NATIONAL PROFILE
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1001 NIGHTS
IN
OLD AND MODERN YEMEN
(Part 2)
By T.I.Farag and A.S.Toughan
The Ambassadors published the first article of this series on Yemen was in the National Profile section of the last issue. In the early 1960s, Dr. T.I. Farag met Mr. Toughan in Sanaa during the Cold War era . Dr. Farag arrived there as the first community pediatrician in Yemen. Toughan was there convinced that using his cartoons and drawings, he can guide the country's different tribal populations to the route of peace, prosperity and nationalism . Both immersed themselves in the Yemeni culture, which left a lasting mark on them. In this episode of the series, they present their journey of more than 1001 nights in old and modern Yemen.
The Ambassadors Research Foundation
T. I. Farag
A.S. Toughan
In this section, we hope to present our readers with a glimpse of the true old and modern Yemen. A country whose reality lays camouflaged and hidden from mainstream consciousness through negative misrepresentations in the global media. Contrary to many of the reports following the terrorist attack on the battleship USS Cole in 2000, the Yemenis people have been known for their immense generosity, genuine hospitality, trustworthiness, strong sense of patriotism, communal collectivity, and harmony with their harsh natural habitat. They are truly a people who have survived the test of time, eager to develop and compete in a world of possibilities, yet keen to remain true to a rich heritage. Unfortunately, progress in Yemen was not covered with the same intensity in the Western press as the revolutions, civil war, border clashes, assassination of presidents, economic catastrophes, riots and chaos!
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Table of Contents:
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Origin of the word "Yemen"
Inscriptions from Marib region indicated that the Sabaean kings from the fourth century A.D. included an area known as YMNT in their kingdom and in their complete titles. Some Arab writers sought to explain the origin of the name "Yemen" by the fact that the Arabic language has two triliteral roots containing the consonants Y-M-N. They mentioned that "YuMaN" means prosperous or happy with favored climate, sufficient water, plenty of fruits and vegetables. To the geographers of the ancient world, it was known as "Arabia Felix" and to Arabs as "Al-Yaman al Saida". Others mentioned that "YaMiN" meaning right, since Yemen is on the right hand side of Mecca. From these roots comes the present name of the Republic of Yemen, which was born in May 1990.
Frankincense trail and Sabaean route
Frankincense was to ancient Arabia what oil has become to modern Arabia. Herodotus mentioned that the frankincense were guarded by winged-serpents! Yemen poses two unique and highly desirable aromatic gum resins, frankincense (Boswellia Carterii) and myrrh. They are grown till now in Shabwa and Sokatra (Yemen), Dhofar (Sultanate of Oman) and Punt (Somaliland). It is well-known that camel caravans carrying these goods from their original locations through the incense trail helped to establish towns and old kingdoms in the pre-Islamic era.
The Old Yemen's history was an inextricable part of the Mimaeans, the Sabaeans, and the Himyarites. Some mentioned that no power controlled the Yemenis tribes who had enjoyed local autonomy under their own leaders and under the Abyssinians, the Persians, the Caliphates.
A Gallery of Old and Modern Yemen
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Our series presents an illustrated gallery of old and modern Yemen in order to familiarize the reader with the true Yemen: the Sanaa castles, the tribal populations, the Ma'rib Dam, qat versus coffee, and the marathon towards the 21st century. We are also looking into every Yemeni rock, brick, plant and land which is filled with myths, legends and stories. The country's unique buildings, gates, mountains, riches and people are truly of another realm. During the last 39 years, thousands of children, boys and girls, continued their education as a result of the ongoing modernization and development and subsequent creation of community schooling and higher education. Many of them have become doctors, lawyers, engineers, journalists and university professors.
In the early 1960s, our first visit to Yemen, we were faced with an unlikely wonderful land of oriental flavor and impressed with the country's beauty which was felt in the pre-modernization era. The colonists withdrew from Yemen were Turkey in 1918 from the north, and Britain in 1967 from the south. Both empires left their marks on Yemeni society but were unable to uproat the origin of the tribal culture.
The Yemeni flag on Mars!
Prof. Paul Dresch from the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at
Oxford University criticizes the negative stereotypes on the Yemenis people
regarding the planting of the Yemenis flag on planet Mars in his book entitled, "A History of
Modern Yemen" published by Cambridge University Press in 2000. He raised the question on who owns planet
Mars:
"In summer 1979, two Yemenis laid claim to the planet Mars. The government released a statement that the pair were abnormal, but the reasoning perhaps was not unsound. The Americans had been seen , many years before, planting flags on the moon; more recently they had landed a spacecraft on Mars, and the plaintiffs now demanded they cease and desist until written permission had been negotiated. Unfortunately we are not told what detailed argument made Mars the particular property of Mustafa Khalil and Abdullah al-Umari, but there doubtless was one, for Hamdani, a millennium ago, began his Description of the Arabian Peninsula with an outline of the world's regions and their relation to celestial bodies and famously, in volume eight of his Diadem Book, he attributed the fate of Sanaa to the combined effects of Mars and Venus. If the people of specific regions are governed in their natures by different planets, doubtless, some relationship of ownership might run the other way."
