A History of Yemen

• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Ancient Kingdoms of South Arabia
• Chapter 2 The Rise of the Sabaeans and the Marib Dam
• Chapter 3 The Himyarite Kingdom and the Embrace of Monotheism
• Chapter 4 The Aksumite and Sasanian Invasions
• Chapter 5 The Advent of Islam in Yemen
• Chapter 6 The Zaydi Imamate in the Highlands
• Chapter 7 The Rasulid Dynasty: A Golden Age
• Chapter 8 The Tahirids and the Rise of the Ottomans
• Chapter 9 The First Ottoman Occupation and Resistance
• Chapter 10 The Qasimi State and the Expulsion of the Ottomans
• Chapter 11 The British in Aden and the South
• Chapter 12 The Second Ottoman Occupation and the Anglo-Ottoman Convention
• Chapter 13 The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen
• Chapter 14 The Aden Protectorate and the Rise of Nationalism
• Chapter 15 The 1962 Revolution and the North Yemen Civil War
• Chapter 16 The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in the South
• Chapter 17 The Yemen Arab Republic in the North
• Chapter 18 The Border Wars and Tensions Between North and South
• Chapter 19 The Unification of Yemen in 1990
• Chapter 20 The 1994 Civil War and its Aftermath
• Chapter 21 The Saleh Era: Consolidation of Power and Challenges
• Chapter 22 The Rise of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
• Chapter 23 The Houthi Rebellion in Sa'dah
• Chapter 24 The 2011 Arab Spring Uprising and the Fall of Saleh
• Chapter 25 The Ongoing Civil War and Humanitarian Crisis

To the Romans, it was Arabia Felix—Fortunate Arabia. From the harbors of the Mediterranean, merchants and geographers spoke of a land at the edge of the known world, a kingdom of unimaginable wealth blessed by fertile soils and a pleasant climate. They told stories of towering cities, of fields that produced exotic spices, and of a near-monopoly on frankincense and myrrh, the fragrant resins more valuable than gold in the temples and palaces of Rome, Persia, and beyond. For over a thousand years, this remote corner of the Arabian Peninsula was a nexus of global trade, a cradle of civilization whose prosperity was the stuff of legend.

Today, the headlines from this same land tell a different story. They speak not of fortune, but of famine; not of unity, but of civil war; not of prosperity, but of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The ancient cities are shelled, the historic ports are blockaded, and the descendants of the spice kings are stalked by poverty and disease. The journey from Arabia Felix to modern Yemen is a long and labyrinthine one, marked by dazzling heights of cultural achievement, brutal cycles of violence, and the ceaseless meddling of foreign powers. This book is an attempt to trace that path.

Understanding Yemen requires, first and foremost, an appreciation of its geography. The country is a place of dramatic and defining contrasts. A hot, humid, and flat coastal plain known as the Tihamah runs along the Red Sea, a region culturally and geographically distinct from the lands it borders. Abruptly rising from this plain are the spectacular western highlands, a spine of jagged mountains reaching heights of over 3,600 meters, the highest on the Arabian Peninsula. Here, for millennia, Yemeni farmers have carved intricate terraces into the slopes, creating a unique agricultural landscape.

East of this mountainous backbone, the terrain descends into the high plateaus and finally into the vast, unforgiving desert of the Rub' al Khali, the "Empty Quarter." These distinct zones—coast, highlands, and desert—have fostered equally distinct cultures, tribes, and political entities throughout Yemen's history. This fragmented landscape has made the country notoriously difficult to govern as a single entity, a challenge that has bedeviled imam and president alike. Its strategic location, commanding the Bab-el-Mandeb strait connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, has also made it an irresistible prize for empires, ensuring that its history would never be its own for long.

This history begins in antiquity, with a series of powerful kingdoms that grew fantastically wealthy from the incense trade. As we shall explore in our early chapters, the kingdoms of Saba, known to the biblical world as Sheba, and later Himyar, mastered desert travel and maritime routes, connecting Africa and India with the Mediterranean world. Their engineers constructed one of the ancient world's most remarkable feats of hydraulic engineering, the Great Dam of Marib, which transformed the desert into fertile gardens and stood as a symbol of their power for over a millennium.

