YEMEN

YEMEN. -

I. GEOGRAPHY

State of southwestern Arabia, situated between the Saudi province of 'Asir and the British protectorate of Hadramut. It includes a short stretch of coast on the Red Sea, opposite Eritrea, ending at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with the area of Sheikh Sa'id (1,622 sq. km. and 1,000 inhabitants).

Yemen consists of a narrow (40-50 km.) coastal strip, from which one ascends rapidly to the high plateau, which represents the most extensive and most thickly populated part of the country. The plateau, like that of Eritrea, is formed by volcanic masses deeply cut by valleys and surmounted by very high reliefs, reaching up to 3,760 m. in Jabal Hadur. Towards the interior, there are no well-defined boundaries; hence the area of Yemen is variously estimated: the opinion that assigns it a total of 80,000 sq. km. may be considered close to the truth.

The climate, extremely hot in the desolate coastal fringe, becomes less excessive inland with altitude, but has a markedly continental character, with pronounced thermal contrasts between day and night. Rain falls in spring and summer, with an average usually below 500 mm. per year on the plateau.

Here, where cultivation is possible, cereals (wheat, barley, sorghum), vegetables, and fruits (bananas, grapes, apricots, mangoes) are grown; Yemen is better known, however, for its coffee production, which supports a considerable export trade and excels in quality (Mocha). Little is known about mineral reserves; the existence of iron and rock salt has, however, been confirmed.

The population, variously estimated, probably numbers around 3.5 million, almost all sedentary and Zaidi Muslims. Sunnis number just over half a million, and Jews 70,000. There are relatively numerous but small inhabited centers; the largest correspond to the capital San'a', which stands on the plateau at 2,200 m. above sea level, and to its outlet on the Red Sea, Hodeidah (30,000 inhabitants). Other ports are Lohajjah and Mocha (al-Mahjá), the latter now much declined.

Yemen is a principality that became independent from Turkey in 1915; all power is concentrated in the hands of the imam, or sovereign, who exercises it through ministers of his own choosing.

II. POLITICAL HISTORY

The mild climate and fertile soil, allowing for a sedentary culture, give the southwestern coast of Arabia historical characteristics markedly distinct from the rest of the peninsula, which is predominantly desert. Already by at least the beginning of the 10th millennium B.C., solid states were established here, in which trade and agriculture developed. These states were unified into one around the 3rd century A.D., but later succumbed to Ethiopian, Persian, and finally, in the 7th century, to Islamic occupation, which reduced Yemen to a province of the great Caliphate. The decline and fragmentation of this empire two centuries later renewed the region's autonomous history under local dynasties. Among these, the Zaidi imams gradually gained ascendancy, overcoming various phases of temporary foreign domination (notably that of the Ayyubids of Egypt and the two periods of Ottoman Turks) and unifying Yemen under their control in the present century. From a religious point of view, Yemen thus presents the unique phenomenon within the Islamic world of the predominance of the moderate Shi'ite branch (v. ISLAM, the sects); whereas Isma'ili and Qarmatian extremism, despite repeated attacks on the region, failed to establish itself.

1. Pre-Islamic Yemen

a) Sources. - The earliest history of Yemen is known through a complex of about 4,000 inscriptions, which reveal a civilization of considerable importance.

A famous dam was built here to contain the waters of the Adanat River. This was followed by a period of secular rule, headed by kings and an oligarchy of military leaders and landowners. The power of the state increased progressively: around 115 A.D. the capital was moved to Zafár, and the kings added the title of Dhu Raydan to that of Saba. The tribe of the Himyarites (Homerites in classical writers) now began to assert itself, and its name eventually prevailed in the designation of the state. Probably shortly before the beginning of the Christian era, the smaller kingdom was absorbed; this had previously reached a notable flourishing stage, extending with commercial colonies (Dedan, today al-'Ula) along the northern route. Soon after, Qataban met the same fate, and by the 2nd century A.D., so did Hadramut. In the inscriptions of both these states, the mkbr appear, suggesting a historical development similar to that of Saba.

