The ancient Mud skyscrapers of Yemen - the Manhattan of the desert

Some of these are over 1000 years old, although many have been destroyed due to flooding in the 16th Century. Each community is entirely self-sufficient from having access to water and growing food. Familiies live vertically with grain stores on the ground levels, separate floors for men, women and family rooms on the top floor.

www.unbelievable-facts.com...

a reply to: stormcell

Thats pretty amazing. Never heard of it. Thanks!

a reply to: stormcell

I remember watching about them a couple of decades back, amazing structures that resembles a mini Manhattan and there were motif on some of them that also appeared around the pacific hinting at a lost pre-islamic or early Islamic history and hinting at a much larger and more important role in human history than is currently understood (if I remember it was a pagan - maybe linked to a lost cult - sun or star motif that also appeared on some Polynesian and Micronesian island's.

While we were living in mud hut's with wall's made of pig poo and straw the ancient culture there - and it is actually very ancient with root's long before the time of Islam - were building multi story apartment block's.

Sadly how much of this legacy will survive the current war?.

That site say's 400 years but that documentary I saw hinted that the style and building techniques may date much earlier, much much earlier.

www.toxel.com...

Also worth noting that Yemen may have been ancient Sheba or part of it.
jewishencyclopedia.com...

So according to the song of Somon the Queen of Sheba had skin like Ebony which mean's that they may have been a black people at that time as well as one of the oldest civilization's.
www.saylor.org...

I would love to see pictures of the insides of these places too! Do you know of any?

a reply to: stormcell

This is amazing, thanks for sharing. Buildings made of mud that last over 1000 years. I wonder if any of them ever had 100% failure due to fire.

a reply to: KansasGirl

Not inside but this will give a feel for the site.
www.slate.com...
www.nationalgeographic.com...
www.naturalhomes.org...
misfitsarchitecture.com...

This is really neat. Thanks for the post!

I wonder if they had high rent? After all, they were high-rises.

a reply to: stormcell

I mentioned this before but I'll this again: A Saudi dude once told me that there are ancient ruins in Saudi Arabia that got sealed off by the Saudi government.

I like the ones next to the cliffs, you can throw your trash right out the window and be done with it.

Seriously it looks like a city, but the surrounding areas appear as desolate expanses. The river below provides the water for crops ... is it a trading center? I admit it looks to me precarious and dangerous.

Quaint... yes, colorful... yes, in a scary way. Which begs the question, or risk........ earthquakes ??

400 years ???
looks like it was built last week ?
looks so modern could be so any small citys in PA .
Looks like a few cars in some of the photos so must still be in use .
as a finly note it would suck to live there .

a reply to: midnightstar

Actually it would especially for a lady alien to the native culture, Yemen despite its great length of history and ancient legacy's is actually a very backward society in many way's.
Slavery is still practiced almost openly in Yemen, it was always integral to the East African slave trade and slave route's and is a very notable child bride nation with children even dying on there wedding night.

Still beautiful architecture and the landscape is almost like the American deserts with there mesa's and canyon's.

Also you are right on another matter too, 400 years may mark when the first structure was built on that site but over that time period with constant renovation and alterations how much of the original structure actually remains unchanged and unaltered, I would assume very little, the nature of the structure means that they have to be constantly repaired every time it rain's and when flash flood's come these towers can collapse with dire consequence for those that are living within them.

This is a documentary on the Slave problem in Yemen made by the Arabic TV station Al Jazeera.

This highlight's the problem of Child brides in Yemen.

Sadly though this is a problem in many other nations of often vastly different religion and culture and was also a problem in our own western society's a few century's back, perhaps it still is behind closed doors especially among religious enclaves and cult's.

originally posted by: midnightstar
400 years ???
looks like it was built last week ?
looks so modern could be so any small citys in PA .
Looks like a few cars in some of the photos so must still be in use .

Maybe they're 400 years old, too!