Wadi aS'SaylaJin d'un projet sun/eillé par le gopHCy

- Prévoir le dégagement et le nettoijaqe enamontet en aval du wadi.

- Cet accès ne doit pas devenir "une autoroute".

- Eviter l'installation de boutiques en bordure.

1 r 11 ,J ' J

SANAAUne priorité: suite du pavage de toute la vieille ville,70% seront réalisés en l'an 2000

j ..ri^L.

MmsiHíüfcunufih'iQUffls«

GOPHCY

IBABAIYEMENINFORMATION

CENTREGALLERY AL BAB

ENTRANCE

¡¡Jab al-yemen

Projet réalisé : On peut dès lors, à travers des salles d'exposition, visitertours et courtines, constituant l'architecture de la porteprincipale restaurée qui abrite aussi un centre d'informationtouristique. Du chemin de ronde on a une magnifique vuesurlesuq.

- Nouvelles constructions sur le pourtour ôi surveiller....- (grilles extérieures de protection à repenser.....

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iilíil"^AÏÎWSSiWÎÎ;

Suq al-t^aqar

Címiqíyie-Dispemsaire

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Mmc coopération entre le ÇOPHGfJ et l'Allemagne en cours de réalisation, unétage supplémentaire est prévu .

DdK ^hu /Ouhuitl - Demeure historique en cours de restauration.devant être aménagée en atelier-école detissage artisanal pour les femmes .

-V,

Hammam al-jVl^ydan

- projetN° 7 (non réalisé), rapport lANDP-IANESeO- y EM / SS / 006

Etat des lieux: accès- entrée - état des murs- tuyauteries

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-/Waf/4Qrande salle octogonale avec fontaine centrale et détails architecturaux et de décors

Hammam al-JVl^ydanCoupoles extérieures et distribution des eaux

The Public Bath

23 .2 1 Hammam al-Mavdân. The interior of ihc great domed changing room. Inwinter brazier¿ with hot coal in [hem could be placed in the niches under the

Origin and DevelopmentAccording to popular belief Hammam YSsir is the oldest bath

and is at least a thousand years old. Hammam Shukr rates next,with its age given at between eight hundred and six hundred years.

These dates must be treated with caution as we have so fardiscovered no historical evidence to confirm them. After thata large number of the baths is said to be four hundred years old.

y Hammam al-Maydän js known to have been built at the sametime as the Bakiriyyah Mosque, that is, in 1598 A.D.," and thereis nothing in its construction to conflict with this date. . ,

raised changing platform to keep it warm. A fountain played from ihe centre i

the pool.

This gives us a firm datum, and allows us to conclude that,both in style and construction and planning, some of the bathsare likely to be considerably earlier. It is interesting to noticethat though the first two changing rooms of Hammam al-Maydänare quite close to the Ottoman baths in Damascus in design andcharacter, the back area of hot and temperate rooms is completelydifferent, conforming in §an'i' to the §an'i' tradition, which was

obviously firmly established by this date.According to al-Hajari,^* Hammam al-Tawishi was founded

in 1028/1641.Hammam Süq al-Baqar (Mahmud) shows some internal

evidence of relatively early date for instance it does not have a

central round or square pool in the intermediate space, and it has

only two hot rooms and two temperate rooms instead of the 23.25 Hammam al-Maydan. The mouth ol the turnace under the floor level ofthe haths.

The Public Bath

hypocaust

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23.3 Hammam al-Maydän. The roof plan, ground plan and long sectionugh the building.

513

The Public Bath

hypocaust

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23.3 Hammam al-Maydän. The roof plan, ground plan and long sectionugh the building.

513

^an'a' An Arabian Islamic City

23.20 Hammam al-Maydän. The interior ofthe main changing hall, showingthe musicians' gallery m the lar corner, next to the entrance door to the room onthe right. Matting originally covered much of the floor and the central systemwas filled with water.

Storage niches for fuel are built in the walls of the subterraneanstoker's room. The fire is fed through a concentrically double-arched opening in the thick east wall ofthe bath. Further east aretwo large reservoirs for cold water filled from a well behind them,from which water used to be drawn by animals (pi. 23.12). Todaythe well has been mechanized.

Variations in the Design ofOther Public Baths

All seventeen of the Çan'à' baths are partly underground.With only one exception, discussed below, they present unpreten-dous facades to the street and frequently pass unnoticed by foreignvisitors. The domes of Hammam Shukr can be observed from theSâ'ilah on its west side, but this is purely fortuitous (pis.90 and 23. 13).

Hammim al-Maydän is unusual in having three changingrooms (fig. 23.3). The innermost one conforms to the typical §an'ä'pattern, but the outer two are designed on precedents fromIstanbul and present a fine architectural effect from the street(pi. 93). These are composed of a large square block built ofstriped black and buff stonework, and covered by a high dome,and adjoining it on the east a narrower block ofthe same materialsroofed with three low domes. The low block is double-storeyed,the bottom level providing the outer entrance lobby, and theupper a special diwan for wealthy patrons of the bath, long sincefallen into disuse (pi. 23.23). The large domed room, 10.50msquare, has wide raised platforms around all four sides, built ofstone and provided with recesses for hot braziers underneath(pis. 23.21 and 22, and fig. 23.3).

