Farij al Sili

Farij al Sili

Faraj al Sili, a community on several terraces at the head of Wadi Sha'am, is one of the most stunning sites located near Ras al Khaimah. This community was occupied until a few years ago and there are now signs of individuals moving back into these exquisite stone buildings.

The community features three prominent levels, each with its own mosque and reservoir system. There is a complex of pottery kilns on an industrial scale. Phil has studied one of the houses in detail, the basis of one of his research papers on traditiional housing.

Classic mountain stone house with flat roof and close-fitting stones	Houses amid boulders with the backdrop of a steep mountain face	Wind blown dust has filled one of the grinding stone holes that are present in front of most houses	Even the chicken coops are well built with traditional techniques
Typical complement of buildings: chicken coops (foreground), yanz (storage building rear right) and human shelter (right)	House with overhanging roof	Not uncommon for a house to be built around an exposed boulder	An oven -- tannour oven -- with many layers of mud lining visible
Another view of the oven, located just outside the courtyard of this family's buildings	Stones piled in the doorway to discourage intruders	Brien photographing one of the stone houses	Detail of house construction showing doorway and ventilation holes
Another view of the ventilation holes; some cooking was done inside and smoke was a problem	Doorway (right) and stoop (left)	View of house showing gravel roof to drain rainfall and insulate interior	Another view of this family's complex of houses
This room does not appear to have had a roof; wall is also narrow suggesting animal shelter	Trees were a common feature in each courtyard; note the fine construction on the corner of the house	There is no electrical service to the community; "storm lamps" provided illumination	Storage building (yanz) located on top of one of the boulders
A general view of the courtyard of this family compound (houses, animal pen, chicken coops)	Another view of the same family compound	Another view (moving right to left) of the same family compound	Another view (moving to the left) of the same compound
Still moving to the left, looking down the slope at other houses	A solitary house below the photographed family compound	View from the settlement area down onto the main wadi bed of Wadi Sha'am	Continuing to move to the left, a view of the wadi bed
The track leading to Farij al Sili	Some houses show signs of neglect	Some owners have renovated the old stone houses; this has a fresh coat of sarouj	Last in series of photographs showing 180-degree view from the family compound
Pot sherds are plentiful showing a long period of continuous occupation, ending a generation or less ago	Stone house with stone work not as fine as evident on other buildings	Neglect and time has caused several buildings' roofs to collapse	Part of a storage box?
Note the fine workmanship of the roof	Another view of the precise workmanship of the house roof	One of the doorways leading to a family compound	One this house, the living quarters are on the right, the kitchen the small room extending to the left
It is difficult to imagine how some areas were used	Evidence how one of the substantial building walls (left) have been damaged	A view of the rear (outside exposure) of a house	Another view of the same house
View of the same house from a different vantage point	Looking over the top of a housing unit to the community beyond	Storage building (yanz) with door only partially sealed	An oven where the mud lining has begun to collapse
View of storage building and rear of house, oven located to the left of the photo	Chicken coop?	Roof beams have collapsed in this shelter, roof material (gravel, matting) on the floor	Interior of a home; timbers used as roof beams, not palm trunks
Roof beams are placed very close together	View from interior of doorway	View from interior of sunlight penetrating stone wall	Walls included many small storage niches
Kitchen area with hearth on left, storage niches built into wall, soot-stained rock and ceiling	Another view of the kitchen	Detail of the soot-stained roof beams	View of the kitchen from inside the main house
View from interior through one of the rare windows	Wall peg for hanging valuables	View of ventilation holes in kitchen area	View through door of living area to sheltered "corridor" beyond
Soot-filled are filled the houses making life difficult and posing health problems for women	Broken storage pot	Doorway and roof overhang	Collapsed roof and yanz in distance
Doorway leading to kitchen (left) and living area (right)	Doorway of this low-profile house is packed with stone	Detail of stone-filled doorway	Another example of stone-filled doorway
Roof overhang of this home is exceptional	House showing signs of neglect	Chicken coop?	Typical view of houses and storage buildings
Note the intricate stone work on this yanz	Storage buildings typically built on high ground near house	Detail of beam timber, wall construction and eave	Storage building with partially sealed doorway
Roofline is perfectly flat of Sili houses, compared to 'bait khaimah' we see elsewhere in the mountains	One of the mosques of Sili	Storage building constructed on sloping boulder	Houses and boulders in apparent harmony
Note how the settlement extends up towards base of the escarpment	The settlement of Sili appears to have been occupied until just a few years ago	Tannour oven	Oven (foreground) and storage building behind
View from houses down to some of the terraces that surround the community	Roofline of one house	Foreground is actually roof of a house	View of house (foreground) and animal storage area
