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ДĀRAT AS-SULAYF, ΚIBRĪ: DOCUMENTATION AND HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PLAN 4.2). • One of its most unexpected features are the two ablution chambers located in the adjacent courtyard. These two structures are built on top of a storm water drain, with access to it, suggesting the unlikely possibility of a permanent flow of water along this channel (Fig. 4.3).
4.2 historical values Figure 4.2 as-Sulayf, storm-water drain • One of the primary characteristics the oasis of ΚIbrī is its proximity to the Rub al-Khali Desert and consequently non-Ibādi influence on the architecture of the area. This can be observed, for example, in the deep recess of the mihrab of the Masjid Husin al-Sulayf, a feature not usually observed on Ibādi mosques. • Due to its strong fortified position as-Sulayf acted as the west gate into the oasis of ΚIbrī, but in a larger context it also sat astride the main east-west route between the regions of ad-Dākhilīyah and adDhāhira providing with supra-regional importance.
Figure 4.3 as-Sulayf, reconstructed ablution chambers
• The comparative antiquity of the settlement makes it the likely setting for a number of important events in the history of the ΚIbrī Oasis, but also in the history of Oman at large. • The putative antiquity of the Falaj Shambouh makes Дārat as-Sulayf a prime exponent of Oman’s famed falaj irrigation system, and would be of great value to the future re-development of the settlement if restored.
4.3 social values • The settlement of as-Sulayf in interesting in so far as it was in many way the ‘home’ settlement of the Manadhirah tribe and its associated client groups and appear to have been located in a relatively homogeneous tribal regions. Unlike at, for example, Izkī the oasis of ΚIbrī appears not to have been marked by pronounced tribal rifts. • The broad range of the Manadhirah, stretching across central Oman and even as a far afield as Zanzibar provides the settlement with an important supraregional link which deserves to be highlighted. • Manadhirah association with the Al Bu Sa’id leaders and their repeated cooperation may be part of the reason for the settlement’s comparative wealth and rapid growth n past centuries,
4.4 threats to site’s significance Both, human and environmental action, are having a destructive impact on as-Sulayf’s architectural fabric. The following describes a list of primary threats that are likely to adversely affect the settlement’s significance: • Heritage should be regarded as a living entity and not as a mere object of preservation. There is strong reason to believe that the object of heritage management in Oman has been the latter. • The settlement currently remains entirely uninhabited. This is a result of demographic