Globe

World Heritage:

Tower houses in Sana’a’s old city

«Sana’a must be seen»

By Günter Fischer, UNCTAD

Adictum attributed to Imam Al Shafi’i, the founder of the Shafi’i school of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) some 1200 years ago, is still valid today. The capital of what once was called Arabia Felix – Happy Arabia – and known today as the Yemen Republic has a distinct architecture that makes it one of the world’s most impressive cities.

In fact, the Old City of Sana’a with its «tower houses», manystoreyed traditional buildings, as well as the mosques and the souk with it’s wide selection of exotic spices and a plethora of goods of all kinds, seems to come straight out of the fairy tales of 1001 Arabian Nights. As an example of an outstanding traditional human settlement and with a view to preserving this unique urban landscape in its entirety, the Old City of
Sana’a is protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage.
Sana’a, which is situated at an altitude of about 2,200 m in a mountain valley on the rooftop of Arabia, has been inhabited for thousands of years. Reputedly Shem, one of the three sons of Noah, founded the city. According to this popular Yemeni legend, Sana’a is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world. Other sources suggest the city has been around since at least the 2nd century BC. It was one of several settlements that grew up on the ancient incense trading routes from the south to the north across the Arab Peninsula. Sana’a - which translates from Arabic as ‘fortified
place’ - was originally developed because of its strategic position controlling a gap in the mountains of the highlands.
Although Sana’a has modernised and expanded rapidly in recent years, counting today a population of more than 1.7 million, a walk through the Old City is still a thrilling experience. Nine gates including the famous Bab al-Yemen (Gate of Yemen) allow access through the surrounding ancient clay wall standing six to nine metres high to a wonderland of over 100 mosques, 12 hammams (traditional steam baths) and over 6000 mud-brick houses that rise four, five and more storeys.

The most beautiful buildings stand close to the Sa’ila river with its paved riverbed. During the monsoon it becomes a watercourse, but for most of the year the bed is dry and it is used as a road by jeeps, the main means of transport in Yemen.
Many of the tower houses are several hundred years old, but their traditional design dates back even many more years. The front side of the houses holds elaborate white friezes, and ornaments decorate the frames of the arched windows that are set with coloured glass. Built to accommodate a single extended family, each level has a different function. The ground floor used to house livestock, as well as storage and sanitary facilities. A staircase leads to the upper floors that comprise, one floor above the other, a large common room for business meetings, the kitchen, the diwan, used exclusively for festivities and family gatherings, private living quarters and at the very top the mafraij, a room where men meet in the afternoon.
The medieval character of the Old City is underlined by the people that teem the narrow streets. Yemeni men wear either a long Arab gown like a night-shirt, or the futa, a kind of skirt that reaches just below the knee. They wear a wide belt around the waist in which is tucked a jambiyah, the curved dagger without which no Yemeni man is properly dressed. It is not rare to see men having slung firearms over their shoulders, ranging from antiquated rifles to modern Kalashnikovs. Women are dressed entirely in black. Black gown, black hood and black veil - all one sees of a Yemeni woman is two eyes peeping out as though from the slot of a letterbox.
Yemen, with an annual per capita income of about USD 500, is classified as a Least Developed Country and faced with enormous economic and social challenges. Despite these constraints, the government, with international assistance, has undertaken various initiatives both to mitigate the many dangers that threaten the Old City of Sana’a, including overcrowding, inadequate sewage systems and real estate speculation and to upgrade the living conditions in these traditional houses.