Only in the north east corner is the platform replaced by a

raised enclosure surrounded by arcaded screens, in which thehammánñ sat, and which was also reputedly used by musiciansfor the entertainment of patrons.'" This large room was apparentlyoriginally intended to provide the wide range of facilities stillenjoyed by patrons of public baths in Istanbul. The patronsreclined on carpets spread on the platforms, and were served withcofiee or other drinks and the madâ'ah (water pipe).

In the centre of this room in the Hammam al-Maydän, and inan equivalent position in a small number of other baths (e.g.,Hammam al-Sul[än, pi. 23.28, and Hammam Saba', pi. 23,27)is a

polygonal or circular pool with a central fountain.^" Adjoiningthis central pool, and quite separate from the main changing

area, there is sometimes a raised diwan in a recess (e.g., in Hammam.al-Tawâshî).

From these forward changing halls the intending batherproceeds to the inner changing room, and then straight into thetemperate and hot rooms, which in al-Maydän resemble closelythose of Hammam Yäsir, described above.

Other baths, however, have the circular pool with its centralfountain in the transitional space between the changing room andthe first of the temperate rooms, that is, in the room which inIJammäm Yäsir contains a square corner pool. An importantdifference in some cases is that the entrance lobbies lead into thetransitional space, from which the changing room is then reached.This means that the intending bather is greeted by a cheerftilfountain playing in a central pool before he goes through tochange (pi. 23.28).

In other cases, such as Hammam Shukr and Hammam Süqal-Baqar, the entrance is first into the transitional space {majza')before the changing room {mikhla') is reached, but there is nocentral pool and fountain, the cold pools being unpretentioussquare pools on one side ofthe room (fig. 23.2).

The general plan of three temperate {isqâh/mabrad) and threehot rooms (¡adr = calidarium) is varied only twice, in HammamSaba' and Hammam Süq al-Baqar, which have only two temperateand two hot rooms. Usually the three hot rooms have the fireunderneath them, while the temperate rooms have flues {matrat)on one side. Hot rooms have to be re-plastered with nlirah aboutonce a year.

The arrangements for heating the floor of the hot rooms by a

hypocaust system does not change from bath to bath, thoughthe number of rooms with floors heated in this way does changeup to as many as six in Hammam al-Maydän. The number andposition of the flues in the walls varies considerably, from onlyone flue in the wall between the central hot and temperate roomsin the case of Hammam Shukr (fig. 23.2), to four in HammamSaba' (fig. 23.4)'.

In Hammam al-Maydän the solid stone basins are elaborate inform, with three lobes on a circular shape, and decorated at thesides with carved ornament. Hammim Shukr, like a number ofthe other baths, has circular stone basins instead of square ones;there are rough square stones projecting from the walls of two ofthe hot rooms above head height, used for exercise on someoccasions, but perhaps intended primarily to hold oil lamps atnight, before electricity was introduced. Similar projecting stonesoccur in a number of other baths; the remainder have niches inthe walls for the same purpose.

The furnace [mihraq) room, boilers, reservoirs and wells are

similar in all the baths. A chimney is called madkhanah, and a

flue under the floor, millah.

ConstructionThe lowest levels ofthe bath are those ofthe furnace and the

hypocaust (shari') about half a metre high under the hot rooms(pis. 23.24 and 25). They are built of red brick (yäjür); the hypo¬caust is made up of a series of barrel vaults about a metre wideand high, running from the furnace towards the temperate rooms.The furnace and the space containing the boiler above it are

usually barrel vaults running in a transverse direction, and slightlywider in diameter. The boiler is a large cauldron, two or threemetres in diameter made of brass or copper. In Hammam al-Maydän the hypocausts ofthe furnace are built entirely of brickdomes.

The outside walls are built of squared stones on a stone foun¬dation, a construction which extends up to roof height. Internal

39 Zaydi Imams tended to frown upon music and sometimes to prohibit it.40 In a bath the fountain is called fisqiyyahiht pool is called birkah which is

dug into the ground (nmhßrah fi 'l-arçl). The word simdhurwan is onlyapplied to fountains in mq/ari; reception rooms.

514

Qhumdan Palace

Qasr al-Sila

Ca forteresse mesure environ 1250mde périmètre et près de 40 000m2 desurface.

