The complex of ‘Umar bin Shaikh al-Kaf, Qasr al-‘Ishshah is one of the original al-Kaf houses in Tarim. Shaikh al-Kaf built the house on proceeds made in South Asian trade and investment in Singapore’s Grand Hotel de l’Europe during the 1930s. ‘Ishshah derives from the Arabic root ‘-sh-sh meaning to nest, take root, or establish. Qasr al-‘Ishshah is a collection of several buildings constructed over a forty year period. The first building, known as Dar Dawil, was constructed during the 1890s. As Umar’s family grew, so did the size of the complex.
Qasr al-‘Ishshah exhibits some of the finest examples of lime plaster decoration (malas) in Tarim. The decorative program of the exterior south façade finds its antecedents in Mughal royal architecture, as well as 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 expropriated 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 descendents. In 1997, the Historical Society for the Preservation of Tarim rented half of the house in order to present the building to the public as a house museum, the only one of its kind in the Hadhramaut.
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