Northern Yemen Research Articles

The Houthi Movement in Context of the Religious and Tribal Situation in Yemen

Abstract This article examines the role of the religious and tribal factors in the genesis, development and expansion of the Houthi movement in Yemen. The relevance of this work stems from the transformation of the Ansarullah movement into the driver of not only domestic policy in Yemen but also of regional policy and the regional security situation. The article contains: a scrutiny of Zaydism as one of the leading religions in Yemen and its connection with the Houthi movement; the genesis of the Ansarullah movement and how it became dominant in Northern Yemen; and interrelations of this movement with the Yemeni tribes. The author of the article stipulates that from a religious point of view the Houthi movement reflects the teaching of traditional Zaydism and has its roots in Yemeni history, especially in the al-Mutawakkil Imamate. The article contains an analysis as to how the Houthis succeeded in neutralizing or exploiting the tribes of Yemen, taking into account that the tribal factor was a driver of political instability in the country. The author explains, in part, the success of the Houthis and their domination in conditions of war and conflicts (wars of Saada and the war against the Arabian coalition).

A Sabaic inscription from Wādī al‐Jawf during the Era of Yadaʿʾil Bayyin, son of Yaṯaʿʾamar, King of Sabaʾ

AbstractThis is an analytical study of a new Sabaic inscription probably coming from the town of Naššān in Wādī al‐Jawf in northern Yemen. The text of this inscription, which is of a construction/dedicatory and a legal nature at the same time, bans the violation of the properties of Yaqdumʾil son of Ṯawrān, by the people of Ḫawlān and their vassals who had attacked that man's properties by cutting his trees and scattering his crops. The inscription is dated by the name of the Sabaean king Yadaʿʾil Bayyin son of Yaṯaʿʾamar, who reigned about the end of the fifth and the beginning of the fourth century BC. What distinguishes the inscription is that it contains new historical and linguistic material. Along with other Sabaic inscriptions found in the region, the text refers to the extent of settlement of Sabaean families from Mārib, Ṣirwāḥ, and Ḫawlān in the cities of al‐Jawf, specifically in Naššān and Našq, to control the roads of incense.

Spatio-temporal variations in upwelling indices in Arabian Sea coastal upwelling systems and associated biological productivity using remote sensing observations

ABSTRACT In this paper, the spatio-temporal variations of Yemen, Oman and west coast of India upwelling are studied using wind and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) based upwelling indices. The relative contributions of offshore Ekman transport and Ekman pumping are compared in these upwelling regions. It has been found that offshore Ekman transport is the more dominant mechanism in coastal areas of Oman from 17°N to 21°N with upwelling indices reaching up to 3–4 m2/s during June-July while for the Yemen coast (13–16.5°N), Ekman pumping is stronger. The west coast of India has much weaker upwelling during the southwest monsoon. Offshore Ekman transport is the main mechanism for upwelling activity during the southwest monsoon for the west coast of India. A combined upwelling index was developed, adding the contributions of Ekman transport and integrated Ekman pumping. Chlorophyll data from 1998 to 2017 showed an increase in chlorophyll concentration during southwest monsoon season for all three upwelling regions. The maximum increase in southwest monsoon chlorophyll was observed for northern Yemen (15–16.5°N) with an increase of 10–20 times. This is followed by coastal region of Oman (17–19°N) and southern part of west coast of India (8–10°N).

Implicit Civil Society and Reform in Yemen: Lessons from the Twentieth Century

The fact that cross-border forms of civic activism in Arab countries during the “Arab Spring” are similar is commonly attributed to their socio-cultural commonalities, which provide markers of their identities. The manifestation of this interaction, in the author's view, is the phenomenon of an implicit civil society that draws on the hidden springs of Islamic culture, but that functions in a completely different way. The author's attempt to describe it in this article using the example of Yemen includes three aspects: as an active participant in the watershed events of contemporary Yemeni social history; as a centre of civic strategies that fundamentally differentiate it from religious and political groupings; and as a mechanism for adapting the indigenous cultural identity of a society to new ideological environment. The article spans the period from its emergence at an early stage of modernisation in a deeply archaic society united under British colonial rule in the first third of the twentieth century, to its culmination in the early twenty-first century. The article is based on publications examining relevant cases from different historical and cultural regions of Yemen. Early examples include the “Nadi al-Islah al-Arabi al-Islami” Club in Aden and the Irshadist Movement in Hadramaut extremely active at the turn of 1930s when the national intelligentsia started to reach prominence and managed to convert reformist narrative from the religious frames to the public discourse. They have elaborated the number of tools inherent also to the modern implicit civil society performances like educational work through clubs, preference to dialog between rivals, high attention to maintaining the continuity of cultural traditions, etc. The recent diversity of this phenomenon is illustrated by the experience of the “Shabab al-Mumin” Club, founded in the mid-1990s in the Saada Governorate of northern Yemen, as well as the spontaneous urban youth committees that emerged during the 2011 uprising, which channelled a huge wave of social activism into peaceful activity. The aim of the article is to explore the phenomenon of implicit civil society using a descriptive method. The practical significance of the proposed approach lies in a better understanding of the reasons for the heightened permeability of the boundaries between civic and political activism so characteristic of such societies.