- Ce Ministre de la Culturedemande d'élaborer un projetqui permettrait de libérer laforteresse des ntilitaires-

lAn "complexe touristique" ? ? regroupédans la forteresse soulagerait lavieille ville des agences de vogages etdes trop nombreux "hôtelstouristiques" s'g ajouteraient, uncentre moderne d'information et decommunication, des banques, unmusée "Panorama" d'Histoire deSanaa, des terrasses-cafétériapanoramiques etc

au pied de la forteresse, de grands espaces permettraient des parkings (natamment pour les bus;les voitures ne devant plus aller dans la vieille ville), des espaces verts dont un jardinbotanique....etc.... qui compléteraient cet ensemble touristique.

Ghumdan Palace

In the middle of the third century A.D.the legendary royal tower-palace ofGhumdan was erected on a rockypoint on the western limit of the pre-Islamic city walls. According to early

historians, each side was of a dif¬ferent coloured stone, and at the cor¬ners were four bronze lions' headswhich appeared to roar when thewind blew. The ceiling of the topmostroom is said to have been a singlesheet of alabaster through which onecould see the shadows of birds flying

overhead. Ghumdan was destroyedeither at the command of the prophetor during the days of the first Caliphs,and much of its material re-used. Theraised hillock to the east of the GreatMosque, now built-up with houses, isall that can be seen today, until ex¬cavations can be carried out.

PILOT PROJECT No. 24

ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANDRESEARCH PROJECTS

South-east of Old City

Excavation, study, documentation

Qasr al-Silah

The Literary EvidenceGhumdan

No topographical details seem to figure in Arabic writing onijan'a' (at least in those authors consulted) before the first half ofthe third century. On the other hand, although there is an

accretion ol" legend, certain details of these accounts are confirmedfrom the inscriptions, and third century writers drew on earliersources and in all probability on a living tradition.

The first .'\rabic author to describe §an'ä' with some degreeof precision is the geographer Ibn Rustah,-' writing in Lsfahaii

not earlier than 29Ü/903 but presumably drawing on earliersources. He speaks ofthe fortress {qal'ah) called Ghumdan closeto the Jami' Mosque, built on a rock foundation.^ Inside thisfortress is the well of Sam b. Nûh (Shem son of Noah) this is tobe understood as meaning simply that it was traditionally theoldest well in the city. Husayn al-'Amri identifies it as the wellexisting today on the eastern side ofthe Jami' at the shops {hawänn)Iving east of it.'' .Al-Razi says it is under (îhumdân, opposite thefirst door of the Çan'â' Mosque and is called Karämah; it is

used for drinking but is brackish.^Al-Hamdäni writing probably a little later than Ibn Rustah,

but, it must be assumed, with access to more and very likelybetter written sources and direct oral tradition, states that the firstand oldest of the castles imaimfid and qushr) is Ghumdan:'' thenfollow others, including Silhin. He quotes the pre-lslamic poet'Alqamah as speaking of both Ghumdan and Silhin as ruins,'but Ghumdan, in the Islamic period alone, was fairly frequentlydestroyed and subsequently rebuilt. 'Ofthe ancient side (khaddfof Ghumdan there remains a section/field of amazing, tangled{minalähik)^ ruin opposite the first and second of the easterndoors of the Jami'.'" The rest of Ghumdan is a great k//" like a

mountain and much of what is around it is ofthe dwellings oftheijan'ânis. Of it is a house/room [bayt),'^''- and on its tell Ibn Fadlal-Qarmati fortified himself when he entered .San'a' and he came

to (he Mosque, took possession of .San'ü' and fell upon its ruler\sultiin) and inhabitants.'" A verse of al-Hamdánl (the author)"might be considered as referring to a supply of water of the^ç//av/type, if in fact it refers to Ghumdan of §an'ä'. 'Its waters, theirchannels murmur, a flowing source drinking at which never fails

The Urban Development ofSan'ä'

to satisfy (wa-miyahu-hu qanawam-ha tatahaddaru, yanbü'u'ayn-in ïàyusarridu shurbu-hâ).' 'Alqamah b. Dhï Yazan alludesto fields (jurüb) lying at the foot of it.15 The builder of Ghumdanwas Abu Sharah b. Yahdab who was the king (malik) ofGhumdan.16 One ofthe Mss. has, correctly, Ilisharah b. Yahdab.

Al-RIzï17 (ob. 460/1068), drawing on a chain of Traditionistsgoing back to the first century ofthe Hijrah, says, 'The first stonelaid upon stone in the Yemen was GhumdänSharahïl18al-Himyari built it. A thousand years after him Hi Sharah Yahdabbuilt al-Qajabah.' Al-Räzi19 quotes Tradition that the Prophetordered Ghumdän to be demolished; or this took place in the daysof Abu Bakr or 'Uthmän. He adds, 'It is said that the generalityCämtnah) of the construction of the Qasabah of ¡Jan'ä' wasconstructed with the debris of Ghumdän only.'

The term qa¡abah poses a problem. Täj al-'Arüs accords toqasabat al-balad the senses al-qasr, al-hisn, al-madinah, jawfal-hisn, al-qaryah; qasabat al-qaryah means the middle of it[the qaryah]. A further difficulty is that in the northern Yemen a

qasabah means a circular defensible dwelling tower. Al-Hamdäni20says, 'The people of the North (ahl al-Sha'm) call it §an'ä'al-Qasabah.'

