Settlement Patterns and Fortification Architecture in the Central Highlands of Yemen
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.33381Keywords:
vernacular architecture, fortifications, Middle Islamic, Late Islamic, Ottoman, YemenAbstract
Located in the central highlands of Yemen at approximately 2,000-2,600 meters above sea level, the Dhamar Plain was the home of a tribal population who continually contended with a succession of invading states for its control over the course of medieval and early modern periods, such as the Rasulids (13th-14th cen.) and the Ottomans (16th-17th cen.). Despite the roughly century-long duration of theses occupations, only minimal physical remains are left of their military architecture in contrast to the abundance of local fortified structures still remaining. This article examines their settlement patterns and types of fortification as based on survey results from the Dhamar Survey Project (DSP) and the Dhamar Museum Survey (DHS). Emerging from a strong vernacular tradition that extends back to the prehistoric period, these architectural forms range from singular tower houses and watchtowers to more extensive citadels and walled settlements. Overall, this diversity indicates well-developed schemes that aim to maximize both arable land for agriculture and the safety of the inhabitants on both a household and community level.
References
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Barceló, M., H. Kirchner, and J. Torró 2000. “Going around ?af?r (Yemen), the Ban? Ru?ayn Field Survey: Hydraulic archaeology and peasant work.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 30: 27–41.
Barceló, M., J. Ortega, A. Piera and J. Torró. 2003. “The search for the Harrah Asd?d in the area of ?af?r, Governate of Ibb, Yemen.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 33: 133–142.
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Bel, J.-M. 1997. Yemén, l’Art des Batisseurs: Architecture et Vie Quotidienne. Bruxelles: Amyris.
Breton, J.-F. 2003. “Preliminary notes on the development of Shabwa.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 33: 199–213.
Edens, C. 1999. “The bronze age of highland Yemen: Chronological and spatial variability of pottery and settlement.” Paléorient 25: 103–126. https://doi.org/10.3406/paleo.1999.4690
2005. “Exploring early agriculture in the highlands of Yemen.” In Sabaean Studies: Archaeological, Epigraphical, and Historical Studies in Honour of Yusuf M. Abdallah, Alessandro de Maigret, Christian J. Robin on the Occasion of Their Sixtieth Birthdays, edited by Amida M. Sholan, Sabina Antonini, and Mounir Arbach, 185–211. Naples and Sanaa: Sanaa University.
Farah, C. 1990. “Yemeni fortification and the Second Ottoman Conquest.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 20: 31–42.
2010. The Ottoman Forts and Castles of Yemen: A Photographic and Architectural Analysis. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press.
Gast, M. 1979. “Reserves à Grain et Autres Constructions en République Arabe du Yemen.” In Les Techniques de Conservation des Grains à Long Terme: Leur Rôle dans la Dynamique des Systems de Cultures et des Societies, edited by Marceau Gast, and Francois Sigaut, vol. 1, 198–204. Paris: CNRS.
Gibson, M. and T. J. Wilkinson. 1995. “The Dham?r Plain, Yemen: A Preliminary Study of the Archaeological Landscape.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 25: 159–183.
al-Hamd?n?, al-?asan b. A?mad b. Ya?q?b 1989. ?ifat Jaz?rat al-?Arab, edited by Mu?ammad b. ?Al? al-Akwa?. Baghdad.
Hirschi, S. and M. Hirschi. 1983. L’architecture au Yémen du Nord. Paris: Berger-Levrault.
al-?usayn, Ya?y? b. 1968. Gh?yat al-Am?n? f? Akhb?r al-Qu?r al-Yam?n?, edited by Sa??d ??sh?r. 2 vols. Cairo.
Ibn al-Dayba?, Abd al-Ra?m?n 2006. Kit?b Qurrat al-?Uy?n bi-Akhb?r al-Yaman al-Maym?n, edited by Mu?ammad b. ?Al? al-Akwa?. Sanaa.
Ibn ??tim, Mu?ammad 1974. Kit?b al-Sim? al-Gh?l? al-Thaman f? Akhb?r al-Mul?k min al-Ghuzz bi-l-Yaman, edited by Rex Smith. 2 vols. London: Messrs Luzac.
