Thor Heyerdahl's Tigris expedition

In 1977-78 Rashad was a crew member on Thor Heyerdahl's Tigris expedition, helping to build a large reed boat that travelled from the marshes of Iraq across the Indian Ocean, exploring possible trading links between the Sumerians and other ancient civilisations of the Indus and Nile. This experience sparked his fascination with boats and with unanswered questions about ancient technologies, particularly organic construction techniques that have left no remains.
The Tigris was burned at the end of its voyage (3 April 1978) in protest at conflicts inflaming the region, as a call to “open our eyes and minds to the desperate need of intelligent collaboration to save ourselves and our common civilisation from what we are about to convert into a sinking ship."