In a tiny geographical area in Hadramout Governorate, specifically in the Dawa'an district, the village of Al-Dahma is located, which is at about four hours' drive from the city of Mukalla. Mr. Salem Ba Rass, who has been working as a teacher at Madram School, has been living in Al Dahama since 1995. Ba Rass’s passion for the history and heritage of the province, its preservation and conservation, led him to establish his own museum.
Founding the Museum
Ba Rass talked to "Khuyut" about the idea of establishing the museum, and about the challenges he faced since the initiation of collecting and purchasing heritage collections and artifacts until the museum became an existing reality saying that: "The idea of creating the museum came from my love, interest and passion for heritage and everything related to it, in addition to my sense of self-responsibility towards the past that makes our present and our future. I started the museum with some popular collectibles; agricultural tools, and some fossils of animals dated back to millions of years ago, which were brought from the same mountains of the region, in 1996".
Ba Rass went on his talk about the commencement of his museum: "Once, I picked up some tourists in my care and I began to speak to them in semi-acceptable English, explaining to them the contents of the museum. After sometime, they came to see it, and were very amused with what they saw, and took some pictures of the antiques, while one of the oldest resident of the village loaded a gun (Abu Fatila) with gunpowder, shooting in the air in celebration of the guests, so that joyfulness spreads over the faces of everyone who was present".
He added that: “I collected many heritage ornamentals from 1995 to 2021, including some pieces that I obtained after a long struggle in searching due to its historical importance, until the antiques piled up in my house. It was then that I was concerned of losing, misplacing or damaging this valuable heritage or some of it and thus, the idea of establishing a small museum that includes these holdings, to be showable to visitors and heritage lovers occurred in my mind.”
The most valuable possessions in the museum
In his interview with Khuyut, Salem has listed some of key historical pieces of the antiques contained in his museum saying: “The museum includes some very old and rare weapons, such as the (Abu Fatila) rifle and (Al-Hatfa) gun, in addition to some old lighting devices such as Lantern kerosene oil lamps (Atariks) and as well as (a gramophone device) that contains a built in recorder and a radio - which I consider one of the most precious possessions in my museum, so I keep it in a nice bag. Additionally, there is also a (Al Ra'asha) which is a beautiful handicraft piece embroidered with lobes in a very attractive geometric shape, and among the museum’s possessions there are some rare and old priceless watches and clocks including an old brand (Seiko 5) wall clock, a very old wooden watch, and a decorated wooden box called (Sesame), which was made overseas long time ago".
In addition to the aforementioned collection, Ba Rass keeps many ancient coins that reflect different historical stages of the region, and various currencies from worldwide which appeared in successive periods of time.
Moreover, the contents of the museum also include some Chinese cups and coffee pots, a dish decorated with exquisite geometric motifs, dishes called al-Ghaddar, and a plate, which is an engraved wooden bowl along with some old knives of (Abu Shoka) brand as it is called in the local dialect.
Further, the museum includes a set of old popular clothing that the groom used to wear during wedding occasion in the past, which consisted of: a hand turban embroidery, a shawl and a scarph, and a knitting; which is used to collect donations from the guests (Al-Rafd) for the groom on the wedding day, and (Al-Masbat), which is a leather belt placed at the waist, which the groom adorns and fills with bullets as a kind of adornment of pride, and distinction showing his strength.
Furthermore, the private museum also contains the bride's outer clothing belongings, most notably: a transparent piece of cloth placed on the upper part of the bride's body, not much different from what the Indian bride puts on the occasion of marriage, this piece is called (the Swan), in addition to the another piece called the veil (Al Nokba) which is used to cover the head but not the face, and it has some elaborate hand embroidery, and finally the veil (burqa) which covers the bride's face.
A variety of historical coins displayed in the museum
In addition to the aforementioned collection, Ba Rass keeps many ancient coins that reflect different historical stages of the region, and various currencies from worldwide which appeared in successive periods of time. He says, "I keep many old coins which are displayed in a specific corner of the museum." Ba Rass begins to enumerate the types he has, saying: “In the museum there is a coin of Constantinople of large circular size, on which the date (1255 AH) is written on it, and the coin of Imam Yahya bin Mohammad, on which the phrase (Commander of the believers, who relies on God) is written on one of its sides, and on the other side another sentence is written (There is no god but Allah) which was issued in the year 1341 AH. There is also the French penny, which is an Austrian coin of Maria Theresa made of silver, weighing about 28 grams, issued in 1780 AD. The currency of Mukalla during the time of Captain Salah Al-Kasadi in the year 1276 AH. Besides, there is a quarter of an Indian head penny currency belonging to Queen Victoria issued in 1891 AD and the Indian penny was equivalent to two pennies of Emperor George VI issued in 1944 AD.
The coins' corner also includes a silver medal for Queen Elizabeth, a coin from East Africa called the shilling, and the perforated cents of Great Britain issued in 1934 AD, all types of currencies in circulation during the former Democratic Republic of Yemen, in addition to the golden coin of Algeria in the form of a beehive, which valued at ten dinars issued in 1981 AD. Plus, the museum also includes the first coin of the United Arab Emirates (the dirham) issued in 1973 AD, along with many currencies for different countries and kingdoms around the world.
Persistence and Passion
"The errand of collecting and preserving the antiques, and then organizing and displaying them in a museum, was not an easy task as you might think. It required great financial costs in view of my limited income and family obligations, as the financial aspect constituted a real obstacle in all stages and steps of collecting and purchasing these antiques.” Ba Rass adds, saying: “Moving between villages and cities weighed on my shoulders, especially since I do not have a means of transportation, and because of my difficult financial circumstances, I had to allocate a room in my modest common home to preserve these holdings".
Ba Rass concluded his speech to "Khuyut", by saying: "What you see today in this small room is not the outcome of a year or five years' effort, but rather the consequence of tireless efforts that lasted nearly fifteen years. The journey was not easy at all, but my determination and my love for this great folk heritage were a strong motive resulted in the creation of this museum."
