Page 39 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

Bayt al-Mu’ayyad 29
this specifically with regard to the Sa'udI island of Tarut, but by
way of confirmation of the Indian origins of the wood used in Gulf
buildings is the fact that mangrove, sandalwood and teak have all
been imported for building in ‘Uman. Nevertheless, it seems
reasonable to assume that imported wood must always have been
more expensive and used for doors in particular, while cheaper
Arabian Wood would have been embedded as reinforcement in the
coral aggregate walls.

Description of Bayt al-Mu’ayyad
Bayt al-Mu’ayyad (Plate 1) is a rectangular enclosure measuring
55-7X41-4 metres, the longer side parallel to the seashore on a
north-south axis. The greater part of the enclosure is surrounded
by a low coral aggregate wall, which, although ruined, could never
have provided much privacy for the inhabitants of the house in the
great open central courtyard. Although there are the remnants of
several small buildings on the southern side of the courtyard, the
main block, originally in two storeys, lies to the north, built against
the north side and the northern ends of the eastern and western
sides of the enclosure. The only entrance at ground-level into the
enclosure is a broad passage set in the centre of the northern block,
flanked by rooms E and F and vaulted originally by the upper
storey which is now lost. There is also a staircase (danvazah) which
leads from outside the enclosure to an entrance in the north wall at
a height of 2-34 metres, giving access to the landing of the eastern
of two interior staircases which lead to the upper storey. There are
no other designed entrances to Bayt al-Mu’ayyad, but today,
through its dilapidated state, the compound is entered virtually
anywhere the visitor wishes.
A particular aspect of Bayt al-Mu’ayyad is the symmetry of the
disposition of buildings and rooms: this is most clearly discernible
in the arrangement of the northern main block but the disposition
of the ruined structures and piles of rubble in the southern half of
the enclosure suggests that the same symmetry was observed
throughout, with only minor departures.
The northern block, comprising ten separate chambers on the
ground-floor and an unknown number on the upper floor, is
symmetrically organised around the central northern entrance to
the enclosure, with the chambers on the eastern side corresponding
exactly in form, decoration, and conceivably, in purpose, to those
on the western side. Thus, rooms A, B and C against the east side
correspond to rooms J, I and H respectively on the west side: the
corridor D, entered through several arches, corresponds to the