Yemen’s mud-brick palace ‘at risk of collapse’ 

Yemen’s iconic Seiyun Palace, one of the world’s largest surviving mud-brick structures, is at risk of collapse after heavy rains and years of neglect amid the ongoing war in the country.

The 19th-century palace is known formally as Sultan Al-Kathiri Palace and is named after the British-allied sultan who lived there. It was originally a fort but the palace was finished in the 1920s when the central Hadhramout region in which it is located was part of the British protectorate of Aden. It is featured on Yemen’s 1,000 riyal banknote.

New 1000 #Yemen-i Riyal bill, issued in 2017 as illustrated. pic.twitter.com/TrxIh58XjL

— Abdulkarim Alharazi 🇾🇪🇵🇸 (@karimharazi) January 17, 2017

However, the seven-storey building, which became a museum in the 1980s, is at risk of collapsing, according to an engineer who specialises in restoring historic buildings. “There is damage to the base of the structure, the walls, the roofs, and it needs to be fixed and then routinely maintained,” Abdullah Barmada told AFP.

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The provincial head of the department of antiquities and museums, Hussein Aidarous, is quoted by AFP as saying that the Seiyun is one of the most important mud-brick buildings in Yemen and maybe even the whole Arabian Peninsula.

The Seiyun Palace in Yemen, one of the largest mud buildings in the world, faces the risk of collapse due to torrential rains and years of neglect, becoming another of Yemen's threatened landmarks in the war-torn country.

# Yemen Future pic.twitter.com/bBwZl81VOn

— Suaad Al Salahi (@SuaadS) October 16, 2020

The palace is the latest Yemeni heritage site at risk from floods which have killed many local people. Extreme weather conditions have also damaged the mud-brick “sky-scrapers” in the nearby 16th century Old City of Shibam, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site known as the “Manhattan of the desert”.

In the city of Taiz, the National Museum which was recently renovated and once served as an Ottoman palace, collapsed due to heavy rains. It had also faced bombardments in the ongoing fighting between Houthi forces and those with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government-in-exile, as well as looting.

Several 11th century tower houses in the Old City of the capital Sanaa have also collapsed due to flooding. Some had been damaged by Saudi-led coalition air strikes.

The director of the Seiyun Palace Museum, Said Baychout, said that precious artefacts from the palace including Stone Age tombstones, Bronze Age statues and pottery has been hidden since 2014 due to fears of looting, pillaging and damage. That is when the Houthi and allied forces in the army took control of Sanaa.

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