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YEMEN (Yaman)

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 914 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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YEMEN (Yaman) , a See also:province of See also:Arabia, forming the S.W. corner of the See also:peninsula, between 12° 35' and 18° N., and 42° and 470 E., bounded on the N. by See also:Asir and on the E. by the Dahna See also:desert and See also:Hadramut. See also:Ptolemy and the See also:ancient geographers in See also:general include the whole peninsula under the name of Arabia See also:Felix (€ baiµwv), in which sense they translate the Arabic Yemen, literally " right See also:hand," for all Arabia S. of the Gulf of See also:Akaba was to the right from their standpoint of See also:Alexandria; the See also:Mahommedan geographers, however, viewing it from See also:Mecca, confine the See also:term to the provinces S. of See also:Hejaz, including Asir, Hadramut, See also:Oman and See also:part of See also:southern See also:Nejd. The See also:Turkish vilayet of Yemen includes Asir, and extends along the Red See also:Sea See also:coast from El Laith in the N. to Shekh Said at the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb; its See also:land boundary on the E. is undefined, except in the S.E., where the boundary between Turkish territory and that of the See also:independent tribes under See also:British See also:protection was defined by an agreement between See also:Great See also:Britain and See also:Turkey in 1904, by a See also:line See also:running approximately N.E. from Shekh Said to the Dahna desert. The See also:main See also:physical characteristics of the province are described in the See also:article ARABIA. A See also:lowland See also:strip 20 to 30 M. wide extends along its western and southern coasts, skirting the great See also:mountain range which runs along the whole western See also:side of the Arabian peninsula, and attains its greatest height in the Jibal, or high-lands of Yemen; beyond this mountain See also:zone the interior See also:plateau falls gradually towards the N.E. to the Dahna desert. The lowland, or Tehama, is hot and generally sterile; it contains oases, however, near the See also:foot of the mountains, fertilized and irrigated by See also:hill streams and supporting many large villages and towns. The most important of these are See also:Abu Arish, See also:Bet el Fakih and Zubed in the western Tehama, the latter a thriving See also:town of 20,000 inhabitants and the See also:residence of a Turkish kaimakam; and Abyan and Lahej, the See also:chief See also:place of the independent Abdali tribe, in the southern Tehama. See also:Hodeda and See also:Aden are the only ports of commercial importance, Lohaia and Ghalefika have sunk to insignificant fishing villages, and See also:Mokha, the old centre of the See also:coffee See also:trade, is now almost deserted. The Jibal forms a mountainous zone some 5o m. in width rising steeply from the foothills of the Tehama to an See also:average height of 9000 ft.; many summits exceed to,000 ft.—the highest fixed by actual survey is See also:Jebel Manar, 10,565 ft., about to m. E. of the town of Ibb. With its temperate See also:climate and See also:regular rainfall, due to the See also:influence of the S.W. See also:monsoon, the Jibal must be considered the most favoured See also:district of Arabia. The villages are substantially built of See also:stone, often picturesquely situated on the spurs and crests of the hills, the houses clustering See also:round the dars or towers which dominate the cultivated slopes and valleys.

The See also:

principal crops are See also:wheat, See also:barley, See also:millet and coffee, the last-named more particularly on the western slopes of the range within reach of the moist sea-breezes. In many places the hill-sides, otherwise too steep for cultivation, are cut into terraced See also:fields 'supported by stone walls; the name given by the See also:Greek geographers to the range of S. Arabia was no doubt intended to describe the step-like See also:appearance of the hills due to this method of cultivation. A See also:special characteristic of the Yemen See also:highlands is that fields and inhabited sites are found at the highest elevations, the mountain-tops forming extensive plateaux, often scarped on every side and only accessible by difficult paths cut in the cliffs which encircle them like the escarpments of a natural fortress; a remarkable example of this is Jebel Jihaf on the Aden border, 8000 ft. above sea-level and 4000 ft. above the Kataba valley, an isolated plateau some 6 m. See also:long, containing See also:thirty or See also:forty villages. The principal town of the Jibal is Ta'iz, the seat of a Turkish mutassarif ; its See also:present See also:population does not exceed 4000, but it was formerly a large See also:city, and from its position in the centre of a comparatively fertile district at the junction of several trade routes it must always be important. It contains five mosques and the Turkish See also:government offices and See also:barracks, and in the business See also:quarter several cafes and shops kept by Greeks. The climate is unhealthy, perhaps owing to its position in a See also:low valley, 4400 ft. above sea-level, at the foot of the lofty Jebel Sabur (4900 ft.), and even in See also:Niebuhr's See also:time many of the houses in the city were in ruins. Thirty See also:miles further N. are the small towns of Ibb (6700 ft.) and Jibla, about 5 m. apart, typical hill towns with their high stone-built houses and paved streets. To the E. on the main road to the coast via "tubed is Uden, the centre of a coffee-growing district; 8o m. to the N. is Manakha, a Turkish See also:post on the main road from Hodeda to the See also:capital, and the chief place of Jebel Haraz, which produces the best coffee in Yemen. Another See also:group of hill towns lies still further N. in the mountain See also:mass between the See also:Wadi Maur and Wadi La'a, where the strongholds of Dhafir, Afar, Haja and Kaurkaban held out for long against the Turkish advance; the last-named town, now almost deserted, was once a city of 20,000 inhabitants, and the capital of a small principality which preserved its See also:independence during the earlier Turkish occupation between 1536 and 163o. The inner or plateau zone of Yemen stretches along the whole length of the province, with an average width of 120 m.; it lies entirely to the E. of the high range, and has therefore a smaller rainfall than the Jibal; its general See also:character is that of a See also:steppe increasing in aridity towards the E. where it merges in the desert, but broken in places by rocky ranges, some of which rise 2000 ft. above the general level, and which in the Hamdan district N. of See also:Sana show See also:evidence of volcanic See also:action.