Al-Qasabah may mean here al-madinah/al-qaryah, the city, butwe have come to think that it probably means the lower citadelnow Qasr al-Siläh, though in the course of its history it wouldseem to have had several different names. This would explainthe name Can'ä' which means 'well fortified', as an epithet orsynonym almost of al-Qasabah.

In brief, then, both the inscriptional and literary referencespoint to Ghumdän as the original nucleus of the city in approxi¬mately the three to four centuries before Islam. Over severalcenturies of the Islamic era the historians seem to indicate thatthe Ghumdän site was occasionally fortified, dismantled, andre-fortified.

Qasr al-QalïsThe eastern point of contemporary San'ä' is formed by a

roughly oblong citadel on a foothill, part of the lower slope ofJabal Nuqum, commanding the rest of the city (plate 1),

much of the stonework of which is of comparatively recent date.This upper citadel is linked with the lower citadel to the west of a

fortified corridor. On each side ofthe upper portion is a circulartower (nawbah), the two serving as bastions incorporated in thefortifications. The stonework of these two towers is of the sametype as that of the lower stonework of Bab al-Siträn (The Gate ofColumns), opening to the south. All are constructed of largehewn stones fitted together with fine joints. It is suggested that theybelong to a class of pre-lslamic Sabaean structures, to take a case

in point, like certain of those at Dawram/Taybah overlooking

Wâdï Dahr.21 Bäb al-Siträn has a well-protected bent gatewayone enters between two outer bastions into a passage to the leftfrom which one has to turn to the right to enter the citadel. Suchskewed entry is typical of other ancient cities in south Arabiaincluding the city gates of ¡Ja'dah and Naqab al-Hajar (in thelatter case first to the right then left).

Al-Hamdäni alludes to al-Qalïs, a descendant of III Sharah,to whom Qa§r al-Qalïs is attributed, and Nashwân b. Sa'ïd22(ob. 573/1117) states that al-Qalis was a qasr in Can'ä' whichbelonged to the kings of Himyar then Abrahah al-Habashidwelt there after that. Two Islamic histories23 contain a poem ona medieval battle at Qajr al-Qalis which Mudrik b. Hätim wonover the Zaydis about the end ofthe first quarter ofthe 7th/13thcentury. In commenting on the verses of Ahmad b. 'Isa al-Radâ'ï(which he took down from one ofthe Abnä'), al-Hamdäni24 statesthat Ghumdan and al-Qalïs are two fortresses (mahfid) in San'ä'.The verse itself says that Tubba' and Bilqïs built them, butal-Hamdäni quotes a variant that Yahdib Shar(a)h and Bilqisbuilt them.

It is strange that al-Hamdäni (in such of his writings as areextant) does not comment on Qalis the eponym, and QalisAbrahah's church. The explanation that suggests itself for theconundrum of Qalis = church and fort, is that the easternfortification was known by, say, 250 H., or even before Islam,possibly some time after Abrahah (ob. 569-70 A.D.) constructedhis church, as Qasr al-Qalis in order to distinguish it from QasrGhumdän. Qalis as a person has every appearance of beingpurely legendary. The existence of the eastern Qasr as a pre-lslamic fortification, though of lesser fame than Ghumdän, then,is credited by Yemenis ofthe 3rd/9th century.

A verse of Tha'labah b. 'Amr25 would appear to refer to thegarrisoning of Ghumdän also, by the Abyssinian invaders:

Were I in Ghumdän, there guarding its gateMen ofthe Abyssinians and a snake, familiar. 26

The Jabbänah north of Can'ä' wall is stated27 to have been builton the site ofthe camp ofthe Abyssinians on a field (jirbah) whichhad come into the possession of an Abnä' family. It is thenevident from the Arabic sources that these points were garrisonedby the Abyssinians, the two fortresses and an advanced outpostto defend §an'ä' from attacks from the north. All three would betaken over by the Persian Abnä'. When the Yemeni prophetal-Aswad al-'Ansi who had occupied San'ä' in opposition to theAbnä' and other supporters of Muhammad, was assassinatedthere in. 11/632 there was, according to al-Balâdhurï,28 a townwall (sûr al-madinah). The murderers entered al-Aswad's houseby an irrigation channel (jadwal) according to some traditionsthis immediately calls to mind the likelihood that it would be a

qanät/ghayl.

15 Ibid, 19. Al-Tabari, op. cit., I, II, 928-29, attributes a similar verse to DhuJadan al-Himyari.

16 Ibid, 24.17 Op. cit., 20.18 Sharähll is of course the same as III Sharah which latter is written as two

words by al-Râzî. A verse in IkTil VIII, 17, has Dhü Sharah.[kill II, 86, states that in a musnad, or Himyar inscription, of Nä'if is recordedthat 'Amr Yan'ar Dhu Ghumdan a descendant of Hi Sharah was the first tobegin the tashytd (building finely and strongly and rising high) of Ghumdänafter its ancient construction.

