Page 47 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

Bayt al-Mu'ayyad 37
corridor G on the western side. The two staircases to the upper
storey from the courtyard are also symmetrically arranged, with a
staircase west of room E and another west of room F.
The rooms of the northern block have rectangular entrances and
originally, simple wooden doors. Rooms A, B, I and J only have
single entrances which give onto the central courtyard, whereas
rooms E and F have two entrances each, one giving on to the
courtyard and another reached via corridors D and G beneath the
eastern and western staircases, to the upper storey respectively.
Only rooms C and G are not reached directly from the courtyard,
access being via corridors D and G. Except for rooms E and F
which have two entrances, there is no communication between
rooms A, B, C, H, I and J, presumably to ensure the privacy of the
people in each of them.
Of the chambers towards the southern end of the Bayt al-
Mu’ayyad enclosure, only room or pavilion L survives in frag­
ments, entered through a pair of arched entrances (Plate 6): the
rest of the wall surfaces were formed of rectangular piers,
horizontal beams and the area between filled with coral aggregate
and plaster, although most of these panels have collapsed. Other
chambers in the south-western corner of the enclosure (K and M)
are virtually lost, while corresponding structures in the south­
eastern corner are totally ruined. I assume, however, that the
disposition of the rooms in the south-eastern area corresponded to
that of the three chambers identifiable on the south-western side.
As to the purpose of these small rooms away from the main
accommodation chambers at the northern end of the enclosure,
they are too damaged to indicate clearly how they were used, and
no local explanation was forthcoming. I presume that they may
have been servants’ accommodation away from the main building,
or even washing facilities and latrines.

Decoration of Bayt a l-M u ’ayya d
(a) Exterior wall-surfaces. The entire outer surface of the northern
block of Bayt al-Mu’ayyad is coated with yellow-ochre plaster
which adds to the unity created by the consistent decoration of the
surfaces of both the lower and the largely lost upper storeys. The
appearance of the north wall giving on to the street will also serve
to illustrate the decoration of the northern and western surfaces
giving onto the seashore and the outside world (Plate 2). At the
foot of the north wall is a slightly projecting banking about \ metre
high: above this is a series of rectangular piers supporting
round-headed blind arches and an area of plain wall above.