The decline of these ancient kingdoms coincided with profound religious change. The embrace of Judaism and later Christianity by the last Himyarite kings introduced new sources of conflict and invited intervention from the Christian kingdom of Aksum in modern-day Ethiopia and the Zoroastrian Sasanian Empire of Persia. These foreign invasions, which will be detailed in Chapter 4, were a taste of things to come, setting a precedent for external powers treating Yemen as a strategic battleground for their own rivalries.

The seventh century brought the most transformative force in Yemeni history: the arrival of Islam. As we will see in Chapter 5, its adoption was swift and profound, forever reshaping Yemen's cultural and political identity. The country became a center of Islamic learning, and its soldiers played a key role in the early Islamic conquests. Yet, even within this new unity, old divisions persisted and new ones emerged. The establishment of the Zaydi Imamate in the northern highlands in the ninth century created a distinct religio-political entity that would endure, in one form or another, for over a thousand years.

This highland imamate, a unique branch of Shia Islam, would form one of the central poles of Yemeni identity. For centuries, its history would be defined by a near-constant struggle for influence against the powers of the south and the coast. We will explore the brilliant cultural flourishing of the Sunni Rasulid dynasty, based in the southern city of Taiz, which oversaw a golden age of science, architecture, and art. The tension and occasional open warfare between the Zaydi north and the Shafi'i south represents one of the most significant and recurring themes in Yemeni history, a fault line that continues to shape the country's politics today.

The early modern era saw the arrival of new, powerful empires vying for control of Yemen's ports and trade routes. First came the Ottomans, who established a tenuous hold on parts of the country in the 16th century. Their presence provoked fierce resistance from the Zaydi imams of the highlands, who, under the Qasimi dynasty, eventually succeeded in expelling them. This period, covered in Chapters 9 and 10, forged a powerful sense of Yemeni identity rooted in resistance to foreign occupation.

No sooner had one empire been ejected than another appeared. In 1839, the British Empire seized the southern port of Aden, transforming it into a vital coaling station for its ships bound for India. This marked the beginning of a formal division of Yemen that would last for a century and a half. While the Ottomans would return for a second occupation of the north, the British consolidated their control over Aden and its hinterland, creating a separate political, economic, and cultural sphere in the south. The drawing of the Anglo-Ottoman border in the early 20th century gave a physical form to the ancient divisions, creating "North Yemen" and "South Yemen."

The twentieth century was a period of tumultuous change. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I led to the formation of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen in the north, an isolated and deeply conservative state ruled by the Zaydi imams. In the south, British-controlled Aden grew into a bustling, cosmopolitan port city, while nationalism and anti-colonial sentiment simmered in the protectorates. The forces of modernity could not be held back forever.

In 1962, a revolution in the north overthrew the imamate, sparking a brutal civil war that drew in Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt and Saudi Arabia in a regional proxy conflict. A few years later, in 1967, the British were forced out of the south, which became the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, the only Marxist state in the Arab world. For the next two decades, two Yemeni states, with diametrically opposed political ideologies and foreign backers, existed side-by-side. Border wars and constant tension defined their relationship, yet the dream of a single, unified Yemen never died.

That dream was finally realized on May 22, 1990. The unification of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen was greeted with widespread euphoria. But the merger of two such different political and economic systems was fraught with difficulty. Old suspicions and new power struggles quickly soured the mood, culminating in a bitter civil war in 1994 that saw the north's forces decisively defeat a southern attempt at secession.

The aftermath of the 1994 war set the stage for the modern crises. The long-ruling president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, consolidated power, but his reign was marked by corruption, economic hardship, and the growing marginalization of many groups. In the country's periphery, new and old grievances festered. In the north, the Houthi movement emerged, championing the cause of the Zaydis who felt neglected by the central government. In the south, a secessionist movement gained traction. Simultaneously, the chaos provided fertile ground for one of the world's most dangerous terrorist organizations, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The final chapters of this book will trace the unraveling. The 2011 Arab Spring uprising forced Saleh from power but failed to produce a stable new order. Power-sharing agreements collapsed, and in 2014, the country descended into the multifaceted and devastating civil war that continues to this day. The conflict has become a regional proxy war, drawing in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran, and inflicting unimaginable suffering on the Yemeni people.