Armies of Arabia: Military Politics and Effectiveness in the Gulf

Armies of Arabia: Military Politics and Effectiveness in the Gulf

Rebel oil regimes and economic governance: the case of the Houthis in Yemen

ABSTRACT Most studies on oil and rebellion focus on the physical competition to control sites of resource production such as fields, refineries and export terminals. Issues of ownership are tertiary, even derisory. This paper takes issues of ownership seriously, detailing how rebel groups make legal claims to ownership of state-controlled oil assets. Rebel oil regimes are embedded in broader forms of rebel economic governance and diplomacy. Rebels can assert legal rights to resources even when they lack physical access to it. Using the case of the Houthis (Ansar Allah) in northern Yemen, the paper shows how rebel oil regimes help solidify elite bargains and relationships with outside patrons in ways that affect the course of conflict and conflict resolution. Considering legality alongside physical possession of resources better explains how rebel governance operates in the economic sphere.

Italian and British policy in Yemen between two world wars

Based on the documents of the National Archives of India, including diplomatic correspondence of the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Colonies, minutes of meetings classified as "secret", this article reveals the features of the policy of Italy and Great Britain in the south of the Arabian Peninsula in the 20-30s of the XX century. The relevance of this article topic lies in the fact that even after 100 years, in the 20s of the XXIst century, Yemen remains as the object of interference by the external actors, rivalry and attempts to divide this country. The article examines the methods used by Italy and Great Britain to expand their influence in the Red Sea, in particular, attempts to win over the ruler of Asir al-Idrisi and the ruler of Northern Yemen Imam Yahya. It was revealed that Great Britain and Italy focused their efforts on unleashing the Saudi-Yemeni war, aiming to weaken Yemen and Hijazo-Nejd. At the same time, each of the parties hoped to strengthen their own influence in the Red Sea basin. The article shows that Italy had certain economic interests in Yemen. The use of Yemen as a market for Italian products, the profitable trade of the famous Yemeni coffee, the monopoly on the sale of petroleum products in Yemen and other trade advantages provided by Imam Yahya in return for Italian aid, allowed the Italians to receive some additional profits. The reorientation of Yemeni trade from Aden to Massawa would significantly reduce the role of the British colony and increase the importance of Italian colony Eritrea. As a result of the study, it is concluded that the rivalry in the south of the Arabian Peninsula between Great Britain and Italy, in which the ruler of Northern Yemen, Imam Yahya, saw the threat of a new enslavement of Yemen, largely contributed to the choice of isolation policy, which, on the one hand, helped to preserve the independence of the country, but, on the other hand, slowed down the economic and socio-political progress of Yemen.

The Origin and First Steps of the Yemeni Press (19th - mid-20th Centuries)

The article examined the origin and development of the Yemeni press. The article systematically analyzed the history of the Yemeni press, its origin its development trends. The establishment of the Yemeni press was taking place against the backdrop of the country's historical development under the influence of various political regimes, as well as political and social events that the Yemeni press went through, as it faced and interacted with national, social, and cultural events. The press covered the periods of ebb and flow that the national movement went through, the crises that the country and the people of Yemen went through during the periods of national movements, uprisings and revolutions. The article studied the history of the birth and the first steps of the Yemeni press (XIX — mid XX centuries) in what was known in North Yemen, South Yemen and "before the unity of Yemen" at various historical and political stages, up to the revolution, liberation and independence. In general, in an integrative structure that confirms the dialectical connection between journalism and the social, cultural, national and revolutionary movement, confirming the unity of the Yemeni land, people and destiny. The author concluded that the Yemeni press is one of the oldest in the Arab region and in many countries around the world, not to mention its prominent role in opposing the Turkish presence and imamate rule in northern Yemen, and British colonialism in southern Yemen, where the Yemeni press became the mouthpiece of the national liberation movement. However, mass communications in Yemen are primarily driven by political goals, they are usually influenced by political and economic circumstances, and international mass media coverage.