Ibn al-Muj?wir, Yus?f b. Ya?q?b. 1954. ?ifat Bil?d al-Yaman wa-Makka wa-Ba?? al-?ij?z al-Musamm? T?r?kh al-Mubta?ir, edited by Oscar Löfgren. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill.
al-Idr?s?, Mu?ammad. 1989. Kit?b Nuzhat al-Musht?q f? Ikhtir?q al-?f?q, ed., n.n. 2 vols. Beirut: ?Alam al-Kutub.
Jamme, A. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Ma?ram Bilqîs (Mârib). Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins Press.
Jourdain, John. 1905. The Journal of John Jourdain, 1608–1617, Describing His Experiences in Arabia, India, and the Malay Archipelago. Edited by W. Foster. Cambridge: The Hakluyt Society.
al-Kawm?n?, ?. 2010. “Mas?jid Mad?nat Dham?r ?att? Nih?yat al-Qarn 12h./18m.” Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Sanaa, Yemen.
Keall, E. 1992. “Smokers’ pipes and the fine pottery tradition of Hays.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 22: 29–46.
Khalidi, L., C. Oppenheimer, B. Gratuze, S. Boucetta, A. Sanabani and A. al-Mosabi. 2010. “Obsidian sources in highland Yemen and their relevance to archaeological research in the Red Sea region.” Journal of Archaeological Science 37: 2332–2345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.04.007
al-Khazraj?, ?Al? b. al-?asan. 2009. Al-?Uq?d al-Lu?lu?iyya f? T?r?kh al-Dawla al-Ras?liyya, edited by ?Abd All?h Mu?ammad al-?ibsh?. 2 vols. Sanaa.
Leslie, J. 1987. “Think before you build: Progress of a building education project, Dhamar, Yemen Arab Republic.” In Proceedings of the Middle East and Mediterranean Regional Conference on Earthen and Low-Strength Masonry Buildings in Seismic Areas, edited by Mustafa Özder Erdik, 43–68. Paris: UNESCO.
Lewcock, R. 1976. “Towns and buildings in Arabia: North Yemen.” Architectural Association Quarterly 9: 3–19.
Lewis, K. 2005a. “Space and the Spice of Life: Food, Politics, and Landscape in Ancient Yemen.” Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Chicago.
2005b. “The Himyarite Site of al-Adhla and its implications for the economy and chronology of early historic highland Yemen.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 35: 129–141.
Lewis, K. and L. Khalidi.2008. “From prehistoric landscapes to urban sprawl: The Ma?n?at M?ryah Region of highland Yemen.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 38: 215–230.
Lewis, K., L. Khalidi, W. Isenberger and A. Sanabani. 2010. “Mapping Ma?na?at M?ryah: Using GIS to reconstruct the development of multi-period site in the highlands of Yemen. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 40: 213-226.
Lu?f All?h, ?Isa b. 2003. Raw? al-R?? f?m? ?adatha ba?d al-Mi?a al-T?si?a min al-Fitan wa-l-Fut??, edited by Ibr?h?m A?mad al-Maqhaf?. Sanaa.
Mahoney, Daniel. 2016. Ceramic production in the Yemeni Central Highlands during the Islamic Period.” In Landscapes of the Islamic World: Archaeology, History, and Ethnography, edited by S. McPhllips and P. Wordsworth, 129–142. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Middleton, Henry. 1742. An Account of the Captivity of Sir Henry Middleton By the Turks at Moka, or Mokha; and His Journey from Thence, with Thirty Four Englishmen More, to the Basha at Zenan, or Sanaa: With a Description of the Country, and a Journal of Their Travels to that City, and Back Again. London: E. Symon.
al-Nahraw?l?, Qu?b al-D?n. 1967. Al-Barq al-Yam?n? f? al-Fat? al-?Uthm?n?, edited by ?amad al-J?sir. Riyadh.
Niebuhr, Carsten. 1972. Travels through Arabia and Other Countries in the East, edited and translated by R. Heron. 2 vols. Edinburgh: R. Morison and Son.
Office of the General Organization of Antiquities and Museums in Dham?r. 2005. Project Report of the 2005 Archaeological Survey of the Dham?r Governorate. Yemen.
Piotrovsky, M. 1994. “Late ancient and early medieval Yemen: Settlement traditions and innovations.” In The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East,” edited by G.R.D. King and A. Cameron, 213–220. Princeton, NJ: The Darwin Press.