19 Ibid, 216, 218. He mentions (p. 203) talismans which were on 'the first/ancient Gate of Can'ä' (Bab madinat Çan'à' al-awtoal) in the place known as

al-Qa;abah.'20 Si/ah, 55.

21 Cf. P. M. Costa, 'La Moschea Grande di San'ä", Annali hiituio Orientale diNapoli, Naples, 1974, XXXIV, 487-506

22 IkRl II, 86-7, Die auf Südarabien Bezüglichen Angaben Naswän's in Sams al-'ulüm, ed. 'Azlmuddin Ahmad, GMS, XXIV, Leyden-London, 1916, 88.

23 Muhammad b. Hätim al-Yäml al-Hamdäni, al-Sim( al-ghält, ed. G. R. Smith,TheAyyübids and the early Rasülids in the Yemen, GMS n.s., XXVI, London,1974-78, I, 188, and al-Khazraji, The Pearl-strings (al-'Uqüd al-lu'lu'iyyah),ed. Muhammad 'Asal, GMS.III, IV, Leiden-London, 1906-18, 38.

24 Sifah, 240.25 Al-Mufaddal, The Mufaddalryät, ed. C. J. Lyall, Oxford, 1921, 563.26 So the commentaryperhaps alluding to talismans or even the popular belief

of a guardian snake, but it could be rendered, 'a friendly black (aswad)'.27 Al-Râzï, op. cit., 90, 210.28 Futüh al-buldân; Liber expugnationis regionum, ed. M. ]. de Goeje, Leiden,

1870, 106.

725

The Urban Development ofSan'ä'

to satisfy (wa-miyahu-hu qanawam-ha tatahaddaru, yanbü'u'ayn-in ïàyusarridu shurbu-hâ).' 'Alqamah b. Dhï Yazan alludesto fields (jurüb) lying at the foot of it.15 The builder of Ghumdanwas Abu Sharah b. Yahdab who was the king (malik) ofGhumdan.16 One ofthe Mss. has, correctly, Ilisharah b. Yahdab.

Al-RIzï17 (ob. 460/1068), drawing on a chain of Traditionistsgoing back to the first century ofthe Hijrah, says, 'The first stonelaid upon stone in the Yemen was GhumdänSharahïl18al-Himyari built it. A thousand years after him Hi Sharah Yahdabbuilt al-Qajabah.' Al-Räzi19 quotes Tradition that the Prophetordered Ghumdän to be demolished; or this took place in the daysof Abu Bakr or 'Uthmän. He adds, 'It is said that the generalityCämtnah) of the construction of the Qasabah of ¡Jan'ä' wasconstructed with the debris of Ghumdän only.'

The term qa¡abah poses a problem. Täj al-'Arüs accords toqasabat al-balad the senses al-qasr, al-hisn, al-madinah, jawfal-hisn, al-qaryah; qasabat al-qaryah means the middle of it[the qaryah]. A further difficulty is that in the northern Yemen a

qasabah means a circular defensible dwelling tower. Al-Hamdäni20says, 'The people of the North (ahl al-Sha'm) call it §an'ä'al-Qasabah.'

Al-Qasabah may mean here al-madinah/al-qaryah, the city, butwe have come to think that it probably means the lower citadelnow Qasr al-Siläh, though in the course of its history it wouldseem to have had several different names. This would explainthe name Can'ä' which means 'well fortified', as an epithet orsynonym almost of al-Qasabah.

In brief, then, both the inscriptional and literary referencespoint to Ghumdän as the original nucleus of the city in approxi¬mately the three to four centuries before Islam. Over severalcenturies of the Islamic era the historians seem to indicate thatthe Ghumdän site was occasionally fortified, dismantled, andre-fortified.

Qasr al-QalïsThe eastern point of contemporary San'ä' is formed by a

roughly oblong citadel on a foothill, part of the lower slope ofJabal Nuqum, commanding the rest of the city (plate 1),

much of the stonework of which is of comparatively recent date.This upper citadel is linked with the lower citadel to the west of a

fortified corridor. On each side ofthe upper portion is a circulartower (nawbah), the two serving as bastions incorporated in thefortifications. The stonework of these two towers is of the sametype as that of the lower stonework of Bab al-Siträn (The Gate ofColumns), opening to the south. All are constructed of largehewn stones fitted together with fine joints. It is suggested that theybelong to a class of pre-lslamic Sabaean structures, to take a case

in point, like certain of those at Dawram/Taybah overlooking

Wâdï Dahr.21 Bäb al-Siträn has a well-protected bent gatewayone enters between two outer bastions into a passage to the leftfrom which one has to turn to the right to enter the citadel. Suchskewed entry is typical of other ancient cities in south Arabiaincluding the city gates of ¡Ja'dah and Naqab al-Hajar (in thelatter case first to the right then left).