The story of Yemen is one of cycles: cycles of unification and fragmentation, of prosperity and poverty, of local autonomy and foreign domination. It is a story of a people of immense resilience and deep pride, whose complex tribal and social fabric has been both a source of strength and a driver of conflict. To understand the Yemen of today, with its bewildering array of armed groups, political factions, and humanitarian catastrophes, one must understand the ancient kingdoms, the rival imamates, the colonial partitions, and the Cold War politics that shaped it. This history is not merely a background to the current crisis; it is its living, breathing core.

Long before the geographers of Rome bestowed upon it the optimistic title of Arabia Felix, Southern Arabia was a landscape of ambition, commerce, and faith. For well over a thousand years, from roughly the beginning of the first millennium BCE, this corner of the world, seemingly remote, was a vital artery of international trade. Its kingdoms grew fantastically wealthy not from gold or gems, though they had those too, but from the control of something far more aromatic: the world's supply of frankincense and myrrh. These fragrant resins, prized for religious ceremonies, perfumes, and medicines from the temples of Mesopotamia to the villas of the Mediterranean, grew only in the arid climates of Southern Arabia and parts of Somalia. The immense demand for these goods created a network of caravan routes that snaked across the desert, giving rise to a series of powerful and sophisticated kingdoms whose monumental architecture and intricate inscriptions still testify to their former glory.

These were the Caravan Kingdoms, city-states that grew into regional powers by dominating the flow of incense. Their capitals were strategically placed on the fringes of the great sand desert known as the Ramlat al-Sab'atayn, positioned to control the wadis—seasonal riverbeds—that provided precious water, and to serve as hubs for the long-distance trade. Between the eighth century BCE and the sixth century CE, a handful of these states jostled for power, sometimes as rivals, sometimes as allies, in a complex dance of diplomacy and warfare. The most significant among them were Saba, Ma'in, Qataban, and Hadhramaut. Together, they created a uniquely South Arabian civilization, bound by a common cultural and religious heritage, even as they vied for control of the lucrative trade that was their lifeblood.

The Perfumes of the Gods

The foundation of South Arabia's ancient prosperity was the gnarled and unprepossessing Boswellia and Commiphora trees. When their bark was cut, these trees would bleed a milky-white sap that hardened into aromatic, tear-shaped nuggets. The sap of the Boswellia was frankincense; that of the Commiphora was myrrh. To the ancient world, these were the perfumes of the gods, essential for placating deities, consecrating temples, and conducting funerary rites. The Romans, in particular, consumed them in enormous quantities. This insatiable demand, coupled with the resins' limited geographic source, made them commodities worth more than their weight in gold.

The kingdom of Hadhramaut, the easternmost of the great kingdoms, was the primary source of the highest quality frankincense. From its capital, Shabwa, the precious resin would begin its long journey. Initially, the trade was likely conducted over short distances via donkey caravans. However, the domestication of the camel around 1000 BCE revolutionized commerce, allowing vast distances across the arid interior to be covered. Great camel caravans, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, became the primary mode of transport, establishing a legendary "Incense Route" that became one of the most important trade networks of the ancient world.

This route was not a single road but a network of paths that stretched from the production centers in Hadhramaut and modern-day Dhofar, westward through the other kingdoms, and then north along the Red Sea coast towards Egypt, the Levant, and the wider Mediterranean world. Other branches headed northeast towards Mesopotamia and Persia. Every stop along the way was an opportunity for taxation. The kingdoms grew rich by controlling the routes, offering protection (for a fee), and levying tolls on the merchants who passed through their territory. This created a powerful incentive to control as much of the route as possible, fueling the rivalries that defined the era.

A Constellation of Kingdoms

For much of this early period, Southern Arabia was not a unified state but a collection of competing powers. The Greek writer Eratosthenes, in the third century BCE, correctly identified four major peoples who dominated the region: the Sabaeans, Minaeans, Qatabanians, and Hadramites. Each of these groups formed a kingdom, leaving behind a wealth of inscriptions and archaeological remains that allow historians to piece together their stories.