From Fragile to Collapsed Statehood: The Case of the Republic of Yemen (1990-2020)

The unification of the two Yemeni states?the northern Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the southern People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), respectively?in 1990 has been a resounding failure. Merging the tribal-dominated northern and state-party dominated southern regimes meant increasing the number of factions competing for access to state resources to satisfy material and security needs of their respective networks of influence. In particular, efforts at growing the resource base of the unified state after 1990, by means of an expansion of oil and gas exploration and extraction, raised the revenue base of the state in an unsustainable manner. Such growth in national oil and gas rents increased rather than decreased competition over state authority to control the spoils. The major subsequent events, such as the 1994 civil war, the 2004-2010 “Saada wars” against the Houthi movement, the Yemeni version of the “Arab Spring” in 2011, the failure of the National Dialogue Conference (March 2013-January 2014), and the start of the Saudi and Emirati bombing campaign and subsequent ground war in Yemen since March 2015 all triggered major clashes between different factions of the Yemeni state bureaucracy, army, and civil society. On each of these occasions, efforts to freeze out some Yemeni actors produced escalating conflict between the remaining factions instead of a winning coalition that could have reestablished a degree of stability. The article explains how local, regional, and global factors have jointly overwhelmed the Yemeni actors, and how foreign intervention has led to the further deterioration of the pre-existing national crisis.

Sharī‘a Scripts: A Historical Anthropology

While the Yemen seems to be stumbling from one disaster into the next, it is good to see how some of the best experts in Yemeni studies continue their work in ways that will be useful in the country’s future. The present volume is not only bound to become recognized soon as the magnum opus by Brinkley Messick, professor of anthropology and Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies at Columbia University and one of the world’s leading experts in Yemeni studies today. More importantly still, Sharī‘a Scripts features all the qualities required for a true academic milestone in Yemen-related scholarship for decades to come, with potential ramifications for the historical and legal anthropology of the Middle East at large. This volume is based on half a lifetime of analytical and comparative studies that began during the author’s first fieldwork period in the central and southern highlands of northern Yemen during the 1970s. Messick meticulously examines the structures of jurisprudence (the “library” in his terms) with the methodologies and techniques of textual scholarship, while relating it to the “archive” of records concerning everyday interactions in legal life as embedded within the practical interplay of fields between orality and scriptural statements.
 To download full review, click on PDF.

Sharī‘a Scripts

While the Yemen seems to be stumbling from one disaster into the next, it is good to see how some of the best experts in Yemeni studies continue their work in ways that will be useful in the country’s future. The present volume is not only bound to become recognized soon as the magnum opus by Brinkley Messick, professor of anthropology and Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies at Columbia University and one of the world’s leading experts in Yemeni studies today. More importantly still, Sharī‘a Scripts features all the qualities required for a true academic milestone in Yemen-related scholarship for decades to come, with potential ramifications for the historical and legal anthropology of the Middle East at large. This volume is based on half a lifetime of analytical and comparative studies that began during the author’s first fieldwork period in the central and southern highlands of northern Yemen during the 1970s. Messick meticulously examines the structures of jurisprudence (the “library” in his terms) with the methodologies and techniques of textual scholarship, while relating it to the “archive” of records concerning everyday interactions in legal life as embedded within the practical interplay of fields between orality and scriptural statements.
 To download full review, click on PDF.

Ex situ conservation ofDracaena serrulatain Dhofar province, southern Oman

Dracaena serrulata is an endemic species found in Oman and northern Yemen. The taxon represents the populations of the dragon tree in the southern escarpments of the Arabian Peninsula. It grows on rocky slopes on the dry plateau at the top of escarpment on north facing hills of Dhofar beyond the range of monsoon at an altitude from 800 to 1400 m. The species is endangered and the trees have been severely damaged in the last decades due to a variety of natural and human activities such as road construction, mine extraction and camel overgrazing. The plants showed poor regeneration within its natural habitat distribution of Dhofar and instant restoration is crucial. Due to mine extraction, many mature, over a hundred years old, Dracaena serrulata specimens were about to be destroyed in the Dhofar mountains. The translocation team at Oman Botanic Garden initiated a rescue program to transplant the trees and save them from destruction. They will be used to create a natural habitat at Oman Botanic Garden and to restore the big, mature trees in their natural habitat in Dhofar. The results showed a negative correlation between the trees size and the overall survival rate. Plants with height range 1-2 m had a high survival rate whereas there was a drop in the survival percentages in the bigger plants. The results showed a positive correlation between the number of tops and overall mortality %.

