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Sana'a: Profile of a Changing City
| Article
# : |
11371 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1986 |
4,647 Words |
| Author
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Abdulaziz Y. Saqqaf
Abdulaziz Y. Saqqaf is associate professor and chairman of the
department of economics, University of Sana`a, and secretary
general of the Yemen Economic Society. This article will
appear in the book The Middle East City, edited by Saqqaf and
forthcoming this year from Paragon House. It is printed with
the permission of the Professors World Peace Academy, which
sponsored the conference on the Middle East city at which this
paper was first presented. |
"Then Sam Ibn Noohj (Shem, son of Noah), discomfitted by life in the north, headed south in search of a better living environment. He reached the land of Yemen, and there he chose to build his home on top of Mount Ghamdan in the fields of Sana'a." So goes the legend of the founding of Sana'a, proclaimed to be the oldest living city on earth. It is this legend that gives Sana'a its popular name, Madinat Sam (Shem's city). Ancient references call Sana'a by still another name: Azal, or Uzal (referred to in Genesis 10:27) which is the name of one of the sons of Yaqtun, son of A'ber, son of Shalekh, son of Arflzhshed, son of Sam, son of Nooh (Noah).
Regardless of the founding person and date, Sana'a did not attain much significance before the time of Christ. One century after Christ, the Himyarite king Sha'ram Auter built the first wall around the city. During the second century after Christ, the Himyarite king Ely Sharh Yahdhub rebuilt the great Ghamdan Palace, which ever since has been the symbol of power in the city. Although growing in importance, Sana`a never became Yemen's capital city until the coming of the last Himyarite king, Yusuf Asar Yath-ar (commonly known as Dhu Nuwas), at the end of the fifth century. Since the time of this Jewish Yemeni king, Sana'a has remained the capital city, except for short periods of time at sporadic intervals.
With the fall of the Eastern Yemeni civilizations (Ma'een, Saba, Himyar, and others), the desert caravan trade route passing through Hadhramaut, Shabwa, Marib, and northward toward Mecca was replaced by the trade routes of the coastal plains (the Tihama) and the mountain routes passing through Zhafar, Sana'a, Sa'adah, and northward toward Mecca. As a result, a major market developed in Sana`a within the chain of annual Arab markets.
Thus, the first market of the year started in Dowmat al-Jandal, in what is today Jordan, then moved southeast to Jaher (today's Al-Hafoof, in Saudi Arabia), then went south to Suhar wa Duba', and further south to Shire Muhra in Hadhramaut, turned east to Souq Aden, and then headed north to Souq Sana'a, and finally came to Souq O'kaz, which was still further north. The duration of each market season varied from one region to another but generally runs two to six weeks.
Sana'a's market and storage facilities quickly eclipsed most of the others to the extent that the city became the destination of all astute merchants and serious scholars. Thus, the famous phrase repeated by Arab travelers states, "One must arrive in Sana'a, however long the journey,
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