Thus, around the 3rd century A.D., Yemen was unified under a national dynasty. This situation, however, did not last long. The introduction of Judaism and Christianity provoked internal religious strife, weakening the state. For much of the 4th century, the region had already been under Ethiopian occupation: when, at the beginning of the 6th century, King Dhu Nuwas began to persecute Christians, Ethiopia intervened again to aid them, occupying the country (525; V. below).

From 525 to 575, Yemen remained under Ethiopian rule: despite some expansionist ambitions of its governors (such as the famous expedition of Abraha to the north, which left a trace in the Koran), it gradually declined, along with its commercial activity, which was not unrelated to the collapse in 542 of the famous Marib dam. In 575, the region was occupied by the Persians and in 630 passed under Islamic rule.

2. Islamic Yemen

a) Until the occupation by the Ayyubids (630-1173). - For about two centuries, Yemen was governed by caliphs' deputies. Then, at the beginning of the 9th century A.D., in a phenomenon parallel to that of other peripheral regions of the Islamic Empire, the deputies gradually became autonomous, establishing local dynasties that divided the region until its reunification under the Ayyubids. Four zones can be distinguished in the history of this period. In the Zabid area, the following successively ruled: the Ziyadids (819-1018); the Najahids (1021-1158); the Mahdids (1159-1173). In the San'a' area: the Sulayhid (861-997), under whom the Qarmatians (v.) briefly asserted themselves; the Sulayhid (1037-1101), Isma'ilis who from 1062 to 1080 also took Zabid; the Hamdanids (1098-1173). In the Sa'dah area: Zaidi imams (called Rasulids), the future national dynasty (18th series: 893 - ca. 1300). In the Aden area: the Zuray'ids (1083-1173), Isma'ilis.

b) From the occupation by the Ayyubids to the end of Ottoman rule (1173-1918). - Yemen was reunified under the occupation of the Ayyubids of Egypt (1173-1228; V. Egypt). They were succeeded by the national dynasties of the Rasulids (1229-1454) and the Tahirids (1446-1517); then Yemen was annexed to the Ottoman Empire.

Two periods can be distinguished in Ottoman rule. The first (1517-1633) was interrupted by the resurgence of the Zaidi imams, who, suppressed by the Rasulids around 1300, re-emerged around 1591 and in 1633 succeeded in expelling the Ottomans, taking San'a' (2nd series, known as the imams of San'a', which continues to this day). The second period runs from 1871, when the Ottomans managed to regain control of the region, until 1918, when they definitively lost it following their defeat in the First World War.

c) From the end of Ottoman occupation to the present era. — Even in the final years of Ottoman rule, the Zaydī imām Yaḥyā had struggled fiercely for the independence of Yemen. Having achieved it, he established an internal policy of tolerance toward the Sunni minority so as not to undermine the unity of the country; he persecuted instead the remnants of the Ismāʿīlīs, who had stirred up so much unrest there. As for foreign policy, he maintained a relative isolation, neither sending nor accepting embassies from European countries and obstructing the entry into Yemen of their subjects. Nevertheless, he concluded friendship treaties with various states, first and foremost with Italy (1926) and later with Russia, Holland, England, and France. He conducted military actions on the borders in an attempt to expand his dominion, but with no success: in 1928 the British halted his attack against Aden; in 1930 and 1934 Ibn Saʿd repulsed actions against ʿAsīr and Naqrān, annexing these regions himself.

Progress in Yemen’s international relations came in 1945 with its entry into the Arab League, in 1946 with the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States, and in 1947 with its admission to the United Nations.

In 1948, Imām Yaḥyā was assassinated; the perpetrator of the coup, ʿAbdallāh al-Wazīr, ascended the throne but was shortly afterward defeated and hanged by the imām’s eldest son, Aḥmad.

