National Geographic: The Tigris Expedition (1978)

In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl earned a lasting reputation when he sailed a balsa-log raft named Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia. Later he learned of the more buoyant bardi reed of Iraq. Could the Sumerians have spread their culture in ships made of bardi reed? In November of 1977, Heyerdahl set out to answer this question with The Tigris Expedition. The ship, christened Tigris, began the four-month voyage in Iraq’s legendary Tigris River. It was a journey of 4,200 miles which took Heyerdahl and his crew down the Persian Gulf, across the Arabian sea, to Pakistan and back again, and finally to the entrence of the Red Sea. Navigation of this craft was difficult to learn, and the crew had some anxious moments. They were often at the mercy of winds, rain, and a danger the Sumerians never faced - modern day supertankers. The Tigris Crew spent many harrowing hours dodging these monstrous behemoths. So many nations in the Red Sea area were at war during this period that the expedition could go no further. Heyerdahl and his crew resolved to burn Tigris to protest the arms sales that fuelled the fighting surrounding them, and the “stupidity of war.“ The Tigris Expedition captures haunting, poignant footage of the burning Tigris and her crew wordlessly watching from shore. Produced by Dale Bell Written by Theodore Strauss Narrated by Leslie Nielsen 1978 National Geographic 1988 Stylus Video VHS SV1027