Qasr-al-‘Ishshah

Tarim, Yemen

Coordinates: 16.055367, 49.000065

Nearby Places

• Al-Muhdhar Mosque 0.12 Km SW (229°)
• Tarim, city of Prophets and Saints 0.66 Km NE (67°)
• Tomb of Hz. Abdallah ibn Alawi al-Haddad رحمة الله عليه‎ 0.79 Km SW (233°)

The complex of ‘Umar bin Shaikh al-Kaf, Qasr al-‘Ishshah is one of the original al-Kaf houses in Tarim.

Qasr al-‘Ishshah exhibits some of the finest examples of lime plaster decoration in Tarim. The decorative program of the exterior south façade finds its antecedents in Mughal royal architecture and the colonial forms of the Near East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Interior stucco decoration differs from room to room, including Art Nouveau, Rococo, Neo-Classical, and combinations of the three. The ornamentation often incorporates pilasters along the walls framing openings, built-in cabinetry with skilled wood carvings, elaborate column capitals, decorated ceilings, niches, and kerosene lamp holders, as well as complex color schemes.

From 1970 to 1991, Qasr al-‘Ishshah was confiscated by the PDRY and divided up as multi-family housing. The house was recently returned to the al-Kaf family, and legal ownership rights are shared amongst many of Shaikh al-Kaf’s descendants. In 1997, the Historical Society for the Preservation of Tarim rented half of the house to present the building to the public as a house museum, the only one of its kind in the Hadhramaut.