Page 38 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

28 Arabian Studies IV
Dates and origins of the Samahij houses
Of the three houses, the southernmost, known after its original
owner as Bayt Muhammad b. $aqar al-Jalahimah, is the earliest,
built in 1881: it is now said to be the property of ‘Abd al-Rahman
A1 Nani. The next in order of antiquity, to the north, is known as
Bayt Shahln b. $aqar al-Jalahimah after its original owner and it
was built in 1890. It is now the property of one al-Mad!fa\ The
northernmost house, Bayt al-Mu’ayyad, is known after its present
owner, Yusuf al-Mu’ayyad, and it was built in 1895 by ‘All b.
$aqar, presumably also a member of the al-Jalahimah family. I
assume that this family was descended from al-‘Utub tribal
confederation which seized al-Bahrayn in the late 18th century and
of which the al-Jalahimah were a branch. Al-‘Utub had settled in
Qatar in 1766, expelling the Persians from al-Bahrayn in 1783: the
way was led by A1 Khallfah who were subsequently followed by
al-Jalahimah. Thereafter, al-Jalahimah branch of al-‘Utub engaged
in piracy and eventually became a serious problem for A1 Khallfah.
However, by the late nineteenth century, an al-Jalahimah presence
at Samahij was either accepted or tolerated by the rulers of
al-Bahrayn, or at least, so suggests the existence of the al-
Jalahimah group of houses.2

Building materials
Each of the al-Jalahimah houses at Samahij is constructed with the
main building material of the Arabian coastal regions, coral
aggregate. In both eastern and western Arabia, the term hajar
al-bafrr or hajar bafrr is used for this material: other terms used in
the Gulf are firsh, employed to describe a flat stone of coral
aggregate used in the foundation of a building, and used to
describe a large block of coral aggregate.3 The exterior and interior
surfaces of the Samahij houses are finished with fine plaster, which
is also used for decoration. The walls of the houses thus
constructed are reinforced with wooden beams, while the roofing is
made with wooden beams overlaid with a mesh of thin wooden
slats and finished above with coral aggregate and plaster. The
width of the rooms thus roofed is dictated by the average length of
the beams employed, 3.5 metres. Although a similar type of roofing
is employed throughout Central Arabia where mud replaces coral
aggregate, that on the east coast is superior in craftsmanship.
Arabian Ithl (tamarisk) is used on the cast coast, but people from
the Gulf coast have assured me that wood for traditional buildings
in eastern Arabia used to be imported from India. I have been told