It is intersected by several wadi systems. of which the principal are those in the N. uniting to See also:

form the Wadi Nejran, in the centre the Wadi Kharid and Shibwan running to the Jauf, and in the S. the Wadi Bana and its affluents draining to the Gulf of Aden. The plateau has a See also:gradual fall from the See also:watershed near Yarim, 850o ft. above sea-level, to less than 4000 ft. at the edge of the desert. The See also:northern part nearly down to the See also:latitude of See also:Sand, is the territory of the warlike Hashid and Bakil tribes, which have never submitted to the See also:Turks, and in 1892 and again in 1904–5 drove the Turkish troops from almost every See also:garrison in the province, and for a time held the capital Sana itself for the See also:Imam Muhammad Yahiya, the representative of the old See also:dynasty that ruled in Yemen from the See also:expulsion of the Turks in 1630 till its reconquest in 1871. The principal places are Sa'da, the residence of the Imam, an important town on the old See also:pilgrim road 120 M. N. of Sana, Khaiwan and Khamr. In the N.E., bordering on the desert, is the district of Nejran, a mountainous See also:country with several fertile valleys including the Wadi Nejran, Bedr and Habuna, all probably draining N.E. to the Wadi Dawasir. Further S. is the See also:oasis of Jauf, a hollow or depression, as its name signifies, containing many villages, and of great antiquarian See also:interest as the central point of the old Minaean and Sabaean kingdoms, known to the ancients from the earliest See also:historical times through their See also:control of the See also:frankincense trade of S. Arabia. Main, identified by See also:Halevy as the seat of the former, is on a hilltop surrounded by walls still well preserved. Numerous other ruins were found by him in the neighbourhood, together with See also:inscriptions supporting the See also:identification. Marib, the Sabaean capital, was celebrated for its great See also:dam, built according to tradition by the See also:Queen of Sheba, and the bursting of which in A.D. 120 is said to have led to the See also:abandonment of the city.

This was, however, more probably due to the deterioration of the country through See also:

desiccation, which has forced the settled population farther See also:west-See also:ward, where Sana became the centre of the later I-limyaritic See also:kingdom. The Arhab district drained by the Wadi Kharid and Shibwan between Sana and the Jauf is covered with Himyaritic ruins, showing that the land formerly supported a large settled population where owing to the want of See also:water cultivation is now impossible. See also:South of this independent tribal territory the principal places are Amran and Shibam on the road leading N. from the capital Sana; Dhamar (a town of 4000 inhabitants, the residence of a kaimakam, and the seat of an ancient university) and Yarim are on the road leading S. to Aden; and two days' See also:journey to the E. is Rada in the extreme S.E. of Turkish Yemen, formerly a large town, but now much decayed. From near Rada the boundary runs S.W. to the small town of Ka'taba through which the See also:direct road passes from Aden to Sana. The territory to the S. and E. is occupied by independent tribes under British protection, of which the principal are the Yafa', the Haushabi and the Abdali. The inhabitants of Yemen are settled, and for the most part occupied in See also:agriculture and trade, the conditions which favour the See also:pastoral or Bedouin type found in Hejaz and Nejd hardly existing. As in the adjoining province of Hadramut, with which Yemen has always been closely related, the See also:people are divided into four classes: (1) The Seyyids or Ashraf, descendants of the See also:prophet, forming a religious See also:aristocracy; (2) the Kabail, or tribesmen, belonging to the Kahtanic or See also:original S. Arabian stock, who formthe bulk of the population, and are the only class habitually carrying arms; (3) the trading class; (4) the servile class, mostly of mixed See also:African descent, and including a number of See also:Jews. These latter See also:wear a distinctive garb and occupy See also:separate villages, or quarters in the towns. Owing to the hardships to which they have been exposed through the disturbed See also:state of the country, many are emigrating to See also:Jerusalem. See C. Niebuhr, Travels and Description of Arabia (See also:Amsterdam, 1774) ; D.

G. See also:

Hogarth, Penetration of Arabia (See also:London, 1904) ; E. See also:Glaser, Geschichte and Geographie Arabiens (See also:Berlin, 1890), and in See also:Petermann's Mitt. (1886) ; R. See also:Manzoni, Il Yemen (See also:Rome, 1884) ; A. Deflers, Voyage en Yemen (See also:Paris, 1889); S M. Zwemer, Arabia (See also:Edinburgh, 1900) ; W. B. See also:Harris, A Journey through Yemen (London, 1893) ; H. Burchardt, Z. d. Ges. See also:fur Erdkunde (Berlin, 1902), No. 7.

(R. A.

End of Article: YEMEN (Yaman)

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