Table Of ContentHouseways in Southern Oman
This book explores how houses are created, maintained and conceptualized
in southern Oman.
Based on long-term research in the Dhofar region, it draws on
anthropology, sociology, urban studies and architectural history. The
chapters consider physical and functional aspects, including regulations
governing land use, factors in siting houses, architectural styles and norms
for interior and exterior decorating. The volume also reflects on cultural
expectations regarding how and when rooms are used and issues such as
safety, privacy, social connectedness and ease of movement. Houses and
residential areas are situated within the fabric of towns, comparison is made
with housing in other countries in the Arabian Peninsula and consideration
is given to notions of the “Islamic city” and the “Islamic house.” The book
is valuable reading for scholars interested in the Middle East and the built
environment.
Marielle Risse is an Associate Professor at Dhofar University in Salalah,
Oman. She has taught literature, education and cultural studies on the
Arabian Peninsula for a number of years and is the author of Foodways in
Southern Oman (Routledge, 2020).
Houseways in Southern Oman
Marielle Risse
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Marielle Risse
The right of Marielle Risse to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 9781032210865 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032218595 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003270317 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003270317
Typeset in Sabon
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
This book is dedicated to my mom for all the flowers, to Sara
for all the chats, to Anthony for all the positivity and to the
people of Oman for making me feel “at home.”
Contents
Preface viii
Acknowledgments xi
1 Overview 1
2 Geographical and historical considerations 44
3 Creating modern houses 85
4 The physical house 102
5 Cultural understandings of houses 123
6 Being “at home” outside of the home 146
7 Situating and comparing Dhofari houses 167
8 Privacy and houses 196
Index 221
Preface
Marielle Risse
I once started crying because a light bulb blew out in the living room of
my house in the southern Dhofar region of Oman. From long experience I
knew there were even 20% chances that the problem was the bulb, the lamp,
the adapter, the extension cord and the socket. And I knew that fixing the
problem might be two minutes (put in new bulb) or two days (get socket re-
wired). I couldn’t take an intellectual approach to the problem as I sobbed on
the sofa, remembering the previous time a bulb blew and I put in a new one,
which immediately blew out as well. Then I had to carry the lamp to another
room with extra bulbs, cords and adapters to try to figure out the problem,
an hour of sorting out what was wrong accompanied by a lot of cussing.
With time, I can see how each element is connected to the larger theme
of housing. I had a lamp because, like most Dhofari houses, all the rooms
were lit by long florescent tubes and I wanted less harsh lighting. I needed an
adapter because all wall sockets are built for three-prong outlets and most
appliances have only two prongs so either you stick something into the wall
socket to disable safety wire (not a great idea) or you use adapters. I needed
the extension cord because most rooms have only one outlet or the outlet is
at shoulder height. And as for the socket, sometimes sockets stop working
when the electricity goes out. This happens four to five times a year, usu-
ally because someone in the neighborhood has turned off the power to fix a
problem or has accidentally cut a power line.
These are the kinds of details that I write about, which aren’t found in
other books about houses on the Arabian Peninsula. This isn’t a fault of
other writers; it’s good for writers to take differing approaches, and my
style is influenced by my background in travel writing, which always high-
lights the writer in the context of the place that is being described. When I
read political science and architecture texts about the Arabian Peninsula, I
always wonder: what does the author think about this and where are the
opinions of the people who live here?
This book has three basic components: nuts and bolts descriptions of
houses, a discussion of the cultural aspects such as who goes into which
room when and how houses fit within cityscapes. These three sets of facts are
interwoven with quotes from my Dhofari informants, as well as insights and
Preface ix
anecdotes about how it feels to live in Dhofar from my expat stories. There
is basic information, such as most floors are tiled, and details about what
this means: it is terrifying to hear a piece of ice drop to the floor, for a small
pool of water is impossible to see and water plus slippery tile equals danger.
I give some of my rules for living in Dhofar such as “during a rain-storm,
don’t start moving furniture until you see which windows are leaking.” I
made up this rule after a hurricane was moving in from the west so I moved
everything out of the living room with western windows, only to have the
water come in the eastern windows ruining two carpets. I include how
houses are integrated with the natural world: stray camels eating their way
through my garden, lizards practicing their mating calls at 2 am, ants invad-
ing my kitchen and grackles nesting in the air conditioner covers.
I also explain my informants’ struggles with building and furnishing their
houses: the joy of re-decorating a mother’s room and the pain of realizing
your new husband has decorated the bedroom in your least favorite color.
The joy of buying good quality frankincense for your mom to burn every
morning and the pain of carpenters who aren’t ready with the furniture on
time.
By chance, I have lived in all four basic types of housing in Salalah, the
main city in the Dhofar region: an apartment and a house built for expats,
as well as an apartment and a house built for Dhofaris so I talk about the
joy of knowing a good plumber and the pain of house builders who start
drilling at 6 am. The joys of living in rooms with high ceilings and graceful
arches; the pain of having paint thinner disposed of by being poured under
my car. There is the thrill of correctly doing an exchange of Ramadan treats
with a neighbor and the sorrow of hearing a marriage end in a series of
1 am fights outside their kitchen door because the couple had nowhere else
to argue as all the rooms in their house had people in them.
My first book on the Dhofar region, Community and Autonomy in
Southern Oman (2019), focused on the lifeways of informants who come
from one group of tribes, known as hakli or qara, who speak the unwritten
Southern Arabian language of Gibali (Jibbali, also known as Shahri/Shehret)
as their first language. The second, Foodways in Southern Oman (2021),
widened my scope to include information about other Dhofaris.1 As I often
can’t tell who owns the house, my focus in this book is again more generally
about Dhofari-Omanis rather than just one group of tribes. As in the other
books, I try to be clear which level I am talking about, e.g. hakli, Dhofaris
who live in the mountains, Dhofaris who live in the main city of Salalah etc.2
I would like to acknowledge that there is an occasional repetition of facts
and citations, as well as the notices of “I will discuss this point further in
Chapter X.” As this book will be sold online by chapter, I needed to men-
tion important references more than once and point out where further infor-
mation could be found for readers who will only have one chapter.
For more information about me and my research, please see Come From
Away, https://mariellerisse .com.
