<strong>Archaeological teams are hard at work at the historic Qasr Al Hosn palace fort in Abu Dhabi trying to uncover elements of the nation’s hidden past – but there are challenges in the lengthy and delicate process. </strong> Abdul Aziz Elayadath has more than sand to deal with as he reveals the buried layers of Qasr Al Hosn’s past. Mr Elayadath is part of the archaeological team from the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Cultural Authority excavating the inner north-east corner of Abu Dhabi’s historic palace fort. In most places, the team’s trenches descend no deeper than half a metre, but that offers no protection from the groundwater that floods the lower levels of the dig. Fortunately, the main object of the team’s excavation lies closer to the surface, where they have discovered the remains of a majlis that has been lost for at least 30 years. The majlis was built in the early 1940s as a public meeting room for Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi at the time, who used the emirate’s first oil revenues to transform Qasr Al Hosn from a fortress into a royal palace. “Why are we looking for it?” asks Mark Kyffin, TCA’s head of architecture. “It’s a very significant building because of the meetings that were held in it, especially the ones between Sheikh Shakhbut and the oil companies at the time.” Until recently, the only evidence for the existence of the majlis lay in oral testimonies and old photographs, such as the image captured by Sir William Rupert Hay. A civil servant, Hay served as Britain’s resident in the Gulf between 1941 and 1942 and then again, as political resident, between 1946 and 1953 and his photograph, which captures the exact location of TCA’s current excavation, appears to show the majlis and the eastern wing of Sheikh Shakhbut’s new palace in a state of near completion. It is tempting to use Hay’s image to date Sheikh Shakhbut’s work at Qasr Al Hosn but that is an easy option that Mr Kyffin is not prepared to entertain. “There are elements of doubt,” the architect explains. “We know the oil concessions were signed in 1939 and with that came the idea to build the palace, but the photographs from the time are very broadly dated. “We also have other photographs from around the same time where the walls of the palace look incomplete but are still significant enough to be an enclosure, but that’s it.” “That’s why I put the spectrum between 1939 and 1945 but clearly, in the Hay photograph, it looks almost complete.” If photography cannot help put a precise start date on the majlis, it does provide supporting evidence for the veracity of TCA’s latest finds. “Here you can see the walls of the majlis,” says Kyffin, pointing to some partially-buried masonry. “Some of the remains are scattered around, but here we have a foundation of one of the arches, as well as a cross wall. “Now, look at the photograph,” the architect says excitedly as he points to a reproduction of Hay’s photograph and then to some archaeology in the sand. The photo and the remains appear to be a perfect match. The excavation is one of many conservation processes peeling away the physical layers of construction that hold the secret to Qasr Al Hosn’s history. The result is a rather mottled effect and to the untrained eye the building may appear somewhat battered, but it is a process of discovery that Mr Kyffin insists is vital if the building’s future is to be secured. As he explains, the scar running down the tower that is widely believed to be Abu Dhabi’s oldest structure, is conservation case in point. “Oral histories tell us that there was a tower on Abu Dhabi island in the 1760s and a lot of people say it is this tower, but we are trying to be certain. “Thanks to old photographs, we know it was there in 1904 and we also know it’s there later than that, but rather than just using photographs for analysis, we also want to use science. “So this year, we sampled the mortar that we’ve found closest to the original coral stone because that is the oldest era of material. “We know that the mortar was formed by taking coral and seashells and then burning them to take the oxygen out,” Mr Kyffin explains. “That burning process left elements of carbon and we are currently trying to carbon date this to see how old the mortar is and to validate whether the tower is from the 1760s or not. “It’s difficult, because there is very little carbon that can be used for dating, but we all realise how much Abu Dhabi wants to know this, so we are trying very hard to establish a date.” Those same laboratories are also responsible for material and chemical analysis that will allow decisions to be made about Qasr Al Hosn’s future. “Through testing, we’re trying to establish what the colour of the [new] mortar should be so when we are restoring Qasr Al Hosn we can use the right colour to achieve the right effect,” the architect explains. “We’re not going to experiment with any materials on this tower until we know that we’ve got everything absolutely right.” It is precisely for this reason that a team of master craftsmen from TCA’s historic buildings and landscapes division are building a concrete and coral stone column inside Qasr Al Hosn’s walls. The wall is a replica of one of the columns that still define the covered walkways of Qasr Al Hosn’s southern and eastern wings. Originally constructed from coral stone, the walls in these areas were reinforced with concrete in the late 1970s as part of the restoration process that converted the buildings into the official home of Abu Dhabi’s National Centre for Documentation and Research. The whole palace was then covered in the thick, white, uniform render that is now being removed by TCA’s conservation teams. “This is what people think the white fort is, but this is obviously a very modern cement-based mortar rather than the sands of Abu Dhabi that were originally used to render the fort,” Mr Kyffin explains. “We found original render on the front wall [of Qasr Al Hosn] and took them away for chemical analysis,” says the architect. “And that’s how we found their properties and that’s what’s leading to the [mortar] samples we are using now.” This chemical and material analysis has not only showed that the original mortar mix differed between Qasr Al Hosn’s first watchtower, where it was darker, and the later mid-20th-century extension, where it was lighter, but that the palace’s internal walls were also finished in a finer grade of mortar that include a higher percentage of gypsum for a more “finished” effect. “Within that mix there was coral, there was sand and there were sea shells and this mock-up allows us to work with different renders to understand how we can now communicate a sense of the white fort.” Mr Kyffin hopes the mock-up will be rather more than a simple test-bed for different mortar colours and finishes. “At the moment, you can’t ‘read’ any of the history of the building because you have this one coat [of mortar] that masks everything,” he explains. “But we have concrete that was put in the 1980s and [older] coral and so, even when the new mortar finish goes over both of the base materials, you should be able to read the building and it should be evident which is which. “When it goes over coral, it will undulate and you will get a very tactile finish, but when it goes over concrete it will be smooth and very consistent.” For Mr Kyffin, the key factor in all of these decisions is not only to achieve results that are historically accurate, but to build the skills and knowledge necessary for the conservation of the building. “This is a mock-up to understand what we’re working with and for us to build the skill sets we need to be able to deal with a bigger structure,” the architect explains. “At the moment, we have our own artisans, but there will come a time when we have construction companies working with us and at that point, we’ll have to transfer our expertise into those companies and some of those will no doubt inform us just as we inform them.” As Mr Kyffin admits, TCA’s approach at Qasr Al Hosn is slow and cautious, but he believes it is the only approach possible if Qasr Al Hosn’s conservation is to proceed without incident or delay. “As I’ve said before, we’re not working to the festival. The festival is a spotlight on what we are doing. If you were to come in here afterwards, you would see these works continuing on. “We don’t want to delve straight into this. I want to learn what all of the issues are while I’m working on my own clock.” <em>The Qasr Al Hosn Festival in Abu Dhai runs until Saturday. Visit </em> <span class="A1 folio www.thenational.ae">nleech@thenational.ae</span>