Prioletta, A. 2013. Inscriptions from the Southern Highlands of Yemen: The Epigraphic Collections of the Museums of Bayn?n and Dham?r. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.
Serageldin, M., J. Deemer, J. Hecht, A. Badshah, A. Nagarkatti and R. Sampat. 1984. The Yemen Arab Republic economic development and architectural change.” In Development and Metamorphosis. Volume II: Background Papers. Singapore: Concept Media Ltd. for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
al-Sham?r?, Fu??d. 2009. “Al-?th?r al-Isl?miyya f? Mad?nat Dham?r.” In Dham?r ?abra al-?U??r: ?th?riyya, T?r?khiyya, Jughr?fiyya, Thaq?fiyya, edited by A?mad Mu?ammad al-?a?r?n?, 47–86. Dham?r.
al-Thaqaf?, Sulaym?n b. Ya?y?. 2002. S?rat al-Im?m A?mad b. Sulaym?n (532-566 h.). Edited by ?Abd al-?At?. Al-Haram.
Vallet, É. 2008. “La Vigne et le Palmier: Identités Provenciales et Construction de l’État sous le Sultanat Ras?lide (VIIe-IXe/XIIIe-XVe siècle).” Revue des Monde Musualmans et de la Méditerranee 121/122: 53–67. https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.4763
Varanda, F. 1982. The Art of Building in Yemen. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Whitcomb, D. 1996. “Urbanism in Arabia.” Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 7: 38–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0471.1996.tb00086.x
Wilkinson, T. J. 2003. “The organization of settlement in highland Yemen during the Bronze and Iron Ages.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 33: 157–168.
2006. “From highland to desert: The organization of landscape and irrigation in southern Arabia.” In Agricultural Strategies, edited by Joyce Marcus, and Charles Stanish, 38–70. Los Angeles: Costen Institute of Archaeology, University of California.
Wilkinson, T. J. and C. Edens. 1999 “Survey and excavation in the central highlands of Yemen: Results of the Dham?r Survey Project, 1996 and 1998.” Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 10: 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0471.1999.tb00124.x
Wilkinson, T. J., C. Edens, and G. Barratt. 2001 “?ammat al-Q??: An early town in southern Arabia. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 31: 249–260.
Wilkinson, T. J., C. Edens, and M. Gibson. 1997 “The archaeology of the Yemen high plains: A preliminary chronology.” Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 8: 99–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0471.1997.tb00149.x
Barbanes, E. 2000. “Domestic and defensive architecture on the Yemen Plateau: Eighth century BCE – sixth century CE.” Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 11: 207–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0471.2000.aae110206.x
Barceló, M., H. Kirchner, and J. Torró 2000. “Going around ?af?r (Yemen), the Ban? Ru?ayn Field Survey: Hydraulic archaeology and peasant work.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 30: 27–41.
Barceló, M., J. Ortega, A. Piera and J. Torró. 2003. “The search for the Harrah Asd?d in the area of ?af?r, Governate of Ibb, Yemen.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 33: 133–142.
Bonnenfant, P. 1991 “La Maison dans le Peninsule Arabique.” In L’Habitat Traditionnel dans les Pays Musulmans autour de la Méditerranée, 715–979. Le Caire: Institut Franc?ais d’Arche?ologie Orientale.
Bel, J.-M. 1997. Yemén, l’Art des Batisseurs: Architecture et Vie Quotidienne. Bruxelles: Amyris.
Breton, J.-F. 2003. “Preliminary notes on the development of Shabwa.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 33: 199–213.
Edens, C. 1999. “The bronze age of highland Yemen: Chronological and spatial variability of pottery and settlement.” Paléorient 25: 103–126. https://doi.org/10.3406/paleo.1999.4690
2005. “Exploring early agriculture in the highlands of Yemen.” In Sabaean Studies: Archaeological, Epigraphical, and Historical Studies in Honour of Yusuf M. Abdallah, Alessandro de Maigret, Christian J. Robin on the Occasion of Their Sixtieth Birthdays, edited by Amida M. Sholan, Sabina Antonini, and Mounir Arbach, 185–211. Naples and Sanaa: Sanaa University.
Farah, C. 1990. “Yemeni fortification and the Second Ottoman Conquest.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 20: 31–42.
2010. The Ottoman Forts and Castles of Yemen: A Photographic and Architectural Analysis. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press.