Shia Ismaili Leadership

The self-declaration of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as khalīfah in 2014 has onceagain brought to the fore the topic of Muslim leadership. There are numerousforms of leadership in Muslim societies today. Apart from presidents, primeministers, kings, emirs, and shaykhs, religious heads like the Shaykh al-Azharas well as certain Sufi shaykhs and pirs have varying levels of prominence.The Supreme Leader of Iran is the head of state and the county’s highestrankingpolitical and religious authority. Aga Khan IV, the current Shia NizariIsmaili Imam, leads a transnational community and has established the AgaKhan Development Network. Fethullah Gulen is founder of the transnationalHizmet (service) movement that has roots in Turkey.The issue of Muslim leadership initially came into focus following theProphet’s death in 632, when Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was nominated as the firstkhalīfah. Ali ibn Abi Talib, married to the Prophet’s daughter Fatima, assertedhis claim but eventually agreed to accept Abu Bakr’s selection. Ali became thefourth khalīfah after Abu Bakr, Umar al-Khattab, and Uthman ibn Affan. Hisclosest followers, who came to be known as the Shī‘at ‘Alī and later just Shia,upheld the belief that the Prophet’s family possessed the right of leadership.This group has adhered to Ali and Fatima’s descendants as Imams.The Shia Imama is a religious institution that embodies authority in thedomains of faith (dīn) and world (dunyā). It is generally characterized by ahereditary succession of leaders from father to son, except among the Zaydis(living mostly in northern Yemen), who select their Imams from any male descendantof Ali and Fatima. The largest Shia group, the Ithna Asharis (Twelvers),are concentrated mainly in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Azerbaijan,and the Gulf region. Their name refers to the belief that their Twelfth Imamwent into occultation in 873 and is expected to re-emerge as the messianicMahdi. In his absence, the community is guided by ulama led by the ayatullahs ...

Der Aufstieg von Ansar Allah im Jemen.

At first sight, the civil war in Yemen seems to be a sectarian conflict between shia and sunni Islam. In contrast, this article explores the political economy dimensions of the conflict. During the 1970s, the northern Yemen Arab Republic has seen the emergence of a middle class based on foreign remittances, thus increased consumption, economic growth and agricultural modernization in particular. An economic crisis and new oil discoveries in the 1980s lead to a turn-around of the relations between the former powerful middle class and the government which was now able to co-opt the opposition. The subsequent inability to find a solution for the economic problems and the consequences of the reunification in the 1990s lead to externally forced neoliberal structural adjustment, including financial austerity, and as a result to social decline. Ansar Allah provided an alternative order and therefore the group was able to mobilize the middle class in opposition to the regime.

Rock communities and succulent vegetation in Northern Yemen (SW Arabia) – ecological, phytochorological and evolutionary aspects

Rock communities and succulent vegetation in Northern Yemen (SW Arabia) – ecological, phytochorological and evolutionary aspects

A new species of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Thyreus from northern Yemen and southwestern Saudi Arabia (Hymenoptera, Apidae).

A new species of cleptoparasitic bee of the genus Thyreus Panzer (Apinae: Melectini) is described and figured from northern Yemen and southwestern Saudi Arabia. Thyreus shebicus Engel, sp. n. is a relatively small species superficially similar to the widespread and polytypic species T. ramosus (Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau) and T. ramosellus (Cockerell) but more closely allied to various African forms on the basis of the male genitalia. The species is distinguished from its congeners on the basis of coloration pattern, male hind leg structure, and particularly male terminalia.

