Amiriya Madrasa Explained

Al-Amiriya is a 16th-century madrasa (educational institution) located in Rada, Yemen. It is under consideration for inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[1] It was built in 1504 and is an example of the architecture of Tahirids, Yemen. The monument was in poor condition until 1978 when Iraqi-born archaeologist Selma Al-Radi saw it and enlisted financial help from foreign missions to restore it in a more than twenty-year effort which she led.^{[1] [2]}

Significance

This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on July 8, 2002, in the Cultural category.^[1]

The restoration process revived the art of qadad, a form of waterproof interior and exterior plastering. In 2004 a documentary film, Qudad, Re-inventing a Tradition, was made on the subject by the filmmaker Caterina Borelli (preview).^[3]

The restoration of the Amiriya Complex was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2007.^[4]

See also

• More pictures of Amiriya Complex
• Qadad

Bibliography

• Al-Radi, S.; Barnes, R.; Al-Nasiri, Y.; Porter, V.; Hillenbrand, R. (1997). The 'Amiriya in Rada' : the history and restoration of a sixteenth-century madrasa in the Yemen. Title of Series: Oxford studies in Islamic art; 13. Oxford: Oxford University Press, for the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford.

Notes and References

1. https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1720/ The Madrasa Amiriya of Rada - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
2. "Selma Al-Radi, Restored Historic Madrasa, Dies at 71" "New York Times", 14 Oct 2010 https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/world/15alradi.html
3. Web site: Qudad, Re-inventing a Tradition. Documentary Educational Resources.
4. https://www.akdn.org/architecture/project/restoration-amiriya-complex Aga Khan Award website