In the middle of a Texas heatwave rivaling temperatures in the Persian Gulf and Sahara Desert, an Iraqi man and two women stood on scaffolding, attempting to make one of nine arches constructed entirely of reeds look a little prettier. They were trying to perfect the round crown of the arch, and after some phone calls to a master builder in Iraq, like a son calling their mom for help with a recipe, questions were answered, and they made more progress. In the cooler evenings, solar beatdowns were replaced by a more jovial scene of music and food as Iraqi immigrants in Houston came by to help construct the five-thousand-year-old structure known as a mudhif. Here, past the oak-lined one-ways of Rice University, next to its Moody Center for the Arts, local nonprofits have teamed up to put the culture of the Marsh Arabs on display.
An Intricate Reed Structure With Ancient History Comes to Houston
Archaeology and architecture groups banded together to bring a mudhif, a town hall for the Marsh Arab tribe of Iraq, to Rice University.