Epidemiological Characterization of Chikungunya Outbreak in Lahj Governorate, Southern Yemen

Background and Objective: An outbreak of Chikungunya fever was poorly documented in the twenty three countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization. The first case of Chikungunya fever was reported in Northern Yemen in the beginning of January 2011. This paper documents the first outbreak of Chikungunya fever in Southern Yemen and highlights the activities and findings of the epidemiology and laboratory team investigation during the outbreak. Methods: This was a case-series investigation in which the response teams conducted epidemiological and laboratory investigations on suspect cases. The cases identified were line-listed and a data analysis was undertaken regularly to guide the outbreak response. Results: Overall, 234 cases meeting the Chikungunya fever suspected case definition, were reported between 21st March and 8th May, 2012, from 19 areas in Al-Hawtah district, Lahj Governorate, Southern Yemen. Only 30 (12.8%) of the suspected Chikungunya cases underwent laboratory testing and only 13(43.33%) of them were laboratory confirmed as Chikungunya. Suspected Chikungunya cases had fever (100%) and arthralgia and joint swelling were reported in 95% and 64% of the cases, respectively. The overall attack rate was 7.52 cases/1000 populations. All age group and gender were affected. Conclusion: This is the first isolation of Chikungunya virus in Al-Hawtah district of Lahj governorate, Southern Yemen. The risk of expansion of Chikungunya fever to other governorates in Yemen and also to neighboring countries remains considerably high, as many of these governorates and countries are dengue prone, host large number of travelers from abroad and competent vectors for indigenous transmission of both dengue and Chikungunya exist in these countries. The location of this outbreak, in a coastal area of the country, makes the spread of the disease a further possibility.

Muʿtazilism in a 20th century Zaydī Qurʾān commentary*

Abstract The Zaydīs in Yemen are the only current within Islam that fostered the continuous transmission and study of Muʿtazilī kalām up to the present time. This article aims to examine the presence and quality of Muʿtazilī kalām in a major Zaydī composition of the 20th century, namely ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-ʿAǧrī’s (1320-1407/1902-1987) Miftāḥ al-saʿāda, which was completed in May 1952. The Miftāḥ and other works of Zaydī scholars written during the first half of the 20th century provide us with valuable insights into Zaydī-Hādawī scholarship in Northern Yemen prior to the Republican revolution of 1962 and furnish important information about the education of 20th century Zaydī-Hādawī scholars and the contents of their libraries. The wide range of Muʿtazilī and non-Muʿtazilī sources used and quoted in the Miftāḥ sheds light on the distinct impact of various phases of a centuries-old school- and teaching-tradition.

Evaluation of very high to medium resolution multispectral satellite imagery for geoarchaeology in arid regions – Case study from Jabali, Yemen

Archaeological research of the ancient Jabali silver mines (7th to 14th centuries ad) in northern Yemen is a multidisciplinary project covering scientific disciplines traditionally related to archaeology, a geological approach and new technologies such as very high resolution remote sensing. Mining companies envisage the development of the Jabali deposit for zinc ore. Some of the planned facilities, particularly a large open pit, will have a destructive impact on the old pits and processing heaps, already damaged by recent works. In the present study, remote sensing is used for a detailed survey of the impact of preliminary mining works from the early 1980’s with the aim to establish archaeological remains and to prioritize areas for future ground surveys, as well as for geological mapping. Results indicate that mapping using remote sensing in the visible to short wave infrared range has a great potential for the identification of gossans (iron caps) possibly related to archaeological remains. The phases of work in Jabali are clearly put into light by the study of a time series of Landsat data. Very high resolution QuickBird imagery appears particularly relevant for mapping most of the archaeological remnants, iron caps, as well as the 3D visualization of the mining site when drapped over a detailed digital elevation model.

Zaydism: A Theological and Political Survey

Zaydism, one of the three major branches of Sh?‘ism, emerged in the early 2nd/8th century in the southern Iraqi city of Kūfa around the claims of the ‘Alid rebel, Zayd b. ‘Al? (d. 122/740). The sect initially consisted of a range of Sh?‘? groups that shared a common political agenda but differed in their opinions of the first two caliphs. The next three centuries witnessed the development of a cohesive Zayd? theology constructed primarily on the Mu‘tazil? belief in a just and rational God. Specifically, the Zayd?s affirmed free will and a theory of the imāmate that required armed uprising against tyrants under the leadership of a learned descendant of ‘Al? and Fātima. Zayd? Imāms established a number of long-standing political states, the most important of which was centered in northern Yemen around the city of . Intellectually, Yemen? Zaydism was challenged by a gradual Sunnification that began in the 9th/15th century (as epitomized by al-Shawkān? in the 19th century) and the intensification of Wahhāb? missionary activities in the 14th/20th century (epitomized by Muqbil ). These tensions persist into the modern period and have given rise to a new wave of political activism reflected in (a) the armed resistance of the ‘Youthful Believers’ led by the family and (b) the emergence of a new generation of Zayd? scholars such as Sālim ‘Izzān who do not trace their descent to ‘Al? and .