The Sharif al Hussein bin ‘Ali House

This building was constructed by order of Prince (later King) Faysal bin al-Hussein in 1917, when he was Commander of the Great Arab Revolt’s Northern Arab Armies, as a customs center in Aqaba. The building was supervised by Mohammad A. al-Asad (the grandfather of Mohammad S. al-Asad, the Founding Director of the Center for the Study of the Built Environment). Al-Asad had been appointed head of customs in Aqaba in 1917, and became the city’s administrative governor in 1919. Prince Faysal indicated that the building was to include warehouses to store the goods coming into Aqaba, as well as offices and accommodations for the city’s customs employees. He specified that two warehouses would be constructed, each measuring 20 by 7 cubits (a cubit is about 50 cm), in addition to four stores. The construction of the building was indicative of Aqaba’s growing importance.

Al-Asad accordingly bought a plot of land for the building from ‘Ali Bayyumi for the amount of 100 British Pounds. The seaside plot was located between the Aqaba Fort (which dates back to the rule of the Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri (r. 1501 – 1516)) and the town’s port. A master builder was engaged to design and construct the building. He built it according to the architectural traditions of the region of al-Hijaz, to which Aqaba belonged. The structure consequently was constructed of stone and sun-dried mud brick mixed with straw, and sheathed with a layer of mud covered with lime. The roof was built of wooden beams supported by wooden columns and covered with mats made of palm leaves covered with mud.

Al-Asad also dug a well next to the building that became the city’s main supply of water for years to come and was known as the al-Asad Well. With time, the building evolved and underwent a number of modifications to become a multi-functional one as most of the city’s governmental bodies were moved into it, including the police and gendarme headquarters. It also served as a residence for the city’s administrative governor and a guesthouse. The eldest two sons of al-Asad’s five children were born there: Nasir al-Din (1922), who was the founder and first president of the University of Jordan, and Shuja’ al-din (1925), who served as Director General of the Department of Statistics. It is also worth noting that Aqaba was part of the Kingdom of al-Hijaz when the structure was built, but became part of the Emirate of Transjordan in 1925.

Architect Ammar Khammash renovated the building in 1987 to include a museum and offices for the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The building is known as the Sharif al-Hussein bin ‘Ali house because al-Hussein, the Emir of Mecca and the father of kings ‘Ali, ‘Abd-Allah, Faysal, and Prince Zayd, lived there during his stays in Aqaba in 1924 and  in 1925. 

* The information presented in this section is based on that provided by ‘Abd-Allah al-Manzalawi Yasin in an article he published in the Jordanian dailies al-‘Arab al-Yawm on October 1, 1999, and al-Dustur on October 15, 1999. This information is reprinted in Nasir al-Din al-Asad’s book, Muhammad Ahmad al-Asad: Documented Biography (in Arabic) (Amman: al-Fath House for Studies and Publishing, 2008). 

بيت الشريف الحسين بن علي

The letter from Prince Faysal to Mohammad A. al-Asad instructing the initiation of construction on the building (from the document collection of Mohammad A. al-Asad)

رسالة الأمر بالبناء التي وجهها الأمير فيصل إلى محمد الأسد (من مجموعة وثائق محمد أحمد الأسد)

A general view of the building (date unknown)

صورة للبناء (تاريخ الصورة غير معروف)

A general view of the building (date unknown; from the collection of Ammar Khammash)

صورة للبناء (تاريخ الصورة غير معروف؛ الصورة من مجموعة عمار خماش)

A view of the al-Asad Well (date unknown; from the collection of Ammar Khammash)

صورة لبئر الأسد (تاريخ الصورة غير معروف؛ الصورة من مجموعة عمار خماش)

A view of the wooden ceiling of one of the building’s rooms (from the collection of Ammar Khammash)

صورة للسقف الخشبي لإحدى غرف البناء (الصورة من مجموعة عمار خماش)

A view of the building before the initiation of renovation work in 1987 (from the collection of Ammar Khammash)

صورة للبناء قبيل البدء بأعمال الترميم في عام 1987 (الصورة من مجموعة عمار خماش)

A view of the building’s courtyard before the initiation of renovation work in 1987 (from the collection of Ammar Khammash)

صورة لساحة البناء الداخلية قبيل البدء بأعمال الترميم في عام 1987 (الصورة من مجموعة عمار خماش)

A view of the building after the completion of renovation work (from the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority website www.aqaba.jo)

صورة للبناء بعد الإنتهاء من أعمال الترميم

www.aqaba.jo الصورة من موقع سلطة منطقة العقبة الإقتصادية الخاصة

A view of the building’s courtyard after the completion of renovation work (from the Jordan Tourism Board website www.visitjordan.com)

www.visitjordan.com صورة لساحة البناء الداخلية بعد الإنتهاء ممن أعمال الترميم في عام1987 (الصورة من موقع هيئة تنشيط السياحة الأردنية

A recent view of the building’s courtyard

صورة حديثة لساحة البناء الداخلية