Traditional Houses in the Old Jewish Mahallah of Bukhara
A Growing Population and Culture
In the Middle Ages, Bukhara became the heart of Jewish life in Central Asia as Jews from other communities in the region settled there. By the turn of the twentieth century, the Jewish community of Bukhara was the largest among a network of Jewish minorities in the region, including Tashkent, Samarkand, Kokand, Andijan, Marghilan, and Navoi. Bukharian Jews were active in establishing trade connections with the Russian Empire and held positions in law, medicine, and local government, while others were well-known musicians, actors, and dancers. Following the Russian Revolution and throughout the Holocaust, Jews from Eastern Europe continued to immigrate to Bukhara to avoid persecution.
A Legacy of Craft
Bukharian Jews maintain a long tradition of resilience through trade and crafts, including textile dyeing, jewelry making, and woodworking. The foremost representation of this woodworking tradition is preserved in the Bukharian houses, exceptional living examples of vernacular architecture within a medieval urban design and a system of mahallahs, or neighborhoods. Beyond being merely a form of community expression, the houses illustrate a close relation with the environment, as the use of earthen materials is a response to the harsh desert climate. The traditional houses are located throughout the historic center of Bukhara, which was listed as a World Heritage property in 1993 by UNESCO.
A Joint Effort Toward Conservation
Less than 200 Bukharian Jews remain in the old mahallah. The vast majority left Bukhara for Israel and the United States following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Due to this mass exodus and the development of new building techniques, the traditional houses are now under threat of disappearance and are subject to alterations insensitive to their historical significance. The houses were included on the 2020 World Monuments Watch to encourage the documentation and creation of sustainable urban conservation standards for the adaptive reuse of the Bukharian Jewish houses.
Following the site's inclusion on the Watch, World Monuments Fund (WMF) and the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), in partnership with the Bukhara State University, launched the Traditional Bukharian Jewish Houses project. Through the use of digital technologies, the project aims to create best practice conservation guidelines and enhance community awareness of traditional techniques while fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange between different stakeholders. With the Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent, the project also intends to develop the necessary inventory, documentation, and condition assessment of these unique historic houses.
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World Monuments Fund's work at the Traditional Houses in the Old Jewish Mahallah of Bukhara has been made possible, in part, by support from the David Berg Foundation and Tianaderrah Foundation / Nellie and Robert Gipson.