Large stones were used in the construction of most houses	Gravel rooftop	Rooftop showing stones that hold eave slabs in place	Doorway with wooden, not stone slab, lintel
Interior of mosque	Interior of mosque with wall storage niche typially to the left of the prayer niche	Detail of wall storage niche; note sarouj plastering of interior	Roof booms arched to provide more headroom
Detail of prayer niche	Detail of roof beams showing excellent condition of the timbers	Neatly constructed steps leading into the mosque	The newly refurbished house
House that has evidently been used as a source of building material	Interior of abandoned house	Open-roof portion of a house	Some of the Islamic pottery on the site; these pots may have been produced in Sili
Fine door, with lock, of cemented house	A rare cemented house	Ventilation holes at base of wall suggest this was summer sleeping area	Detail of ventilation holes at the base of the wall
View from cemented house of yanz and stone house	Yanz (right) and chicken coop	Doors were often recessed up to one meter	Three locks on this door
Metal straps reinforce this old door	Detail of locks and door construction; note old holes evidence of old locking systems	Hand forged nails overlapping the metal strapping of the door	Soot-stained upper part of the door and frame
The low doorway meant individuals would stoop when entering and exiting the house	View of what appears to be an L-shaped house; is actually two family rooms	Hole is roof is first sign of failing roof beams	Another mosque at Sili
Doorway to mosque; note precisely placed stones of foundation	Small niches (for sandals?) in front of mosque; outdoor prayer platform on raised level behind	Mosque (right) and platform	Lower angle view of mosque and platform
House with stoop along front of house, below eave	Lock on door	Another view of lock and repaired door	Another view of door
Doorway with steps and stoop	Brien resting on the stoop; note huge stone lintel for door	View along front of house	Chicken coop?
Retaining wall for one of the terraces; pottery kilns to the right	Terraces with storage buildings in distance	Mud littered around kilns	Mud lining of one of the kilns
Sili kilns are more than a meter wide and several meters deep	Opening at base is where firewood was fed into the kiln	Terracing	One of the wells; note placed stone at left
Another view of the well	Stone over well and small basin	Well (right) and small reservoir (left)	Terracing
The two largest kilns at Sili	Stone wall of kiln	Fireplace hole of kiln	Another view of the kilns
Kilns (foreground) and terracing beyond	Overhead view of the two kilns	Terracing	View down the slope from the kilns
Higher level terracing with houses around perimeter of fields	Walled terracing with storage buildings in background	Impressive pattern of stone walls and stone buildings	Terracing with majestic mountains in background
Terracing	View up from terraces at houses, yanz	Abandoned oven (tannour)	Another view of the oven
Ovens? or just mud-dressed storage niches	Door on floor already littered with collapsed roof	Deadened nails on rear of door	Wooden door more than a meter inside the stone wall of this house
Detail of door	Detail of door	Doorway with soot staining the ceiling of the entranceway	Opening of chicken coop
Flattened stone for rolling bread	Grinding holes were made in stones in courtyards	Grinding stone in relation to house, courtyard	Coin shows relative size of this grinding stone
Another grinding stone	House featuring the deeply recessed doorway	Courtyard of house with deeply recessed doorway	Doorway
Collection of houses in a family compound	Different view of same family compound	View of houses and walls	Rare two-panel doorway
Note ventilation hole below eave on this house	Another house	House with massive door lintel, neat steps, inviting stoop	Placement of these stones a mystery
Houses were dark, cramped, uninviting	Items inside this house difficult to see in darkness	Metal strapping inside this door frame	Vertical strapping strengthening door, horizontal straps holding boards together
Door latch and lock	General view of the door	Magnificent house	Doorway of this house crowded by boulder
Most houses featured the stoop along the front wall suggesting a very social community	Detail of stonework in a wall surrounding summer sleeping area	Path from houses to one of the Sili reservoirs	Lower stretches of the path doubled as falaj
Brien inspecting wood covering reservoir	Spillway to direct overflow into small reservoir	Reservoir covered to prevent animals, windblown debris from falling into water	Clouds hiding the mountain tops
Hinges no longer supporting this door hanging from latch	Worms and/or termites have damaged this door	Doorway, stoop and chicken coop? (right)	View through doorway to thin exterior wall
Steps and neatly placed stones of bench suggest great care taken to prepare courtyards	Tumbling boulder incorporated into building	Rooftop (foreground) and terracing	Rooftop (foreground) and more terracing
Much of the site suggests it was an inhospitable place to live	Buildings disappear into the landscape	Walls used to channel water through the buildings	Walls and courtyard of a house that seems to have been used as a source of building material
Second reservoir	Second reservoir and small mud-lined basin	Another view of reservoir and basin	Different perspective of reservoir and basin
Below the settlement, a modern house and farm	With a little water, crops are plentiful	Another view of the new farm	Metal doors of house nearby showing two flay designs, one UAE, other unknown