Islamic antiquities

As with the pre-Islamic antiquities, the first phase necessarily involves identification of the antiquities most threatened, either by deterioration or by the risk of destruction through natural or human agency, and then setting in motion measures to counteract these hazards. Only later can a comprehensive survey and record be made of every antiquity worth listing in the wadi, followed by the systematic conservation and presentation, in order of importance, of all the monuments.

The following examples have been selected as representative of the types of antiquities which need protection and conservation in the wadi.

The old walled city of Shibam

In the decades before the formation of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, Shibam did not experience the wealth and expansion of Sai'un and Tarim. This is one of the reasons why it has remained relatively unchanged, the other being the tight knit, ultra-conservative way of life within the city walls.

It is probable that the traditional way of life is so closely allied to the environmental framework that the survival of both can be mutually supported as a complete 'structural' pattern. There may even be a tendency for it to be self-regenerating, so that gaps in the environmental system will be reconstructed in an adjusted version of the traditional pattern. (Evidence for this may be found in the old city of Cairo and in the urban centres of other medieval Islamic cities, into which motor vehicles, with their devastating effects, have not been able to penetrate very far.)

The increasing poverty in modern times primarily affected three classes of people. The farm workers, who traditionally lived in the town and farmed the land outside it, were unable to make as good a living as they had earlier. The building workers and craftsmen were affected by the decline in private expenditure, so that they were often unemployed. The third category was that of building and street cleaners. The increasingly low incomes of these people were paralleled by greatly increased food and building costs. The results of this poverty are attested, first, in the thirty-odd houses (out of approximately five hundred within the city) that are in a ruinous condition because their owners were unable over a long period to afford to maintain them, and second, in the far larger number of houses now showing signs of neglect, together with the decayed and collapsing parts of the city wall.

The following are some aspects of the conservation of the old city of Shibam.

Damage by flooding. Over the centuries, the city has been continuously exposed to damage by flash floods. Historically, this was dealt with by the creation of an elaborate system of dams and diversion barrages, extending back up into the surrounding tributary wadis. Over the ages this system has deteriorated, partly because some of the dams and diversion banks have broken and been inadequately repaired, and partly because the whole system has silted up until the ground level behind the barriers is now 3-5 m higher than it was intended to be to accommodate the peak levels of flood water.

For these reasons, the design of a new system of damming and diversion to protect the city has already been undertaken by Unesco, as part of the international campaign, and an early step in the conservation of the city (when funds are available) will be the implementation of this work.

The wall of the old city. Lack of maintenance of the stretch of city wall below each house belonging to an impoverished worker, or below a deserted house, had led to extensive decay of a corresponding stretch of the city wall, even when neighbouring stretches of the wall, in front of wealthier houses, were well maintained. This was aggravated by the floodings of 1976 and 1982, which undermined those sections of wall that were already weak.

The wall has been placed under further stress because of the poor system of drainage outwards through the wall from the nearest houses. In some cases there has been seepage behind the wall and in other cases nitrates and chlorides have attacked the base of the wall on the outside. Once cracking began the problem was further aggravated; the pipes were frequently pulled apart as the wall moved and seepage became much worse.

Not all the city wall has to be rebuilt. Some of it is substantially constructed in stone set in ramad or cement and seems well tied back into the ground behind. Approximately three-quarters of the city wall needs to be completely rebuilt with a substantial waterproofed section of stone below and an upper part of clay, both sections tied back into the ground behind by cross walls at regular intervals.

Inadequate drainage of sewage. The present system of open drains running, in the centre of the city, into an inadequate circuit of underground pipes and, on the outside of the city, outwards through the walls, is a major cause of deterioration of the house foundations and the city wall. One of the first targets of the conservation programme will be the installation of a permanent drainage system, together with a system for the removal of surface storm water from the old city. As it is important not to excavate into the ground more often than is necessary, in order to reduce the movement of the foundations of the houses to a minimum, it will be necessary to integrate the laying of all other services at the same time, i.e. electricity, telephone lines, and communal television aerial cable.

Solid sewage disposal. The traditional 'long-drop' lavatory is a very sensible one, as it is clean and odourless within the house and dispenses with the need for large quantities of water, always a precious commodity in the wadi. It has the disadvantage, however, that the solid waste lies exposed at the bottom of the vertical shaft until it is collected. It was traditionally the custom to cover the solid waste with ash twice a day, and to screen the mouth of the opening with a fly-proof cotton mesh, but the maintenance of this system has to some extent lapsed in the last few years. A method of retaining some aspects of the traditional system, while improving its hygiene and utility to the community, has to be investigated and implemented.

Houses. It is planned to conserve all the houses in their original external appearance, or in that of twenty years ago, before pipes and electric wiring disfigured the exteriors. This conservation may be achieved either by the government repairing and conserving the buildings directly, or by grants-in-aid and loans being made available to the owners and/or tenants for specific works, further grants-in-aid or loans to be given only when those are complete. Experience in other countries has suggested that the second method will prove far cheaper and more satisfactory.

The interiors of the houses will be repaired or conserved at the expense and discretion of the owners, with the exception of a small number of houses which will be selected as 'national treasures' and conserved internally under expert supervision in their original state. It is intended that the latter should be accessible to the public, and will be furnished as 'museums of traditional culture', at least in part.

While no external changes would normally be permitted within the old city, the conservation commission will consider each application to make internal changes on its merits. It is hoped that permitting this future flexibility will help to maintain the vital spirit of the community, so that people do not feel stultified because they are living in a conservation zone. The preservation of the daily life of the people is an essential aim of the conservation programme.

