Shibam

For the coastal trading vessel, see MV Shibam.

Old Walled City of Shibam *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, iv, vi
Reference	192
Region **	Arab States
Inscription history
Inscription	1982 (6th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Shibam (Arabic: شبام‎) (often referred to as Shibam Hadhramaut) is a town in Yemen with about 7,000 inhabitants. The first known inscription about the city dates from the 3rd century AD.^[1] It was the capital of the Hadramawt Kingdom.

Architecture

Shibam, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, owes its fame to its distinct architecture.The houses of Shibam are all made out of mud brick and about 500 of them are tower houses, which rise 5 to 11 stories high,^[2] with each floor having one or two rooms.^[3] This architectural style was used in order to protect residents from Bedouin attacks. While Shibam has been in existence for an estimated 1,700 years, most of the city's houses originate from the 16th century. Many, though, have been rebuilt numerous times in the last few centuries.

Shibam is often called "the oldest skyscraper city in the world" or "the Manhattan of the desert", and is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction.^[4] The city has some of the tallest mud buildings in the world, with some of them over 30 meters^[5] (100 feet) high, thus being early high-rise apartment buildings. In order to protect the buildings from rain and erosion, the walls must be routinely maintained by applying fresh layers of mud. The nearby town of Tarim contains the tallest structure in the Wadi Hadhramaut valley, the mudbrick minaret of the Al-Mihdhar mosque. It stands at a height of approximately 53 meters (175 feet.)^[3] This is the tallest minaret in the southern Arabian peninsula.^[6]

In 1999 the documentary film Architecture of Mud was made on the subject by the filmmaker Caterina Borelli.^[7]

Threats

Another view of Shibam

The city was heavily affected by flooding in 2008.^[8] The foundations of many of the buildings in the city were compromised by the flood waters, eventually leading to their collapse.^[9] It was also the target of an Al Qaeda attack in 2009.^[10][11]

References

1. ^ "Wadi Hadramowt and walled city of Shabam". http://www.shibamonline.net/eng/wadi13.php. Retrieved 2010-01-03. 
2. ^ Helfritz, Hans (April 1937). "Land without shade". Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society 24 (2): 201–16 
3. ^ ^{a b} Pamela Jerome, Giacomo Chiari, Caterina Borelli; Chiari, Giacomo; Borelli, Caterina (1999). "The Architecture of Mud: Construction and Repair Technology in the Hadhramaut Region of". APT Bulletin (APT Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 2/3) 30 (2–3): 39–48 [44]. doi:10.2307/1504639. JSTOR 1504639 
4. ^ Old Walled City of Shibam, UNESCO World Heritage Centre
5. ^ Shipman, J. G. T. (June 1984). "The Hadhramaut". Asian Affairs 15 (2): 154–62. doi:10.1080/03068378408730145 
6. ^ p. 9, The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America, James Bamford, Random House, Inc., 2009, ISBN 0-307-27939-1.
7. ^ "Architecture of Mud". Documentary Educational Resources. http://www.der.org/films/architecture-of-mud.html. 
8. ^ "Death Toll Mounts In Tropical Storm". CBS 13. 2008-10-26. http://cbs13.com/national/Death.Toll.Mounts.2.848789.html. Retrieved 2008-10-26. 
9. ^ "Historic Town of Shibam Hadramout Escapes Flooding Largely Unscathed". ITN Source. November 3, 2008. http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/2008/11/03/RTV3319008/?s=floods. 
10. ^ "Al Qaeda blamed for Yemen attack". CNN. 2009-03-16. http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/03/16/yemen.bombing.alqaeda/index.html. Retrieved 2009-04-26. 
11. ^ "Al-Qaeda in Yemen:Political, Social and Security Dimensions". Yemen Post. 2009-04-12. http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=542&MainCat=5. Retrieved 2009-04-26. 

External links

• Official Website of the Al-Quaiti Royal Family of Hadhramaut
• 360° Panorama of old walled city Shibam
• Shibamonline.net
• Shibam on archnet.org
• World Heritage Site
• Travel Adventures
• Shibam Urban Development Project

Coordinates: 15°55′N 48°37′E / 15.917°N 48.617°E / 15.917; 48.617