The houses date principally from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries although there is evidence for a much earlier settlement on the site. The Dakhleh Oasis Project has been engaged in the restoration of the Seventeenth –Century Bayt el-Qadi,

The House of the Judge, a four-storey building with several rooms at each level, and in the reconstruction of the neighbouring house, Bayt el-Quresh. This has involved clearing, excavation, and reconstruction, often with the original materials and utilizing surviving local skills.

Many domestic objects and documents have been recovered in the course of this work which give valuable insights into life in the town in Ottoman times. The documents include legal judgements, private letters and commercial matters.