YEMEN: Sana`a
Sanaá, the mountain capital of Yemen, was inscribed on the World
Heritage List in 1986. The city counts 103
mosques, 14 hammams public-baths and some 6,000 houses of which some
date from
the eleventh century AD. The multi-storied pise
tower-houses, their small windows outlined with white lime-wash are
home to some 50,000 people. Sanaá has been inhabited for an
estimated 2,500 years. Legend says it was founded by Shem, one of
the three sons of Noah. During the second century AD it was the main
highland garrison town of the Sabaean Kingdom being subsequently conquered by
the Persians and even ruled for fifty years by the Abyssinian Empire. During
this time a great cathedral was built by two architects sent
by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. The largest Christian building south of
the Mediterranean it drew pilgrims from all over Arabia. In 628 AD Yemen
embraced Islam. History records that the Prophet Mohammad himself gave
instructions for the positioning of qiblah of the Great Mosque
so as to be precisely aligned with Mecca. Sana`a long ago overflowed from
the mountain valley but the `old town` surrounding the mosque remains essentially unchanged.