Considering the practical problems of conservation, deterioration of the houses takes place in six principal ways:

1. The earth/straw plaster over the external brickwork is not being replastered once it has begun to decay; it should usually be done after twenty-five to thirty years of life, or after signs of damage have appeared following exceptionally heavy rains. If this repair is not carried out, then the plaster begins to break up because the soluble clays have been washed out of it and it rapidly falls away, exposing the earth brickwork of the wall to the weather.

2. The lime/ramàd protection of the roofs and parapets is not maintained during the early years of its life, when any hair- cracks must be painted over annually with lime to seal them.

3. The lime/ramad protection of the roofs and parapets is not replaced once it has begun to develop cracks and blisters, which usually takes place after about fifty years of life, according to the builders of Shibam. If this repair is not carried out, water can enter the earth/straw brick walls at the top, dissolving the clay that gives them strength, entering the ceiling beams from above and rotting them, and so on.

4. The lime/ramàd dado at street level is not replaced either. Its decay is usually more rapid at this level than on the roof, so that it may need replacing much more often. One of the reasons for this rapid decay is attack from the nitrates and chlorides in animal and human soil.

5. The main foundations may settle, resulting in serious cracking of the main fabric of the building. This is caused either by the outer wall of the city cracking or collapsing or, more often, by water in the clayey ground undermining the foundations, or by acids formed by the nitrates and chlorides in human and animal sewage leaching down through the ground to attack the lime which bonds the stone foundations together. Hence both types of major cracking of the buildings are caused largely by the same things-inadequate removal of human sewage, leaking water supplies and inadequate storm-water drainage.

6. Wooden parts of the house may be attacked by termites or rot. The former, termite attack, is uncommon if good wood is used, but frequent where cheaper wood is employed. The latter, damp rot, is found where water has been able to penetrate. In general, some repair of ceiling beams is necessary every twenty years. External windows and doors may need replacing after fifty years if they are in good wood, but after as little as fifteen years if they are made of poor-quality wood. As indicated above, some twenty-five houses, out of approximately five hundred within the city, are in a ruinous condition, many because their owners were unable over a long period to afford to maintain them. A far larger number of houses (close to fifty) are now showing serious signs of neglect and call for urgent maintenance if they are not to deteriorate rapidly. Furthermore, at least half of all the houses have not been repaired during the past decade because of the inability of their owners to cope with the extraordinarily rapid increase in building costs; they now require attention or the number of major repairs necessary will increase sharply. Approximately ten of the houses need urgent buttressing to prevent their collapse.

The first step in the conservation of the houses will be to keep standing those which are in danger of collapse. For this purpose a structural engineer with particular experience in saving tall masonry buildings has studied these buildings, about twenty-five in number, and the collapsed sections of the city walls. In consultation with the structural engineer, a conservation engineer working with architects will have to prepare a schedule of urgent works, including underpinning, buttressing, rebuilding parts of structures, introducing new wooden beams, and replastering walls, plinths, roofs and parapets. The second phase, the conservation of the whole of the built fabric, involves first a detailed survey of every building, with the preparation of measured drawings wherever necessary, the selection of the most historic or important buildings to be fully conserved as 'house museums'. At the same time, an architectural and structural survey of the city wall must be prepared. Third, a detailed study should be made of all the technical aspects of conservation, from prevention of termite attack to the most satisfactory building technologies. In order to reduce the future maintenance of the buildings to a minimum, it is important that the earth raw material, the bricks and the plaster should be thoroughly analyzed. Possible modifications in the technology can then be considered in the light of modern knowledge of the chemical breakdown and deterioration of earth building materials. Fourth, attention will have to be given to the best means of achieving conservation, from financing and public relations to the provision of the necessary skilled labour force-which will certainly involve special training programmes.

Mosques. All the mosques are in need of repair and maintenance. One mosque-madrasah, that of Harah, dated A.H. 1279/80 (1862- 64), has fallen into complete ruin. This mosque fell into disuse after the modern school was built in the opposite corner of the city. The upper storeys and rooms for students were neglected and at last the roof fell in, damaging the mosque on the ground floor at such a rate that it ceased to be used; eventually its ceiling caved in as well.

There is evidence of many kinds of occupation. The oldest is pre-Islamic, with a number of surviving fragments of inscriptions lying around on the site and a great deal of architectural ornament in fine-cut stones. There was apparently a temple, from which some of this material came, on the western edge of the Jebel. There seems to be a concentration of fragments of the inscriptions and of the ornament of the north side of the temple site.

Although this building is now only a shell, it retains its doors, windows and columns, and might be restored without excessive expenditure. Clearly a new communal use could be found for the madrasah on the upper level, although this would need consultation with, and the co-operation of, the awqaf authorities. The students' rooms, in the adjoining building on the corner of the city, could presumably be converted for use as a separate private house or utilized for some other purpose.

Preliminary plan of action and estimates of cost

Phase 1:1983-84	Yemeni dinars
1. Installation of underground services in one co-ordinated operation: sewerage drains, storm-water drains, water supply, electricity, telephone and television aerial wiring (estimated 9 months)	2,000,000
2. Construction of a stronger, permanent city wall (estimated 12 months)	1,500,000
3. Construction of (a) a new diversion dam and (b) a new diversion channel to the north of the city (estimated 21 months)	1,000,000
4. Installation of sewage disposal system for each house (estimated 6 months)	750,000
5. Conservation of the most seriously damaged buildings; demolition and reconstruction as necessary (estimated 18 months)	1,125,000
6. Rebuilding of demolished houses, barracks on the corners of the city wall, and the mosque of Harah	1,875,000

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