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Arab. arch. epig. 2005: 16: 183–255 (2005) Printed in Denmark. All rights reserved Bayt Sheikh Suhail bin Hamdan al-Sharqi, al-Fara’, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates: An ethnoarchaeological study (1). Michele C. Ziolkowski & Abdullah Suhail al-Sharqi PO Box 432, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Michele C. Ziolkowski, PO Box 432, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. e-mail: [email protected] Introduction to understanding the relationships of material cul- Archaeologists visiting abandoned houses and set- ture to culture as a whole, both in the living context tlements in western Asia, either consciously or as it enters the archaeological record, and to unconsciously, often make comparisons with the exploiting such understandings in order to inform type of architecture they encounter in excavation. archaeological concepts and to improve interpret- Here we offer a study of one such compound which, ation’ (5). Importantly, the subject and source with the aid of local informants, we are able to cultures should be similar in regard to variables analyse and present with the sort of functional likely to have affected or influenced the materials, explanations which often remain only hypothetical behaviours, states, or processes being compared (6). for archaeologists. This article is based on an Ethnographic field research relies on interviews, ethnoarchaeological study of a late Islamic period observation and interaction, and it also involves compound. Ethnographic information has long been intimate and prolonged association with the people used by researchers in order to have a better being studied (7). understanding of the various cultures or groups of The focus of this article is one of the former houses people. For the archaeologist, ethnoarchaeology is of Sheikh Suhail bin Hamdan al-Sharqi (Fig. 1). The the ethnographic study of living cultures from study of this house is based on ethnographic and archaeological perspectives (2). archaeological information. Ethnographic data was The recognition of a need for ethnographic recorded during a series of interviews with former material on which to base analogies gave rise to inhabitants of the house. These interviews were the sub-discipline, ethnoarchaeology (3). In other conducted between January 20th and May 5th 2003. words, ethnoarchaeology developed in order to The information gathered from these interviews provide better ethnographic analogies to assist in consists of historical, descriptive and anecdotal the interpretation of archaeological data (4). ‘Ethno- details. The archaeological component of this study archaeology is neither a theory nor a method, but a encompasses architectural design, construction research strategy embodying a range of approaches details and material finds (including ceramics and 183 M.C. ZIOLKOWSKI AND A.S. AL-SHARQI Fig. 1. Majlis 3 in the foreground with the main house in the background, facing northwest. various objects). The associated settlement is not for the cultivation of tobacco. Directly in front of part of the main study at al-Fara’; however, it will be the main house (east-southeast) are the remains of briefly reviewed in order to contextualise the main various rock-built enclosures related to the main house. house, and the more recent house of Sheikh Suhail built during the 1960s. East, south, southwest and west of the main house are the remains of the Location and environment associated settlement. The date-palm gardens are GPS (Datum WGS 84): situated southeast of the main house. Located at N25° 80 17.300 the southeastern end of the plain, is a dirt track E56° 140 7.000 over the mountains leading to Fujairah, also The site is located in the emirate of Fujairah, established by Sheikh Suhail. which is situated on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). The house is located in the southern mountains of Fujairah at al-Fara’, near Construction materials and methods (archaeolo- the entrance to the Wadi Furfar (Wad ı al-Furfar) gical and ethnographic information) (Figs 2 and 3). The terrain consists of mountains, According to local sources, the main house was ridges, terraces and wadis. Zizyphus spina-christi constructed around 1950. Bin Shimal, a local family (Ar. sidr), Acacia tortilis (Ar. samr@ ) and Euphorbia living in Kalba and Fujairah, constructed houses in larica (Ar. ‘usbuq) constitute the majority of natural the area, including the house at al-Fara‘ (9). Prior to flora noted at the site (8). The present-day village the construction of Sheikh Suhail’s house at al-Fara’ of Gizemri is located on the eastern side of the he resided in a couple of khaymah type houses wadı. The main/old house of Sheikh Suhail bin located beside the fortified courtyard house of his Hamdan is situated on a prominent rise overlook- brother, Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamdan al-Sharqi, in ing the plain and the wadı bed (Fig. 4). Located on the Wadi al-Hayl (Wad ı al-H@ayl) (Fig. 5) (10). Inter- the plain below the main house to the northeast estingly, the fortified courtyard house at al-Hayl was are a camel racetrack and terraced fields once used also built by the Bin Shimal family (Fig. 6). 