through the ancient port of Qānā, today known as Bi’r ˓Alī, thereafter transported overland through Shabwah.5
In the ancient world, the consumers of the expensive incenses were never informed of their precise origins, hence the legends and myths that surround the early medieval spice and incense trade. For example, Heredotus wrote that incense growers lived in isolated groves and were forbidden marital relations with women or to attend funerals. He also claimed that the mythical groves which produced the precious incense were guarded by winged serpents. But such fables were probably largely the result of overzealous Yemeni incense merchants who wished not only to preserve the high prices sought for their wares, but also to protect the sea routes they had mastered to India and China by learning to negotiate the monsoon winds.6 The ancient sea routes brought in further expensive luxuries such as spices and silks which all passed through Yemeni ports on to camel caravan routes through Arabia into Greek and then later Roman domains. So fruitful were Yemeni merchants in the trade of precious commodities, that the Romans believed that the Arabian Peninsula was the producer of all such expensive items, prompting them to describe the Yemen as Arabia Felix (‘Fortuitous Arabia’). But the exotic and mysterious image of Arabia, cultivated by the Romans, overlooked the harsh realities of life in the region in which the majority of the population were held in virtual serfdom, working the irrigated foothills of the highlands in the production of much-needed agricultural produce. Evidence of this early sophisticated agricultural society is best seen in the ancient remains of the huge rock monoliths of the former Ma’rib Dam. These now strange free-standing structures are all that remain of the colossal wādī (valley) sluices that trapped the rainfall running down the valleys, forming a complex irrigation system constructed by the ancient Sabean civilization that is believed to have irrigated more than 16,000 hectares, producing food for an estimated 300,000 people.7
The Ma’rib Dam is a legend that even finds references in the Qur’ān (Sūrah 27, Al-Naml and Sūrah 34, Saba’) and is linked historically to the Old Testament Queen of Sheba (or, Bilqīs), who was said to have visited King Solomon’s (Sulāymān) court in ancient Palestine (10 Kings: 1–3, Chronicles: 1–2). Scripture offers only sketchy descriptions of the events and no absolute narrative exists as to the exact detail of the ancient queen, her epic journey to Solomon’s seat and the details of her kingdom. Archaeological excavations of these ancient Sabean sites are slowly beginning to offer further evidence of this once great civilization. The collapse of the Ma’rib Dam in the fifth century CE, and its ill-fated restoration that resulted in its ultimate collapse 100 years later, is seen as the catalyst for the demise of the Sabean civilization. Although historians suggest that the collapse of the Ma’rib Dam was actually only a contributory factor to the wider downturn in the incense trade from the fourth century CE onwards when the Romans discovered their own sea routes to India in search of the origins of the spices and incense they sought. Further, the political shifts within the Roman Empire as the Eastern Empire quickly acceded saw the capital transferred from Rome to Constantinople in 395CE, which meant that a new overland route to India and China opened up through ancient Persia and Afghanistan. Added to this was the spread of Christianity across Byzantium in the fourth and fifth centuries CE, which hailed a major change from the previous pagan rituals that had relied on incense for its religious rites.
As develoments in the Western and Eastern Roman Empires took their toll on the international incense trade in the Yemen, internal transformations within the region also began to have their impact. The relatively sophisticated kingdoms and civilizations that had developed as a direct result of the boom in the incense and spice trades slowly began to deteriorate as the previous wealth that flooded into the region gradually dried up. This serious economic decline in the region brought about a re-nomadification of Southern Arabia as the former prosperous centres suffered from economic deprivation.8 Consequently, the highly-developed irrigated agricultural societies that sprouted out of the practical need to feed the booming economic centres also fell into rapid decline. The resultant effect was a complete cessation of market economies based on the luxury commodities of spice, silk and incense. As a consequence, what had previously been hailed by the other great civilizations as the ‘land of plenty’ quickly became the ‘land of empty’.
The northern highlands of the region had for many years been influenced by Byzantine Christianity, both from the Hellenistic world and the Abyssinian Empire. Yet, whilst Christianity had influenced the beliefs and culture of the northern Ḥimyarite kingdom, when the last Ḥimyarite sovereigns converted to Judaism, the situation for the majority Christians in the region of Najrān became that of religious persecution at the hands of the zealot Jewish king, Dhū Nuwwās, prompting an invasion by the Abyssinians around 518CE. Towards the south, the ancient prosperous kingdoms of Saba’, Ma˓īn, Qatabān, Awsān and Ḥaḍramawt, all evaporated as their various populations either reverted to a Bedouin existence, trekking the ancient oasis routes of the Empty Quarter desert or settled the highland slopes to carve out small agricultural communities. The residue of these ancient Yemeni civilizations remains deep-rooted in the collective conscience of their descendants and is often manifest in the modern-day constructions of Yemeni homes, whether they are mountain village dwellings that hang precariously off the rocky ridges, the urban settlements of regional and provincial cities, or the Manhattan-like multi-storey tower blocks of Shibām in Wādī Ḥaḍramawt. Beyond the unique architecture of the Yemen, which pays homage to past civilizational glory, are the ancient tribal customs (˓urf) that encapsulate moral and ethical codes of mutual coexistence and run parallel to the religious codes of the Islamic sharī˓ah and the modern secular legislation of a burgeoning democratic nation-state. Never too far behind the modern tropes and trappings of contemporary Yemen are the ancient reminders of a civilization with a unique and ancient past.
In the pre-Islamic period the Yemeni people are considered to be the ‘original’ Arabs, al-˓arab al-˓āribah, or what Ismail Raji al-Faruqi translates as ‘the Arabizing Arabs’, in contrast to al-˓arab al-musta˓ribah, or, the ‘Arabized Arabs’.9 Paul Dresch refers to an Islamic Prophetic tradition, which declares the Yemenis to be the original Arabs, is often used to substantiate this genealogical and civilizational claim.10 The topography of the Yemen has largely contributed to the social, cultural and political development of the country and there are three principle geopolitical regions that have had a determining effect on the different socio-political groupings and historical worldviews of the peoples of Yemen.11 The western and northern mountain highlands have always been virtually impervious to invasion or outside domination, rendering it autonomous of any imposed and centralized form of national government. The southern uplands have provided a relatively stable and suitable environment for the establishment of more urban and organized societies conducive to structured forms of government or state building. Tihāmah occupies the precarious location between the mountains and the sea, leaving its people open to historic invasions from both directions. This geographical vulnerability has hindered the establishment of any local rule and Tihāmah has historically been the political battleground of foreign and Yemeni ruling powers.12 Tribal bonds and allegiances have also often stunted the development of any central authority or unifying government. Most Yemenis belong to a tribe, clan or lineage and tribes inhabit defined regions and territories each ruled by a tribal elder, or shaykh. These regions are governed by a combination of their own ˓urf (local tribal customs) and sharī˓ah (Islamic law) according to its specific theological tradition.13 Furthermore, each tribe and region preserves inherited genealogies and distinct historical narratives. Yet despite the apparent hindrance of tribalism, there have been several forms of government in the 5000 yearold history of the Yemen. However, few rulers managed to exercise total rule over all regions of the Yemen and even fewer could claim absolute allegiance to their rule.14
The modern country of Yemen geographically occupies the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Jazīrat al-˓Arab, bordered on the west by the Red Sea and to the north and the east by Saudi Arabia and Oman respectively. The land mass covers
