which distinguished itself by the greater signifi-
cance it attached to adherence of the sharia. Tribal
divisions and subdivisions are headed by a shaykh,
who, as arbiter of customary law and intertribal
relations, continues to be recognized as an official
mediator by the Republic of Yemen. Especially
in the north and northwest, this social structure
overlaps with a system of social ranks, composed
of status groups graded according to ancestry
and professional activity. Until the emergence of
the modern state, the descendants of the Prophet
(sayyid) including the Zaydi imam, took their place
at the top of the hierarchical order. This social
order has been weakened by such factors as the
founding of a republican regime, increased social
mobility, and urbanization.
Yemen is one of the oldest centers of civiliza-
tion in the Middle East. Between the ninth cen-
tury b.c.e. and the sixth century c.e., it formed
part of the kingdoms of Minaea, Saba, Himyar,
Qataban, Hadramawt, and Awsan, which con-
trolled the lucrative spice trade. It was known to
Romans as Arabia Felix because of the riches its
trade generated; Caesar Augustus attempted to
annex it in 24 b.c.e., but the expedition failed.
Persian and Abyssinian kings were more success-
ful and Yemen was incorporated into the Sassanid
and Abyssinian empires in the sixth and early
seventh centuries c.e. The attempt of Abraha, the
Abyssinian governor of Yemen, to conquer mecca
in the renowned “year of the Elephant” (570), was
memorialized in the qUran. Muslim historians
have traditionally asserted that, in 628, Badhan,
the Sassanid governor of Sanaa, embraced Islam
and the whole country immediately followed suit.
However, modern historians argue that Islam-
ization proceeded over at least three centuries,
beginning when caliphs exerted their control
over Yemen through official representatives, such
as governors and judges. During the era of the
Rightly Guided Caliphs, Yemen provided the vast
majority of manpower for the Islamic conquests.
With the breakup of the abbasid caliphate after
the 10th century, Yemen came under the control
of the imams of various Zaydi dynasties, who
established a theocratic political structure that
survived until modern times.
Zaydi dominance was interrupted during the
11th and 12th centuries by the Sunni Ayyubid
and Rasulid dynasties of egypt, who controlled
much of southern Yemen. By the end of the 16th
century and again in the 19th century, Yemen
fell under the rule of the Ottoman Empire,
while facing intermittent resistance from Zaydi
forces. Northern Yemen became independent of
the Ottoman Empire in 1918, and the Yemen
Arab Republic was formed in 1962. Notable lit-
erary and political figure Muhammad Mahmud
al-Zubayri (d. 1965) championed the cause
of Yemeni independence, and he continues to
be regarded as a national hero. The British,
who had occupied the southern port city of
Aden since 1839, withdrew in 1967 from what
became the People’s Democratic Republic of
South Yemen, which officially subscribed to
communism in 1970. The two countries were
formally united as the Republic of Yemen on
May 22, 1990. A southern-based and Saudi-
supported secessionist movement was quickly
subdued in 1994 by forces loyal to President Ali
Abdullah Salih (b. 1942). The bombing of the
USS Cole in 2000 and the 2002 attack on the
French oil tanker Limburg have drawn attention
to the activities of alleged al-qaida associates
in Yemen, and recent Zaydi rebel attacks have
occurred in the northwest.
See also arabic langUage and literatUre;
imam; shaFii legal school; zaydi shiism.
Gregory MackFurther reading: Robert D. Burrowes, Historical Dic-
tionary of Yemen (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1995);
Werner Daum, ed., Yemen: 3000 Years of Art and
Civilization (Innsbruck and Frankfurt am Main: Pin-
guin-Verlag, 1988); Paul Dresch, A History of Modern
Yemen (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000);
Brinkley M. Messick, The Calligraphic State (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1993).K 716 Yemen