Al-Hamdäni alludes to al-Qalïs, a descendant of III Sharah,to whom Qa§r al-Qalïs is attributed, and Nashwân b. Sa'ïd22(ob. 573/1117) states that al-Qalis was a qasr in Can'ä' whichbelonged to the kings of Himyar then Abrahah al-Habashidwelt there after that. Two Islamic histories23 contain a poem ona medieval battle at Qajr al-Qalis which Mudrik b. Hätim wonover the Zaydis about the end ofthe first quarter ofthe 7th/13thcentury. In commenting on the verses of Ahmad b. 'Isa al-Radâ'ï(which he took down from one ofthe Abnä'), al-Hamdäni24 statesthat Ghumdan and al-Qalïs are two fortresses (mahfid) in San'ä'.The verse itself says that Tubba' and Bilqïs built them, butal-Hamdäni quotes a variant that Yahdib Shar(a)h and Bilqisbuilt them.

It is strange that al-Hamdäni (in such of his writings as areextant) does not comment on Qalis the eponym, and QalisAbrahah's church. The explanation that suggests itself for theconundrum of Qalis = church and fort, is that the easternfortification was known by, say, 250 H., or even before Islam,possibly some time after Abrahah (ob. 569-70 A.D.) constructedhis church, as Qasr al-Qalis in order to distinguish it from QasrGhumdän. Qalis as a person has every appearance of beingpurely legendary. The existence of the eastern Qasr as a pre-lslamic fortification, though of lesser fame than Ghumdän, then,is credited by Yemenis ofthe 3rd/9th century.

A verse of Tha'labah b. 'Amr25 would appear to refer to thegarrisoning of Ghumdän also, by the Abyssinian invaders:

Were I in Ghumdän, there guarding its gateMen ofthe Abyssinians and a snake, familiar. 26

The Jabbänah north of Can'ä' wall is stated27 to have been builton the site ofthe camp ofthe Abyssinians on a field (jirbah) whichhad come into the possession of an Abnä' family. It is thenevident from the Arabic sources that these points were garrisonedby the Abyssinians, the two fortresses and an advanced outpostto defend §an'ä' from attacks from the north. All three would betaken over by the Persian Abnä'. When the Yemeni prophetal-Aswad al-'Ansi who had occupied San'ä' in opposition to theAbnä' and other supporters of Muhammad, was assassinatedthere in. 11/632 there was, according to al-Balâdhurï,28 a townwall (sûr al-madinah). The murderers entered al-Aswad's houseby an irrigation channel (jadwal) according to some traditionsthis immediately calls to mind the likelihood that it would be a

qanät/ghayl.

15 Ibid, 19. Al-Tabari, op. cit., I, II, 928-29, attributes a similar verse to DhuJadan al-Himyari.

16 Ibid, 24.17 Op. cit., 20.18 Sharähll is of course the same as III Sharah which latter is written as two

words by al-Râzî. A verse in IkTil VIII, 17, has Dhü Sharah.[kill II, 86, states that in a musnad, or Himyar inscription, of Nä'if is recordedthat 'Amr Yan'ar Dhu Ghumdan a descendant of Hi Sharah was the first tobegin the tashytd (building finely and strongly and rising high) of Ghumdänafter its ancient construction.

19 Ibid, 216, 218. He mentions (p. 203) talismans which were on 'the first/ancient Gate of Can'ä' (Bab madinat Çan'à' al-awtoal) in the place known as

al-Qa;abah.'20 Si/ah, 55.

21 Cf. P. M. Costa, 'La Moschea Grande di San'ä", Annali hiituio Orientale diNapoli, Naples, 1974, XXXIV, 487-506

22 IkRl II, 86-7, Die auf Südarabien Bezüglichen Angaben Naswän's in Sams al-'ulüm, ed. 'Azlmuddin Ahmad, GMS, XXIV, Leyden-London, 1916, 88.

23 Muhammad b. Hätim al-Yäml al-Hamdäni, al-Sim( al-ghält, ed. G. R. Smith,TheAyyübids and the early Rasülids in the Yemen, GMS n.s., XXVI, London,1974-78, I, 188, and al-Khazraji, The Pearl-strings (al-'Uqüd al-lu'lu'iyyah),ed. Muhammad 'Asal, GMS.III, IV, Leiden-London, 1906-18, 38.

24 Sifah, 240.25 Al-Mufaddal, The Mufaddalryät, ed. C. J. Lyall, Oxford, 1921, 563.26 So the commentaryperhaps alluding to talismans or even the popular belief

of a guardian snake, but it could be rendered, 'a friendly black (aswad)'.27 Al-Râzï, op. cit., 90, 210.28 Futüh al-buldân; Liber expugnationis regionum, ed. M. ]. de Goeje, Leiden,

1870, 106.

