Recently Abandoned Community Near Ray

Just a few kilometers off the gravel road between Mahdah and Hatta is a small community on top of the gravel plain. Residents of the community abandoned these bait khaimah just a few years ago to move to more modern housing. One of the families that moved has shared their stories with members of the group and we have met young men who were born in these now-abandoned houses.

Phil Iddison of the group wanted to document the community and so we made a special trip to the site on one of Phil's return visits to the UAE. The community was mapped using GPS coordinates and photographs taken of the houses, mosque and oasis.

Within sight of the main road to Hatta is this modern version of the classic bait khaimah (tent house)	The foundation of a house	Close up of the barasti and framing	The view at the bottom of the wadi just below the abandoned village
View down onto the narrow terraces below the abandoned community	General view of the community with empty foundations (left and right) and last standing house (center)	Closeup of entrance to remaining bait khaimah; note combined use of barasti and areesh	Hearth at the foot of a wall
Note the open pattern of the areesh beneath the "blanket" of barasti	The "tent" of this house has collapsed	Likewise the roof of this house is now rotting in the foundation	Phil (left) and Mike Gillett inspecting the construction
Phil and Brigitte inspecting the site	Jerry completing the photographic record	Jerry, Tom Weeks and Brien at the "sheikh's house"	The "sheikh's house" is a complex of three or four separate buildings
Broken pottery (left foreground) litter the site, along with tin cans	Members exploring the many fascinating features of the site	Phil and Brien speculating on life in the community	Helene taking a moment to reflect
The graveyard near the community is small suggesting a brief period of occupation	The "sheikh's house" includes two buildings that had flat roofs and locked doors	Phil and Brien checking the "sheikh's house"	There are more than a dozen individual houses, one mosque and a few animal shelters
One of the larger buildings on the site, perhaps an animal pen	Mike, Jerry and Brien in the well-constructed mosque	The prayer niche	View of the roof beam construction of the last standing house
View from the rear of the last house	It is especially interesting having met one of the families that once lived in this community