is the capital of
YemenYemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is a country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia...
and the center of San‘a’ Governorate. It is Yemen's largest city. Sana'a is located at and has a population of 1,747,627 (2004 census).
Sana'a is one of the ancient Yemeni cities dating back to the Sabaean dynasty of the 6th Century BC. The oldest written reference to its existence is found in inscriptions which date back to the 1st century AD.
is the capital of
YemenYemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is a country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia...
and the center of San‘a’ Governorate. It is Yemen's largest city. Sana'a is located at and has a population of 1,747,627 (2004 census).
History
Sana'a is one of the ancient Yemeni cities dating back to the Sabaean dynasty of the 6th Century BC. The oldest written reference to its existence is found in inscriptions which date back to the 1st century AD. It is suggested that Sana'a was the capital of the Himyarite kingdom at the onset of the 6th century AD.
When King Yousef Athar (or
Dhu NuwasYūsuf Dhū Nuwas, was the last king of the Himyarite kingdom of Yemen.Some sources state that he was the successor of Rabia ibn Mudhar, a member of the same dynasty; the archeologist Alessandro de Maigret believes he was an usurper...
), the last of the Himyarite kings, was in power, Sana'a was also the capital of the Ethiopian viceroys, then after 570 of the
PersiansThe Sassanid Empire or Sasanian Empire, known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr, was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty who reigned from 224 to 651 CE...
.
As of the dawn of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
until the detachment of independent sub-states in many parts of Yemen Islamic
CaliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
ate, Sana'a persisted as the governing seat, who himself is Caliph's deputy in running the affairs of one of Yemen's Three Makhalifs: Mikhlaf Sana'a, Mikhlaf al-Janad and Mikhlaf Hadhramawt. The city of Sana'a recurrently assumed an important status and all Yemenite States competed to control it.
The Mamelukes arrived in Yemen in AD 1517. Following the collapse of the Mamelukes in Egypt at the hands of the
OttomanThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
Turks,
YemenYemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is a country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia...
fell under the Ottoman Rule and during the first Ottoman rule of Yemen between 1538-1635, Sana'a became the capital of the Ottoman Vilayet and also during the Ottoman second rule 1872-1918. In 1918, Sana'a was the capital of Imam Yahya, who ruled
North YemenNorth Yemen is a term currently used to designate the Yemen Arab Republic , its predecessor, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen , and their predecessors that exercised sovereignty over the territory that is now the north-western part of the state of Yemen in southern Arabia.Neither state was ever...
. At the onset of the 1962 revolution which deposed the imamate rule, it became the capital of the Yemen Arab Republic. It was then the capital of unified Yemen in 1990 where it is dubbed as the historical capital of Yemen. In 2008, the
Saleh MosqueThe Saleh Mosque is a large mosque in Sana'a, Yemen. Inaugurated in November 2008, it is named after Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. It can hold up to 40,000 worshippers and cost nearly 60 million US dollars to build....
was completed. It holds over 40,000 worshippers.
Old City
The old fortified city has been inhabited for more than 2,500 years, and contains a wealth of intact architectural gems. It was declared a
World Heritage CityA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
by the United Nations in 1986. Efforts are underway to preserve some of the oldest buildings, some of which are over 400 years old. Surrounded by ancient clay walls which stand high, the old city boasts over 100 mosques, 12
hammams (baths) and 6,500 houses. Many of the houses resemble ancient skyscrapers, reaching several stories high and topped with flat roofs. They are decorated with elaborate friezes and intricately carved frames and stained glass windows.
One of the most popular attractions is
Suq al-Milh (Salt Market), where it is possible to buy not only salt but also bread, spices, raisins, cotton, copper, pottery, silverware, antiques (both fake and real) and, formerly, slaves. The majestic seventh century
Jami' al-Kabir (Great Mosque) is one of the oldest in the Muslim world. The
Bāb al-Yaman (Yemen Gate) is an iconized entry point through the city walls and is over 700 years old.
A commercial area of the Old City is
Al Madina, where development is proceeding rapidly. In addition to three large hotels, there are numerous stores and restaurants. The area also contains three parks and
the PresidentField Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh , born March 21, 1942, is the current President of Yemen. He was President of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1978 to 1990 and became president of the newly united Republic of Yemen in 1990....
's palace.
Cultural Arab Capital
Sana'a was designated as the
Arab Cultural CapitalThe Arab Capital of Culture is an initiative undertaken by the Arab League under the UNESCO Cultural Capitals Program to promote and celebrate Arab culture and encourage cooperation in the Arab region.-Cultural Capitals:- Endnotes :-External Websites:*...
for the year of 2004.
Demographic evolution
| Year |
Population |
| 1911 |
20,000 |
| 1921 |
23,000 |
| 1931 |
25,000 |
| 1940 |
80,000 |
| 1963 |
100,000 |
| 1965 |
110,000 |
|
| Year |
Population |
| 1975 |
134,600 |
| 1981 |
280,000 |
| 1986 |
427,505 |
| 1994 |
954,448 |
| 2001 |
1,590,624 |
| 2005 |
1,937,451 |
|
Transportation
Sana'a International AirportSana'a International Airport or El Rahaba Airport is a public airport located in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.-Terminal 1:-Terminal 2:...
is Yemen's main domestic and international airport. The airport will be expanded by 2010. There is no train network currently but one will also be built. The best way around the city is dababs which are like minibuses holding about 10 people. Taxis are also a very common form of transportation at Yemen and in the recent years, Yemen has started use higher quality cars and companies are starting to take over the taxi business which could add more comfort to passengers with great services by both Marhaba and Al-Raha. There are many caches to other major cities like Aden, Taiz and much more.
Quotes and impressions
"" (Sana'a must be seen) are famous words first attributed to (768-820) who visited the ancient capital several times.
Many travelers in ancient days were impressed by the beauty of Sana'a. The well-known Yemeni geographer and historian al Hamdani marveled at the cleanliness of the city:
The Persian traveller Ibn Rustah, a contemporary of al-Hamdani, noted its food:
The British writer
Jonathan RabanJonathan Raban is a British travel writer and novelist. He is the author of Waxwings, Passage to Juneau, Bad Land, Hunting Mister Heartbreak, Coasting, Old Glory, Arabia Through the Looking Glass and Soft City.His awards include the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Royal Society of...
devotes a chapter of his 1979 book, 'Arabia Through the Looking Glass' to Sana'a. He initially found the city disorienting:
Later, as he became more familiar with the place, and had made more acquaintances with its residents, he becomes admiring. In one striking sequence where he is invited onto the roof of somebody's home, the cityscape is revealed to him in a different way:
See also
- Mahwa Aser
Mahwa Aser is a slum community in San‘a’, the capital city of Yemen. Mahwa Aser is home to an estimated 17,000 people who live in informal housing without access to sanitation. The poor living conditions in the slum have a serious negative impact on the health of residents...
- Sana'a manuscripts
The Sana'a manuscripts, found in Yemen in 1972, are considered by some to be the oldest existent version of the Qur'an. Although the text has been dated to the first two decades of the eighth century carbon 14 tests indicate that some of the parchments in this collection date back to the 7th and...
fragments from over 1000 early Qur'an codices, discovered at the Great Mosque in Sana'a in 1972.
External links