725

10.4 Qasr al-Silâh, seen across the rooftops ofthe city. The central bastion,which is actually a complete circular construction, is composed ofgiant boulders

cleverly fitted together in a kind of stonework which is as ancient as any in thecity. It almost cenainly predates the 5th/l 1th century.

places. The Banû Shihäb, one can only suggest, would havesupported Sayf b. Dhi Yazan whose military camp (tnu'askar)and dwelling, according to Ibn Khurdädhbah,33 was Ghumdän,and they were rewarded in this way. Sayf defeated the Abyssuiiansin 575 A.D.

A sarar is the wadi-bottom and best part, of it and good fertileground (batn al-wadi wa-atyabu-hu wa-mä taba min al-ard wa-karuma).^* This description fits exactly al-Sirär of §an'ä' and itwould be natural for farming tribesmen to be settled there.

Al-Qafi', although it seems to have no known acceptedmeaning, is reminiscent of qati'ah, land subject to kharaj-tax.which the ruler gives as fief^' Speculative as it is, one is temptedto suggest that the district might have been a settlement assignedto the Persian Abnä' when they came to the aid of Sayf b. DhiYazan.^^ It is said to be of the high part ('ulw) of §an'ä' at theQa§r and from near Bäb al-Yaman northwards, whereas al-Siräris the siß or low-lying part of the city.^7 Bädhän is stated to haveaccepted Islam in 628 A.D. Perhaps by this time the Banü Shihäbhad already developed al-Sirär to some extent, but held nostrongly fortified places there comparable with Ghumdän and the

Qalis. About the mid 4th/I0th century al-Qafi' was stated to bea quaner {rub'f^ of§an'ä'.

It is possibly to be envisaged that, under the Umayyad and'Abbäsid governors, Ghxmidän and the Jami' Mosque were,perhaps with other buildings, distinct from either district, andneutral ground in the wars berween the people of al-Qafi' andal-Sirär in which the merchants (.tujjär) and non-arms-bearinginhabitants {du'afa') of§an'ä' 'suffered detriment'.^'

The ShihäbIs of Rub' Bani Shihäb,4" though once friendlywith the Abnä', fell out with them, and on one occasion evenfled from their side (shiqq) of§an'ä', but they must have recoveredsince one ofthe Banü Shihäb was governor in 218/833.4^

The poet and leading man ofthe Shihabis, 'Abd al-Khäliq . . .

b. Muhammad al-Jawhar, who invited Muhammad b. Yu'fir tohelp the Shihabis against the Abnä' about the mid-3rd/9thcentury, calls the Abnä' slaves {'abtd) of the (pre-lslamic) qayl,Dhu Yazan42which they certainly were not, and also the lowpersons (safalah) of Färis.4^ In other verses he says of them,44

Full well I know that they were bornBut to buy and sell merchandise.To [work] at [sesame]-oil presses, butcheries and tanneries.4'

33 Kiiäb al-masälik via-'l-matnälik, ed. M. ]. de Goeje, BGA, Leyden, 1889, VI,136. He wrote about 230-34/844-48.

34 A!-QSmûs al-muhtf, inicie srr.35 Cf. Tâj at-'arûs, V, 474, citing the Prophet when he aq¡a'a 'l-nSsa 'l-dûra,

i.e., accommodated them in the houses ofthe Ançar. Al-Qämüs, III, 70, saysthat qafi'ah consisted of places (mahâll) in Baghdad which the Caliph al-Mançur assigned (aq(a'a) to people to inhabit (li-ya'marii-hä). Cf. al-Hamdânî,Sifah, op. cit., 57, speaking of a poet to whom the 'Abbasids assigned pro¬perty in San'ä' (iqtala'ü la-hu amwal-an).

36 According to al-RizI, op. cit., 413, the house ofthe Persian Wahb b. Munab-bih (latter halfof the first century H.) was in al-Qat?.

37 Al-Râzï, 198, speaks of a §an'äni, 'the door of whose house (dar) in §an'â' in

al-Sirär faces al-Rahabah', the latter north and slightly to the east of $an'ä'.38 Al-Ràzl, op. cit. , il 1 . One might however read rab' in the sense of 'settle¬

ment' here as in Ikitl, 402, Rab' Ban! Shihäb.39 GAôyai o/-am¿m, 1, 228. For 'detriment', (aJarrur, cf. pp.92b, 164a passim.40 /IZ-iÄW 7,402.41 Ibid, 372.42 Ibid, 401.43 Ibid, 404. AI-Radä'i (Al-Hamdänl, Sifah, 241) speaks of Qahjan and al-ahrär

min Sâsin, the free men ofSäsän, i.e. the Abni'.44 Ibid, 381. Al-Hamdäni, Çifah, 58, mentions another Çan'anî poet who used

to satirize al-sOqah wa-'l-suqqâf, the subjects (perhaps here, pace Lane, thepeople of the süq) and of low standing.