The Kingdom of Hadhramaut, centered in the vast Wadi Hadhramaut, was, as noted, the source of the frankincense. Its capital at Shabwa was a major commercial and religious center. Inscriptions show that for periods, Hadhramaut was a significant power, annexing the neighboring kingdom of Qataban in the 2nd century CE and warring frequently with Saba and Himyar. Its strategic position as the primary producer of incense gave it enormous economic leverage.

To the west of Hadhramaut lay the Kingdom of Qataban, in the Wadi Bayhan. Its capital, Timna, was a key stop on the overland trade route. For centuries, Qataban was a major player, sometimes as an ally of Saba, at other times as a fierce rival. The Qatabanians called themselves the "children of 'Amm," their chief deity, and like their neighbors, gained immense wealth from the incense trade passing through their lands. Archaeological work at Timna has revealed a sophisticated city, including a commercial code inscribed on a stone stele from the 4th century BCE, one of the earliest examples of such trade regulation in Arabia.

North of Saba, in the Wadi al-Jawf, was the Kingdom of Ma'in. The Minaeans were consummate traders. Unlike their rivals, who frequently engaged in expansionist warfare, Ma'in seems to have functioned more as a trading confederation of city-states. Their inscriptions, uniquely among the South Arabian kingdoms, speak explicitly of their commercial activities. They established trading posts and colonies far beyond their borders, with Minaean inscriptions found as far afield as Egypt and the Greek island of Delos, testament to the vast reach of their commercial network. For a period between the 4th and 2nd centuries BCE, the Minaeans effectively monopolized the trade routes.

The fourth, and ultimately most dominant, of these early kingdoms was Saba, known to the biblical world as Sheba. Centered on its capital, Ma'rib, Saba's power was based not only on trade but also on a mastery of agriculture, made possible by sophisticated irrigation. While the full story of Saba's rise will be told in the next chapter, it is clear that from an early stage, it was a formidable power. A text from the 7th century BCE, for instance, records the victory of a Sabaean ruler, Karib'il Watar, over the neighboring kingdom of Awsan, an event of such significance that it was recorded in great detail. This victory helped establish Sabaean supremacy in the region for centuries to come.

A Shared Civilization

Despite their political rivalries, these kingdoms were part of a unified cultural world. They all spoke closely related Old South Arabian languages, a branch of the Semitic language family. To write them, they developed a distinctive and elegant script known as Musnad. This alphabet, which branched from the Proto-Sinaitic script around the late second millennium BCE, consisted of 29 consonants. It was an abjad, a writing system without vowels, and its monumental form, with its clean, geometric lines, was used for thousands of inscriptions on stone and bronze. A cursive, simplified version known as Zabur was used for everyday record-keeping on more perishable materials like wooden sticks and palm-leaf stalks.

Religion was another powerful unifying force. The South Arabian pantheon was complex, but it shared common features across the kingdoms. The supreme god, often seen as remote, was 'Athtar, a deity associated with the planet Venus. More immediate to daily life were the patron deities of each kingdom. The Sabaeans venerated Almaqah, a moon god. The Minaeans worshipped Wadd, also a moon god, while the Qatabanians followed 'Amm ("Uncle"), and the Hadramites revered Sin, another lunar deity originally from Mesopotamia. These primary gods headed a pantheon of lesser deities, and elaborate temples, such as the famed Awwam temple in Ma'rib, served as major centers of worship and social life.

The political structure of the kingdoms also evolved along similar lines. Early rulers often held the title of mukarrib, a term thought to mean "unifier" or "priest-king." This suggests an early form of governance where the ruler's political authority was intertwined with his religious duties, presiding over a federation of tribes. Over time, this title was gradually superseded by that of malik, or "king," indicating a shift towards a more centralized and secular monarchy. This transition from a priestly unifier to a conventional king reflected the maturation of these city-states into powerful, dynastic kingdoms.

The world of these ancient kingdoms was one of constant flux. Alliances shifted, and dominance passed from one power to another. Ma'in's commercial empire eventually gave way, and Qataban was absorbed by its neighbors. Through it all, the kingdom of Saba grew in strength and influence, its engineers perfecting the irrigation systems that turned the desert margins green and its kings consolidating their control over the trade routes. It was the Sabaeans who would create the first great, enduring power in South Arabia, a kingdom whose wealth would become legendary and whose greatest achievement, a monumental dam at its capital, would become a wonder of the ancient world.