Gast, M. 1979. “Reserves à Grain et Autres Constructions en République Arabe du Yemen.” In Les Techniques de Conservation des Grains à Long Terme: Leur Rôle dans la Dynamique des Systems de Cultures et des Societies, edited by Marceau Gast, and Francois Sigaut, vol. 1, 198–204. Paris: CNRS.
Gibson, M. and T. J. Wilkinson. 1995. “The Dham?r Plain, Yemen: A Preliminary Study of the Archaeological Landscape.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 25: 159–183.
al-Hamd?n?, al-?asan b. A?mad b. Ya?q?b 1989. ?ifat Jaz?rat al-?Arab, edited by Mu?ammad b. ?Al? al-Akwa?. Baghdad.
Hirschi, S. and M. Hirschi. 1983. L’architecture au Yémen du Nord. Paris: Berger-Levrault.
al-?usayn, Ya?y? b. 1968. Gh?yat al-Am?n? f? Akhb?r al-Qu?r al-Yam?n?, edited by Sa??d ??sh?r. 2 vols. Cairo.
Ibn al-Dayba?, Abd al-Ra?m?n 2006. Kit?b Qurrat al-?Uy?n bi-Akhb?r al-Yaman al-Maym?n, edited by Mu?ammad b. ?Al? al-Akwa?. Sanaa.
Ibn ??tim, Mu?ammad 1974. Kit?b al-Sim? al-Gh?l? al-Thaman f? Akhb?r al-Mul?k min al-Ghuzz bi-l-Yaman, edited by Rex Smith. 2 vols. London: Messrs Luzac.
Ibn al-Muj?wir, Yus?f b. Ya?q?b. 1954. ?ifat Bil?d al-Yaman wa-Makka wa-Ba?? al-?ij?z al-Musamm? T?r?kh al-Mubta?ir, edited by Oscar Löfgren. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill.
al-Idr?s?, Mu?ammad. 1989. Kit?b Nuzhat al-Musht?q f? Ikhtir?q al-?f?q, ed., n.n. 2 vols. Beirut: ?Alam al-Kutub.
Jamme, A. 1962. Sabaean Inscriptions from Ma?ram Bilqîs (Mârib). Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins Press.
Jourdain, John. 1905. The Journal of John Jourdain, 1608–1617, Describing His Experiences in Arabia, India, and the Malay Archipelago. Edited by W. Foster. Cambridge: The Hakluyt Society.
al-Kawm?n?, ?. 2010. “Mas?jid Mad?nat Dham?r ?att? Nih?yat al-Qarn 12h./18m.” Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Sanaa, Yemen.
Keall, E. 1992. “Smokers’ pipes and the fine pottery tradition of Hays.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 22: 29–46.
Khalidi, L., C. Oppenheimer, B. Gratuze, S. Boucetta, A. Sanabani and A. al-Mosabi. 2010. “Obsidian sources in highland Yemen and their relevance to archaeological research in the Red Sea region.” Journal of Archaeological Science 37: 2332–2345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.04.007
al-Khazraj?, ?Al? b. al-?asan. 2009. Al-?Uq?d al-Lu?lu?iyya f? T?r?kh al-Dawla al-Ras?liyya, edited by ?Abd All?h Mu?ammad al-?ibsh?. 2 vols. Sanaa.
Leslie, J. 1987. “Think before you build: Progress of a building education project, Dhamar, Yemen Arab Republic.” In Proceedings of the Middle East and Mediterranean Regional Conference on Earthen and Low-Strength Masonry Buildings in Seismic Areas, edited by Mustafa Özder Erdik, 43–68. Paris: UNESCO.
Lewcock, R. 1976. “Towns and buildings in Arabia: North Yemen.” Architectural Association Quarterly 9: 3–19.
Lewis, K. 2005a. “Space and the Spice of Life: Food, Politics, and Landscape in Ancient Yemen.” Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Chicago.
2005b. “The Himyarite Site of al-Adhla and its implications for the economy and chronology of early historic highland Yemen.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 35: 129–141.
Lewis, K. and L. Khalidi.2008. “From prehistoric landscapes to urban sprawl: The Ma?n?at M?ryah Region of highland Yemen.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 38: 215–230.
Lewis, K., L. Khalidi, W. Isenberger and A. Sanabani. 2010. “Mapping Ma?na?at M?ryah: Using GIS to reconstruct the development of multi-period site in the highlands of Yemen. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 40: 213-226.
