Sanaá (Arabic صنعاء, romanized as Ṣanʻāʼ, and also known as Sana or Sana'a), population 1,303,000 (2000), is the capital of Yemen. Arabic (العربية) is a Semitic language, closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Geography

Sana'a lies in the heart of Yemeni highlands on a plateau at an altitude of 2200m surrounded by several by mountains notably Jabal Nugum and Aiban. The city is around 320 Km north of Aden. Aden is a city in Yemen, 105 miles East of Bab-el-Mandeb. ...

History

Sana’a is one of the ancient Yemen cities dating date back to the Sabean dynasty. The oldest reference to it existence is found in inscriptions which date back to the 1st Century AD. It is suggested that Sana’a was the capital of the Himyarite kingdom at the onset of the 6th Century AD. A state in ancient Yemen dating from 115 BCE. Conquered neighbouring Saba in 25 BCE, Qataban in 50 CE and Hadramaut 100 CE. It was the dominant state in Arabia until the sixth century. ...

When King Yousef Athar (or Dhu Nuwas), the last of the Himyarite kings, was in power Sana'a was also the capital of the Ethiopian viceroys, then after 570 of the Persians. Yusuf Dhu Nuwas (also called Yusuf Asar Dhu Nuwas, Masruq, and Dunas Zhidovin) was the last king of Yemen (then called Himayar) from a Jewish dynasty of unknown origin. ... Events First mention of the Spear of Destiny (approximate date). ... Persian art is conscious of a great past, and monumental in many respects. ...

As of the dawn of Islam until the detachment of independent sub-states in many parts of Yemen Islamic Caliphate, Sana’a persisted as the governing seat, who himself is Caliph’s deputy in running the affairs of one of Yemen’s Three Makhalifs: Mikhlaf Sana’a, Mikhlaf Al-Janad and Mikhlaf Hadhramawt, The city of Sana’a recurrently assumed an important status and all Yemenite States competed to control it. Islam (Arabic al-islām الإسلام,  listen) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ...

The Mamelukes arrived in Yemen in AD 1517. Following the collapse of the Mamelukes in Egypt at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, Yemen fell under the Ottoman Rule and during the first Ottoman rule of Yemen between 1538-1635 Sana’a became the capital of the Ottoman Vilayet and also during the Ottaman second rule 1872-1918. In 1918, Sana’a was the capital of Imam Yehya, who ruled North Yemen. At the onset of the 1962 revolution which deposed the imamate rule, it became the capital of the Arab Republic of Yemen. It was then the capital of unified Yemen in 1990 where it is dubbed as the historical capital of Yemen. An Ottoman Mamluk, from 1810 Mamluks (or Mameluks) (the Arabic word usually translates as owned, singular: مملوك plural: مماليك) comprised slave soldiers used by the Muslim Caliphs and the Ottoman Empire, and who on more than one occasion seized power for themselves. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto El Muzaffer Daima The Ever Victorious (as written in tugra) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital İstanbul ( Constantinople/Asitane/Konstantiniyye ) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 12+ million km² Establishment 1299 Dissolution October 29, 1923... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Attractions and Culture

Old City

The old, fortified city has been inhabited for more than 2,500 years and contains a wealth of intact architectural gems. It have been declared a World Heritage City by the United Nations in 1984. Efforts are underway to preserve some of the oldest buildings, some of which are over 400 years old. Surrounded by ancient clay walls which stand six to nine metres (20-30ft) high, the old city boosts over 100 mosques, 12 hammams (baths) and 6500 houses. Many of the houses look rather like ancient skyscrapers – reaching several storeys high and topped with flat roofs, they are decorated with elaborate friezes and intricately carved windows. One of the most popular attractions is Suq al-Milh (Salt Market), where it is possible to buy not only salt but also bread, spices, raisins, cotton, copper, pottery, silverware, antiques, and a host of other goods. The majestic seventh century al-Jami’al-Kabir (The Great Mosque) is one of the oldest in the Muslim world. Bab al-Yaman (Yemen Gate) is an iconized entry point through the city walls and is over 700 years old. Elabana Falls is in Lamington National Park, part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. ...

Cultural Arab Capital

Sana'a was designated as the Arab Cultural Capital for the year of 2004. Notable cultural activities included a musical concert by the European Philharmonic Orchestra of Magdeburg, Germany. View of Magdeburg with the cathedral, from the tower of the Johanniskirche Magdeburg, the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, lies on the Elbe river. ...

Quotes and Impressions

" La budda min Ṣanʻāʼ" (Sanaá must be seen) are famous words first attributed to Imam Muḥammad ibn Idris al-Shafiʼi (768-820) who visited the ancient capital several times. Imam Shafi (767 - 820) was an Islamic scholar who is considered the founder of the Shafii school of jurisprudence (fiqh). ...

Many travelers in ancient days were impressed by the beauty of Sanaá. The well-known Yemeni geographer and historian Al Hamdani marveled at the cleanliness of the city:

The least dwelling there has a well or two, a garden and long cesspits separate from each other, empty of ordure, without smell or evil odors, because of the hard concrete (adobe and Cob probably) and fine pasture-land and clean places to walk. This page deals with adobe, the construction material. ... ...

The Persian traveller Ibn Rustah a contemporary of Al Hamdani noted its food, Persia or Persian most often refer to: Persia The Persians, an ethnic group, also called Tajiks Persian language Persian (Pokémon) See also Iranian, Iranian peoples, Iranian languages and Aryan. ... Ibn Rustah (in Persian: ابن رسته) was a 10th century Persian explorer and geographer born in Rosta district, Isfahan, Persia (See Encyclopaedia Iranica [1]). He wrote a geographical compendium. ...

It is the city of Yemen—there not being found ... a city greater, more populous or more prosperous, of nobler origin or more delicious food than it ...

External links

• A rather huge pdf ebook about Sanaá (http://www.worditude.com/ebooks/unescopdf/sana_eng.pdf)