Y. precisiamo. Periodical bibliography: S. Mosari, *Bibliographia sémitique*, in *Orientalia*, 16 (1947), pp. 103–29; 17 (1948), pp. 91–102; 19 (1950), pp. 446–78 (continuing). General works: D. Nielsen, *Handbuch der altaarabischen Altertumskunde*, I. *Die altaarabische Kultur*, Copenhagen 1927; H. St. J. B. Philby, *The background of islam, being a sketch of arabian history in pre-islamic times*, Alexandria 1947; ʿAlī Gawwād, *Taʾrīḫ al-ʿArab qabla ʾl-Islām*, I, Baghdad 1951.

Y. Islamic: H. C. Kay, *Yaman, its early medieval history*, 1892; S. Lane Poole, *The mohammadan dynasties*, London 1894, pp. 87–103 (chronology and brief historical outline); E. de Zambaur, *Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie pour l'histoire de l'islam*, Hanover 1927, pp. 113–24 (chronology and bibliography); On the most recent period: M. V. Seton-Williams, *Britain and the arab states*, London 1948, pp. 195–204, 322 (with bibliography); Chronicles, documentation, and periodic bibliographical reviews in the journals: *Oriente moderno*, *Cahiers de l'Orient contemporain*, *The Middle East journal*. Cf. also the works cited in the geographical section of this entry and the sections relating to Yemen Islam (v.).

II. EVANGELIZATION

Arabia (v.) and specifically in Yemen is very vague. Given this obscurity and uncertainty, what follows is reported by others with some variations, though not substantial ones.

It seems that in the pre-Islamic period there were three principal centers of Christian influence in southern Arabia: at Ghassān, at Ḥīrah, and in Yemen (v. below). According to one tradition, Yemen was evangelized by the apostle St. Bartholomew when he traveled to India, which borders on Ethiopia.

YEMEN — View of al-Ḥazari.

(Socrates, *Hist.*, I, 10; PG 67, 125; cf. also Rufinus, *Hist. ecc.*, I, 9; PL 21, 478). Among other missionaries, the Alexandrian catechist Pantherius is said to have preached there as well, evangelizing the Jewish communities of Yemen. On his return (as reported by St. Jerome on the authority of Rufinus), he is said to have brought back with him the Hebrew Gospel of St. Matthew, left in Yemen by St. Bartholomew (PL 33, 651).

During the 4th–6th centuries, Christianity counted many adherents. The Indian Theophilus is said to have preached Arian heresy there in the 4th century. The expansion of Christianity provoked the sensitivities of the wealthy and influential Jewish communities of Himyar. Around 530, the Jew Dhū Nuwās, governor (according to others, king) of Himyar (Yemen), subject to the king of Abyssinia (according to others, independent), revolted and treacherously seized the city or village of Naqrān, a Christian stronghold in northern Yemen where a church dedicated to St. Elijah would be built in 563. Dhū Nuwās massacred the Christians who refused to convert to Judaism. The bones of Bishop Paul were disinterred and burned; AREA (v.), along with other notables of the city, was imprisoned and beheaded; the number of those killed is said to have ranged from 4,400 to 20,000. Although it is difficult to determine even an approximate number, the fact of the persecution is beyond doubt: it is recorded by Nestorian and Jacobite Arab chroniclers; according to some exegetes, traces of it may even remain in the Qurʾān. News of the massacre spread quickly throughout the Roman and Eastern worlds. Abraha, king of Abyssinia, took advantage of the situation to invade Yemen and avenge his coreligionists by killing thousands of Jews and Dhū Nuwās himself, restoring the clergy. A few years later, a Christian Abyssinian named Abraha (whom some identify with Ella Asbeha) seized power and was recognized by the king of Abyssinia. Under him, Christianity was able to develop peacefully. In Ṣanʿāʾ, which became the seat of a viceroy, a magnificent cathedral was built (547), which, by attracting a large number of pilgrims, diminished the importance and revenues of the pagan sanctuary of the Kaʿbah in Mecca.

