Since 2002, the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation has awarded three grants to the American Institute for Yemeni Studies (AIYS) for cultural heritage preservation and training in Yemen. The Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, which is administered by the Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Bureau of the U.S. Department of State, was established in 2001 to assist less-developed countries in preserving their cultural heritage. The first Ambassador’s Fund AIYS received contributed to preserving the historic painted decorations of the Amiriya Madrasa in Rada’. This effort was the first of several collaborative projects that combined cultural heritage work with local training, while also providing opportunities for advanced training of American students and Yemeni government technicians in cleaning and preserving mural paintings.

The restoration of the Ishshah Mud-brick Palace in Tarim was the objective of the second Ambassador’s Fund received by AIYS. The Ishshah Palace is a large residential complex constructed entirely of mud and lime-plaster during the four decades from the 1890’s through the 1930’s, in the eclectic international style characteristic of Tarim at that time. The grant specifically funded the rebuilding of the collapsed kitchen in the west wing of the main building, rebuilding one of the two collapsed wings of al-Dar al-Dawil, and lime-plastering the roof of al-Dar al-Dawil and of the gate house.

AIYS’s recently received third Ambassador’s Fund will begin the first of several phases of analyzing, documenting, cataloging, and conserving 500 South Arabian inscribed wooden sticks. The inscribed sticks come from the governorate of al-Jawf, and in particular from the town al-Sawda’, ancient Nashan. These documents contain essential data about the history of Yemen, its social institutions, the status of women, agriculture and trade, religion, chronology, language, and paleography.