Ancient civilizations:  

                                                    

The history of Yemen stretches back over 3,000 years, and its unique culture is still in evidence today in the architecture of its towns and villages.                                                                                                                                                 

From about 1000 BC this region of the Southern Arabian Peninsula was ruled by three successive civilizations -- Minean, Sabaean and Himyarite. These three kingdoms all depended for their wealth on the spice trade. Aromatics such as myrrh and frankincense were greatly prized in the ancient civilised world and were used as part of various rituals in many cultures, including Egyptian, Greek and Roman.

In the 11th century BC, land routes through Arabia were greatly improved by using the camel as a beast of burden, and frankincense was carried from its production centre at Qana (now known as Bir 'Ali) to Gaza in Egypt. The camel caravans also carried gold and other precious goods which arrived in Qana by sea from India.

The chief incense traders were the Minaeans, who established their capital at Karna (now known as Sadah), before they were superseded by the Sabaeans in 950 BC. The Sabaean capital was Ma'rib, where a large temple was built. The mighty Sabaean civilisation endured for about 14 centuries and was based not only on the spice trade, but also on agriculture. The impressive dam, built at Ma'rib in the 8th century, provided irrigation for farmland and stood for over a millennium. Some Sabaean carved inscriptions from this period are still extant.

The Himyarites established their capital at Dhafar (now just a small village in the Ibb region) and gradually absorbed the Sabaean kingdom. They were culturally inferior to the Sabaeans and traded from the port of al-Muza on the Red Sea. By the first century BC, the area had been conquered by the Romans.

Islam, Christianity, Judaism and the dynasties

While Yemen was under the rule of the Roans on the shores of the Mediterranean, Christianity was fast establishing itself and ritual fragrances became less popular, causing a considerable decline in the spice trade.

Both Christianity and Judaism were introduced into Yemen by the 4^th century AD. In the early part of this century Ethiopians occupied the region. By 570 AD, the great dam at Ma'rib, which had been neglected for several centuries, broke for the last time and was abandoned by the fast-declining Sabaean kingdom. The Himyarites had by this time formed an alliance with the Persians and defeated the Ethiopian invaders.

Islam was introduced into the region in about 630 AD and Yemen was ruled by a series of Arab caliphs. The first mosques to be built in the Yemen were in San'a al-Janad and near Wadi Zabid. These mosques still exist.

Later in the seventh century the Ummayyad and Abbasid caliphs moved their capital first to Damascus and later to Baghdad, thus diminishing Yemen's political status in the new Islamic Empire. A succession of governors of the region followed, with a number of dynasties struggling for supremacy. These dynasties included the Ziyadids, the Najahids, the Sulayhids, Egyptian Ayyubis and the Turkoman Rasulids. The most important dynasty, founded in 897 AD by Yayha bin Husayn bin Qasim ar-Rassi, were the Zaydis of Sa'da. This stable, Shiite dynasty lasted well into the 20th century.

When the country became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517, its real power was still in the hands of the Zaydi imams. The first period of rule by the Ottomans lasted for over a century, ending in 1636, when the Zaydi imams reasserted their supremacy.