you pleasure and takes you back into ancient history. When you sip tea or coffee in its cafeterias or restaurants, listen to the waves hushing or roaring and watch sea gulls bustling around, you feel you are in a fantasy world. Departure: When we left Arwad’s marina the red golden disk of the sun was setting behind us, plunging behind the horizon. Sea gulls were cruising the sea above us. Arwadis, with smiles and waving hands were saying good bye to us. At that moment I remembered the Arwadi poet “Abdul Aziz Dukmak“ and all his poems about Arwad , mingling man and the sea in one unity ,and the great Syrian novelist “Hanna Mineh“ and his novel “The Sail”, describing boats coming from faraway ,wrestling with the waves, in the middle of the storm, to reach the island safe.

Haifaa Mafalani