45 Ma'äfir wa-majäzir wa-madàbigh.

125

jn'ä' An Arabian Islamic City

10.1 Qasr al-Siläh, the citadel on the cast of Sân'.î'. The highest point of theQasr is at the top ofthe picture. A narrow linking passsageway runs down to thelower section of the Qasr at the bottom of the photograph.

10.2 Qasr al-Silâh. Another bastion ofthe same type on the eastern side oftheupper citadel.

The Districts al-Qap.' and al-SirärBy the 3rd/9th century Çan'â' was divided into two districts,

seemingly controlled by the Abnä', of Persian origin, in the eastand by the Arab Banü Shihäb in the west. These are known as

al-Qa{i' and al-Sirär respectively, the names persisting to thepresent day though oddly enough they are not used by al-Hamdäni. The latter2' tells us that 'the origin of those of theBanü Shihäb who settled in §an'ä' and in the East (Mashriq)'"

10.3 Qasral-Silah. Bâb al-Sitran from the outside.

of it (San'ä') is from Sa'dah. They went to the Al Dhi Yazanto aid and support them, and Himyar gave them as ñ&i {aq{a'at-hum, or "assigned them" ?) those fertile lands they have at Azäl(San'ä') and what is around it, of which are Bayt Sibtân/Sabatânwith its river {nahr, perhaps a ghayl?) and farms (diyä').' The nahrwas a permanent stream. He adds that they possess most of Haql§an'ä','' including Maydän 'Abbäd b. al-Ghamr^2 and other

29 Ikl'il I, ed. Muhammad al-Akwa', Cairo, 1963, 413.30 The Mashriq is the area approximately east of a line drawn from Çan'â' to

Sa'dah. Al-Akwa' says it is Khawlanal-'Aliyahand partof Sinhän.

3 1 Haql Çan'â' is said to be the Bir al-'Azab area.32 'Abbäd b, al-Ghamr al-Shihâbi was contemporary with the 'Abbäsid gover¬

nor, Ibn Barmak cf. Ikl'd I, op. cit., 414 seq.

124

v^on Sanaa3stab 1 : 13000

BOO 1000 m'' ' ' "

Stadtmauerohne Wehrgang IIoehQulbett Friedhof Hauiruiiten Chmdak. Durchlaß

(ter Kochflut

ii^-'^!í

PÍf ^

^^^^^3

tu

se

promenant

dans

Sanaa

Prévoir de limiter lahauteur des nouvellesconstructions - de limiter lacirculation des vàiitemes -

Etudier les remontées d'eaude la nappe phréatique oud'anciennes canalisationsdéfectueuses,

-^.ouvrir les fontaines d'eau potable - protéger et cacher denombreux fils électriques et téléphoniques - sur lesterrasses-toits, limiter les réservoirs d'eau et les antennesparaboliques - continuer la restauration des remparts

Sii:rí]¿.

à'%ff'^*^

»^

ir

»^^1y tí

pí1 '''''~

Eft se promenantdans la vieille villede Sanaa.

A surveiller: les claustras surles toits souvent en ciment, ainsique des surélévations nonconformes - les grillages defenêtres - le crépi de cimentcouleur brique sur les façadesou des consolidations assezvoyantes....Eviter de parsemer les ruellesde nouvelles boutiques -il ij en adéjà trop i....

d^j ^^c:^

Tourisme dans la vieille ville deSanaa

En 1998 - 12 hôtels touristiques sont installés dans degrandes demeures (Dar), ils déversent dans le coeurde la ville des touristes plus ou moins vêtus etbruyants jour et nuit ( des avions arrivent d 23h,d'autres à3h du matin) déstabilisant les modes de vielocaux.

- Ces Samsarats ne peuvent pas devenir que des galeries d'art ou d'artisanat seulementtouristiques.

Ces "gustan" (¡es jardins)

La conservation des espaces verts entourés de maisonsest nécessaire pour la respiration de la vieille ville.

- La végétation disparue, les propria¡taires en profitent pour construire des maisons,magasins, garages....- ¡Âne clôture provisoire est indispensable autour de tout espace vert pour le préserver enattendant les projets.... (lANDP-lÀNESeO-yEM 188 1006- projetM°ll)- Ajouter quelques espaces de jeux pour les enfants et adolescents.

Shibam (n'a pas été visitée lors de cette mission )

Projet : fin de l'aménagement du wadi Hadramawtfaire revivre la Palmeraie qui entoure la villeanimer le suq.

Bebid (n'a pas été visitée au coursde cette mission)

i44MHtt[a|I^JKll'> li'li'uu«

.tf 'li.-

récemment inscrite sur la liste du Patrimoine Mondial. Peu de choses ont étéfaites. Pestent à entreprendre: toute la conservation, la restauration du tissuurbain, l'étude et la restauration de très belles maisons (prévoir un four àbriques...) .

Gomment faire revivre le suq ? certainement pas en faisant uniquement del'artisanat pour touristes.. .( restent encore d'anciens métiers à tisser).Projet prioritaire : l'eau