The Zaraniq Independent State
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The Ottoman Empire left northern Yemen in 1918, while the
British remained in southern Yemen up until November 1967. The journey to
freedom and liberation was a long harsh and hectic one.
In 1967, Johns Hopkins University Press published a book entitled, Modern
Yemen 1948-1966 by Prof. Manfred W. Wenner, Chairman of the
Department of International Studies at Wisconsin State University. He
mentioned,
"The Shafi tribe of al-Zaraniq in the Bayt al-Faqih-Zabid-al-Hudayda area decided to assert its independence. They [tribes] have been a source of trouble to all who have tried to govern them. While many travelers have described them 'fractious independence' at least one has called them a friendly hospitable people who have no fanatical xenophobic tendencies and defend their freedom with fierce tenacity. In 1925, Sheik Ahmad al-Fuqayni of the Zaraniq sent a telegraph to the League of Nations asking that an independent Zaraniq state be established in the Tihama with al-Hudayda as the capital. The Zaraniq declared war on the Imam in the late 1928."
Free Yemen Movement
Interestingly, the Free Yemen Movement published in the 1940s, pamphlets and books signed by Hizb al-Ahrar al-Yamani. One of these books was entitled, al-Yaman al-manhuba al-mankuba (Yemen: the unfortunate and plunderd).
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Many scholars reported different tribal revolutionary missions and assassination attempts against Imam Yahya (1904-1948) and Imam Ahmad (1948-1962). The revolutionaries succeeded in assassinating Imam Yahya, the isolationist, in 1948. The fact that Imam Ahmad had survived several attempts on his life had given him an almost mythical reputation for indestructibility. He was called Ahmad Ya Jinnah, which means "Ahmad who is protected by the Jinn". Colonel al-Thalaya's revolution of 1955 against Imam Ahmad was unsuccessful and resulted in his execution. This revolutionary attempt was followed by several other failed coups. In 1961, one of the attempts resulted in his injury with five bullets. In September 18, 1962 the Imam died while sleeping in his palace in Taiz. The next day, his son Crown Prince Mohamed Al-Badr, was declared as the new Imam - 111th of the Rassid Dynasty to hold the title. In the night of September 26, 1962 a new coup d'etat was launched in Sanaa, which resulted in the birth of a republic in northern Yemen headed by President Abdullah al-Sallal. From this date, the civil war commenced up until 1970.
Who conquered Imam al-Badr?
 Imam Mohamed al-Badr |
The tyrannic Imam Ahmed treated his son al-Badr with disrespect, reversing most of his executive decisions. This left al-Badr with the reputation of soft-spoken ruler who lacked any leadership or power. The crown prince then resorted to alcohol to relieve his pains. al-Badr's father and grandfather ruled with such oppressive tyranny and xenophobia, that once he inherited the country his people despised both himself and his family.
During the civil war, some used a proverb to describe the xenophobic Yemenis culture, "With my brother we are against our uncle's son and my uncle's son and I are against the stranger."! This proverb was used in order to create tribal uprising against the Egyptians who came aid in the modernization of Yemen. One of Imam al-Badr's advisors and friend, colonel Bruce Bonde expected that Yemen would disintegrate as soon as the Egyptians were gone. This turned out to be wrong since the Yemenis bravely defended their country and Imam al-Badr was the last of a dynasty that ruled for more than 1000 years in Yemen. He left with his father-in-law, Yahya Al-Hirsi to live in Britain. The detailed story of major general Bruce Bonde will be published in the next issue.
Imamic poems, President Nasser and the Flower of Paradise
It is well-known that the Arabs in general enjoy poetry. When controversial views about the benefits and harms of qat (catha edulis) which some refer to as the "flower of paradise", were raised in Yemen, the Imam encouraged its usage through his poem, which he distributed:
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"Emerald image
It sweetens my heart
Waking my state of mind and
My days so pleasant
Qat is everything that one could
wish for, it brings good and
drives evil away
The good in heart have written
the name of Allah in its leaves
Qat unveils the mystery of Allah"
Imam Ahmad was aware of the opposition towards his government
and used poetry to express his political views.
Consequently, he took the advantage of the opportunity presented by the signing
of the United Arab Republic (UAR) Agreement between Egypt and Syria in 1958.
After the dissolution of the UAR in
December 1961, Imam Ahmad severed his ties
with President Nasser with his 64-line poem, in which he condemned the politics
and ideology of the Egyptian president, declaring them to be incompatible with
tenets of Islam. Some of the lines read:
"Taking property by forbidden
means
On a pretext of 'nationalization' or of 'justice'
Between those who have wealth and those with none
Is a crime against Islamic law"
Nasser terminated Yemen's membership in the UAR. Cairo radio described Mohamed M. Al-Zubairi as leader of the Yemen liberation movement.
Modern Yemen born by Cesarean section?!