The Meccans, unable to tolerate such competition, had the cathedral profaned. Abraha sought to punish the Meccans and planned the destruction of the Kaʿbah. The expedition failed and is recalled in sürah 105 of the Qurʾān. During the rule of Abraha’s sons, the power of the Christian Abyssinians in Yemen gradually declined until, in 568 (?), a Persian military expedition annihilated II. The difficulties between Byzantium and Persia, and then the rise of Islam, absorbed the energies of Christianity. Between 629 and 630, Bādhān, viceroy of Ṣanʿāʾ, converted to Islam.

III. CHRISTIAN ANTIQUITY

The first reliable account of the spread of Christianity in Yemen is given by the Arian historian Philostorgius (d. 430) and refers to an embassy sent by Emperor Constantius II (337–61) to the Homerites, led by a certain Theophilus called “the Indian.” This embassy obtained permission to build three churches: the first in the capital of the kingdom of Ṭāqif (Zafār), the second in ʿAden, and the third in the “famous Persian emporium” (Hormuz?). The mission can be dated to 341–46.

Subsequent accounts speak of the introduction of Christianity to Nağrân by Nestorian or Jacobite missionaries from Syria or al-Hirah in the second half of the 5th century; these are found in Arabic texts written in connection with the Qur’anic passage 85:4–8. The fertile valley of Nağrân lies on the caravan route that runs from San‘â’ into the Nadgār and thence to al-Hirah, which explains the constant ties between the Christianity of Nağrân and that city. This Christian community had churches and bishops, some of whose names survive in texts relating to the persecution they suffered in 523 at the hands of the local Jewish ruler, especially in the “Book of the Himyarites” published by Axel Moberg, in the letter of the (Monophysite) bishop SIMON of Beth Aršâm to Abbot SIMON of Gabbula, and in the Martyrium Arethae, which survives in a Greek text but whose first part is probably a translation from a Syriac original. Further details about this Christian group and additional names of bishops appear in the ecclesiastical history of THEODORE the Reader (after 575) and in JOHN Diacrinomenos.

The chief expansion of Christianity in Yemen came after the second Abyssinian invasion of 525, which put an end to the Himyarite kingdom. It was accomplished by a campaign sent by the king of Aksûm and led by ABRAHAH, who became viceroy of the region. To ABRAHAH is owed a most important inscription dated 543, concerning the restoration of the famous dam of Mârib and also recording the dedication of the church of Mârib, to which a priest was assigned to serve it; further on, the inscription enumerates the expenses incurred for the church’s dedication. The church is designated by the Arabic term bi‘ah, while its priests are called by the Syriac qâfî.

During the Abyssinian domination another sanctuary, long famous in South Arabian history, arose: the church of San‘â’. Arab writers have left detailed descriptions of II. It was called al-Qullays, a corruption of ēkklēsiā. Constructed of variegated stones, it was adorned with gold, bronze doors, marble, paintings, and mosaics, which, according to the Arab historian IBN HISHĀM, were sent by the Byzantine emperor. The church long outlasted the triumph of Islam and the conversion of the region; it would not be destroyed until the caliphate of al-Saffāḥ (751–53), according to YĀQŪT, or under his successor al-Manṣūr, according to al-AZRAQĪ.

Another celebrated Christian sanctuary was the Deyr Nağrân, also called Ka‘bāt Nağrân. Its foundation is attributed to the chiefs of the dominant tribe at Nağrân, and it too was adorned with gold and mosaics. It served as a place of asylum, made famous, as NALLINO aptly interprets, by the verses of al-A‘SHĀ (d. c. 629), which may allude to the solemnities of the church itself. After the end of the 9th century, no further traces of Christianity remain in Yemen.