Malone Fellowship Visits Yemen's Capital City, Sana'a
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Author: Aramco ExPats Staff
Released 21 April 2008
Gate Guards at Yemen College for Middle East Studies. (Photo by Aramco ExPats)
The first stop for the Malone Fellowship Visit to Yemen is the capital city of Sana'a. Home to over two million people, the city is as large as it is ancient. Nestled between Jabal Nuqum and Jabal Aiban, Sana'a has been a vital part of Yemeni life since the 6th Century BC.
Upon arrival, the Fellowship's group of 14 checked into their rooms at the Yemen College for Middle East Studies. YCMES will host the group during their overnight stays in the capital. The college's facilities, including traditional Yemeni residences of mud brick and stone architecture, are located on 26th of September Street near Maydan Tahrir (Liberation Square).
Maydan Tahrir is considered the transportation hub and commercial center of Sana’a and is just a short walk from Bab al-Yaman and the Old City. The streets that meet in Tahrir are lined with hundreds of small shops selling a wide variety of goods. Visitors can find clothing stores, cafes, restaurants, street vendors, pharmacies, bookshops and banks. The main post office is located in Tahrir Square, as are the National Museum and Military Museum. With quick access to dubabs (small, van-like vehicles), buses and taxis in Tahrir, travelers with the Fellowship will have easy access to the city during their free days.
Bab al-Yaman. (Photo by Aramco ExPats)
The YCMES is situated between the Yemeni Parliament building and the Prime Minister’s office, making for a safe and quiet neighborhood within the city’s center. This area is famed for its gardens and is located between the Old City and the old Jewish Quarter of al-Qa’a. Next to the college's Guest House lies the Imam Yahya’s old palace, now in ruins. The Yemen College of Middle Eastern Studies has done a wonderful job avoiding the creation of an isolated complex. Instead, it has maintained separate buildings that are well integrated into the surrounding neighborhood. This makes it a perfect base of operations for the Malone Fellowship.
During their first foray into Sana'a, much of the group's focus will be on the ancient heart of the city. Surrounded by clay walls standing 20-30 feet high, the Old City has been continually inhabited for over 2,500 years. In 1984, the United Nations declared it a World Heritage City, and efforts to preserve some of the oldest buildings are ongoing. In this fortified section of city alone, there are over 100 mosques, 12 hammams and 6,500 houses.
A Yemeni gentleman with three sons.
(Photo by Aramco ExPats)
The group's walking tour of the Old City included making an entrance through Bab al-Yaman, the "Gate of Yemen." This iconic entry point through the city walls is over 700 years old and still bears the scars of cannon attacks. Another important site for visitors is al-Jami‘ al-Kabir, The Great Mosque. It is considered to be the first mosque in Yemen as well as one of the oldest in the Muslim world. A trove of manuscripts discovered at The Great Mosque in 1972 contains fragments of what may be the oldest Qur'ans in existence, dating back to Islam's first two centuries.
The tour concluded with a trip to one of the most popular attractions, Suq al-Milh (Salt Market). Here, it is possible to buy not only salt but also bread, spices, raisins, cotton, copper, pottery, silverware, antiques and a host of other goods.
Additional insight into the ancient Yemeni capital can be found in the March 2006 issue of Saudi Aramco World, which contains several articles on Sana'a.