Lu?f All?h, ?Isa b. 2003. Raw? al-R?? f?m? ?adatha ba?d al-Mi?a al-T?si?a min al-Fitan wa-l-Fut??, edited by Ibr?h?m A?mad al-Maqhaf?. Sanaa.
Mahoney, Daniel. 2016. Ceramic production in the Yemeni Central Highlands during the Islamic Period.” In Landscapes of the Islamic World: Archaeology, History, and Ethnography, edited by S. McPhllips and P. Wordsworth, 129–142. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Middleton, Henry. 1742. An Account of the Captivity of Sir Henry Middleton By the Turks at Moka, or Mokha; and His Journey from Thence, with Thirty Four Englishmen More, to the Basha at Zenan, or Sanaa: With a Description of the Country, and a Journal of Their Travels to that City, and Back Again. London: E. Symon.
al-Nahraw?l?, Qu?b al-D?n. 1967. Al-Barq al-Yam?n? f? al-Fat? al-?Uthm?n?, edited by ?amad al-J?sir. Riyadh.
Niebuhr, Carsten. 1972. Travels through Arabia and Other Countries in the East, edited and translated by R. Heron. 2 vols. Edinburgh: R. Morison and Son.
Office of the General Organization of Antiquities and Museums in Dham?r. 2005. Project Report of the 2005 Archaeological Survey of the Dham?r Governorate. Yemen.
Piotrovsky, M. 1994. “Late ancient and early medieval Yemen: Settlement traditions and innovations.” In The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East,” edited by G.R.D. King and A. Cameron, 213–220. Princeton, NJ: The Darwin Press.
Prioletta, A. 2013. Inscriptions from the Southern Highlands of Yemen: The Epigraphic Collections of the Museums of Bayn?n and Dham?r. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.
Serageldin, M., J. Deemer, J. Hecht, A. Badshah, A. Nagarkatti and R. Sampat. 1984. The Yemen Arab Republic economic development and architectural change.” In Development and Metamorphosis. Volume II: Background Papers. Singapore: Concept Media Ltd. for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
al-Sham?r?, Fu??d. 2009. “Al-?th?r al-Isl?miyya f? Mad?nat Dham?r.” In Dham?r ?abra al-?U??r: ?th?riyya, T?r?khiyya, Jughr?fiyya, Thaq?fiyya, edited by A?mad Mu?ammad al-?a?r?n?, 47–86. Dham?r.
al-Thaqaf?, Sulaym?n b. Ya?y?. 2002. S?rat al-Im?m A?mad b. Sulaym?n (532-566 h.). Edited by ?Abd al-?At?. Al-Haram.
Vallet, É. 2008. “La Vigne et le Palmier: Identités Provenciales et Construction de l’État sous le Sultanat Ras?lide (VIIe-IXe/XIIIe-XVe siècle).” Revue des Monde Musualmans et de la Méditerranee 121/122: 53–67. https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.4763
Varanda, F. 1982. The Art of Building in Yemen. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Whitcomb, D. 1996. “Urbanism in Arabia.” Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 7: 38–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0471.1996.tb00086.x
Wilkinson, T. J. 2003. “The organization of settlement in highland Yemen during the Bronze and Iron Ages.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 33: 157–168.
2006. “From highland to desert: The organization of landscape and irrigation in southern Arabia.” In Agricultural Strategies, edited by Joyce Marcus, and Charles Stanish, 38–70. Los Angeles: Costen Institute of Archaeology, University of California.
Wilkinson, T. J. and C. Edens. 1999 “Survey and excavation in the central highlands of Yemen: Results of the Dham?r Survey Project, 1996 and 1998.” Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 10: 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0471.1999.tb00124.x
Wilkinson, T. J., C. Edens, and G. Barratt. 2001 “?ammat al-Q??: An early town in southern Arabia. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 31: 249–260.
Wilkinson, T. J., C. Edens, and M. Gibson. 1997 “The archaeology of the Yemen high plains: A preliminary chronology.” Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 8: 99–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0471.1997.tb00149.x
Published
2019-02-21
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Section
Articles
How to Cite
Mahoney, D. (2019). Settlement Patterns and Fortification Architecture in the Central Highlands of Yemen. Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 5(2), 181-202. https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.33381
