Page 50 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

40 Arabian Studies IV
wall decoration consists of rectangular recesses, of which only two
survive, although there were originally three. Finally, the third rank
of the articulation of the wall consists of two great rectangles (and
formerly, I assume, a third to the left, now lost): each of these
rectangles was formerly filled with an ornamental plaster panel
bearing a geometric motif, but all that remains of these is set in the
lower part of the right-hand rectangular recess. The same order of
ranks articulated all the other wall-surfaces of the rectangular
room, and, on other walls, the upper plaster panels sometimes
remain in situ, although many more lie on the floor in fragments.
These panels (Plates 9 and 10), akin to those described on the
exterior walls of Bayt al-Mu’ayyad facing the courtyard, are about
5 cm. thick with their geometric motifs formed by groupings of
rectangular, diamond-shaped or curved incisions into the plaster. It
is possible that these plaster panels were carved, but I strongly
suspect that in fact they were made with moulds which would
account for the repetitive nature of the decorative motifs
employed. Further plaster ornament in the room is in the form of a
small triangular comer-piece at each of the four comers of the
room.
At the southern end of room H and seemingly peculiar to this
room, is the remnant of a balustrade, now largely broken (Plate 7),
south of the door and at right-angles to the eastern wall of the
room. Beyond this, in the south-western comer of the room, there
is a slightly raised rectangular platform. By analogy with a similar
but better preserved balustrade in the house at Darin on the Sa‘udT
island Tarut, known as Manzil Jasim b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, I assume
that the balustrade in Bayt al-Mu’ayyad was intended to divide off
the area where coffee or tea were prepared for inhabitants and
their guests seated in room H. Confirmation of this seems to be
privided by the fact that the balustrade at Darin is decorated with
incised images of the Arabian coffee-pot (dai/a/2).
The upper storey of Bayt al-Mu’ayyad, as I have already
observed, is mostly lost, with the exception of the room above
ground-floor room C, which is still in good condition (Plate 8). The
decoration of the interior is very similar to that of the ground-floor
room H and the other ground-floor rooms, with the same triple tier
of recesses and ornamental plaster panels with geometric motifs.
However, this upper room has rectangular windows in the lowest
of the three ranks of wall-surface articulation, with each window
closed during inclement weather by wooden shutters, some of
which survive. The upper room served the purposes for which the
more enclosed ground-floor rooms were employed during cooler
weather: thus in the height of summer, when humidity and heat

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