184 AN ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY The gabbro/dolerite rocks used in the construc- tion of the main house at al-Fara’ were all locally sourced. Sar@uj noted on the buildings at the site was made locally in the following manner: soil with gravel inclusions was collected from the wadı, sieved, mixed with water and formed into small mounds. These mounds were then sundried, baked, crushed, mixed with water again to form a paste, and applied to the buildings. A softer, less substantial type of sar@uj was also used, which resembled mud plaster. The sun-dried mudbricks were made in Fujairah and brought up to al-Fara’ for use. The gypsum was presumably imported from Iran. Mangrove (Avicennia marina) poles used in the construction were probably traded from East Africa (11) and, quite likely, locally sourced from the Khor Kalba area. Use of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) should not be understated, for much of the construction at al-Fara’ consisted of this important material. Lastly, cement was also used in the construction of certain buildings at al-Fara’. The main courtyard wall The main courtyard wall is roughly square in shape (Table 1) (Fig. 7). It was built with tightly packed mountain rocks, some of which were laid out in a herringbone pattern. The rocks were bound with a soft mud mortar and rubble mix. Various plaster fragments are visible on both the interior and exterior faces of the wall. These include sar@uj (12), lime and sand and cement and sand. Eleven rooms/ features are contained within the courtyard and seven of these are attached to the wall. The four khaymah type houses were not attached to the courtyard wall, in order to allow for the overhang of the roofing materials. The original main entrance door for the courtyard is present at the site but is no longer in situ (Fig. 8). It once comprised a set of large double wooden doors. When these doors were in situ, the door on the right (upon entering) contained a smaller arch-shaped entrance within it. A complete measurement of this door is unobtainable because of its incomplete state. The height of the main door is around 2.33 m and the height of the smaller arched door within the main door is 1 m. According to local Fig. 2. sources, the main entrance was large enough for a Map of the east coast. camel laden with goods to pass through into the courtyard. 185 M.C. ZIOLKOWSKI AND A.S. AL-SHARQI Fig. 3. Khaymah B in the foreground and Wadi Furfar in the background, facing west-northwest. Fig. 4. General view of the main house, facing east-northeast. The main courtyard wall was originally level with height about 2.65 m. During the summer months it the top of the first storey on the courtyard watch- was common for people to sleep out in the courtyard tower, which would have made the original wall space. People would either have slept on the ground 186 AN ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY Fig. 5. Sheikh Suhail’s khaymah type houses in the foreground at Wadi al-Hayl. or on specially constructed sleeping platforms contained a layer of sar@uj /mud plaster. The interior known as sım in Arabic. These sleeping platforms walls were also covered with a second layer of fine were constructed with wood, creating a frame with gypsum plaster. The area between khaymah A (the crossbeams. The top of the platform was then kitchen) and the main courtyard wall had been built covered with bound date-palm branches. During up with a mixture of dirt and rubble (Table 2). the mornings, the women of al-Fara’ would sit on Coffee and tea were made just inside the entrance on the west-northwest face of the tower, in the shade, the right-hand side of the kitchen. The cooking was and in the afternoon they would gather in front of done along the left wall of the room, upon entering the main room. After al-‘asha’ prayer in the evening, into the space. Mountain rocks were set in groups of the people of al-Fara’ would come to visit and three with a fire in between and cooking pots placed congregate in the courtyard of the main house. on top. This type of set-up is known as tarakıb in Arabic. Wood for the fire and dried ‘usbuq (Fig. 11) The khaymah type houses located within the compound: used for starting the fire, were stored along the Khaymah A, the kitchen (Fig. 9) opposite wall. During the hot summer months much The khaymah type houses located within the main of the cooking took place just outside the kitchen courtyard are all semi-subterranean.

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