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It is difficult to conceive of a modern Yemen beginning at any precise moment in time. However the gradual development of the country out of over 185 tribes in the north and an unlimited number in the south was born out of the decision to form a unified nation along democratic lines. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was elected to be the first president of this unified Yemen in 1990 with Sanaa as its political capital and Aden as its economic one. The road to this achievement was a long and trying one leading some to describe the birth of Yemen as a Cesarean delivery! President Saleh was among those heroes who labored through this process as an officer who demonstrated heroism during the 70-day Siege of Sanaa following the departure of the Egyptian forces in December 1967.
After eight years of civil war (1962-1970) and after the unification of North and Southern regions, the Yemeni people succeeded to overcome isolation and were catching up rapidly with modernization by implementing many developmental projects that have marked an improvement in education and health. The Chinese aided Yemen in the creation of a new large textile industry; the United Arab Emirates assisted in the construction of a new dam to replace the old historic dam of Maarib; the Russians helped establish an orthopedic center; the Americans provided assistance in the formation of clean water systems, better roads and oil mining; Saudi Arabia increased their foreign investments in Yemen supporting the country's economy; the West German government provided Sanaa with the first public clock; while the Egyptians contributed with their expertise in the new universities, schools and healthcare centers. It would be interesting to discuss the marathon from isolation and tribalism to nationalism and globalization in Yemen, with our observations from a journey of more than 1001 nights in old and modern Yemen.
In 1990, the Yemeni people went to the streets chanting the following new song:
What is North? And what the South?
Two hearts whose joy and pain are joined
Were united by hate and suffering
By history and by God
Shamsan will soon meet its brother Nuqum
(Shamsan is the mountain beside Aden and Nuqum is the mountain beside Sanaa)
Queen Arwa University
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In 1067, a woman became the head of Sulahid State when King Mukarram's widow Queen Arwa bint Ahmed Al-Sulaihi succeeded her husband's throne. She ruled the state until her death in 1138. She moved the capital to the town of Gibla (near Ibb) where the mosque of Queen Arwa still stands in honor of her memory. Queen Arwa is considered the most distinctive and famous Yemeni ladies after Queen Biliqis of Sheba kingdom. In January 1996, a new university was established named after Queen Arwa. Even in modern Yemen, women continue to play a major role in social development. Many have been employed in the medical profession, teaching, new industries and broadcasting.
It is well-known that the earliest civilization in southern Arabia existed more than 1000 years B.C. Its people had irrigation techniques, metallargical and ceramic skills, alphabetic script, architecture, and a complex religion based on astral triad (moon, sun and Venus). In the 1970s, archeological teams found stone tools from both sides of Bab Al-Mandib suggesting that the first human migrations reached Yemen from the capital Olduvai culture in East Africa about 40,000 years ago.
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Foreign Ambassadors to Yemen
All those who enter Sanaa through Khozaima Gate will fall in love with Yemen. Four of our friends, like ourselves, have experienced this feeling. It is difficult to forget their contribution during the harsh times of the civil war and during the difficult times of "delivery" of Modern Unified Yemen:
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 Captain Essam Baheeg Peace and Sports |
A further more in-depth analysis of the history, culture and people's lifestyle will be presented in the coming episode to this series published in the coming issue of The Ambassadors Magazine.
"SHIBAM IN THE EYES OF
ITS CHILDREN" PUBLISHED!
Recently, the (Shibam Urban Development Service GTZ and the Children of Shibam) celebrated the publication of "Shibam in the Eyes of its Children" by Zein Al-Abidin Fuad, who has played a remarkable role in creating awareness of the children rights. This book presents the results of a drawing workshop held last year.
Photos: Daniela - From Yemen Observer (www.yobserver.com)
Further Readings:
Paul Dresch. History of Modern Yemen. Cambride: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Vincent Tucker (ed.) Cultural Perspectives on Development. London: Frank Cass and EADI, 1997.
Mohamed Mohsen Al-Zahiri. The Political Role of Tribes in Yemen. (In Arabic - al-Dor al-Siyasy lil-Kabila fi al-Yaman). Madbooly Publishers, Cairo, 1996.
Talaat Iskandar. Memoirs of a Community Doctor in Yemen. (In Arabic - Konto tabeeban fi al-Yemen). 2nd edition. Cairo, 1975.
Abdul Moneim M. Aly. Evolution of Medical Services in Yemen. Cairo, 1971.
Manfred W. Wenner. Modern Yemen, 1948-1966. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1967.
A. Janome. Sabean inscriptions from Mahram Bilqis (Marib). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1962.
Claudie Fayein . En Francaise Medicin au Yemen. Paris, 1955.
H.S. Philby. Sheba's Daughters. London: Methun, 1939.
Prof. Talaat I. Farag, MD, FRCP(Edin), FACP, is a community geneticis and syndromologist. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Email: tfarag@is.dal.ca
Mr. Ahmed S. Toughan is an international cartoonist, journalist and political analyst. He is one of the founders of Al-Gomhorriya daily newspaper (1953), Cairo, Egypt. Email: toughan@access.com.eg
To send information or comments, email at mail@ambassadors.net.
