Shibam Hadramawt ( ar, شِبَام حَضْرَمَوْت, Shibām Ḥaḍramawt) is a town in Yemen. With about 7,000 inhabitants, it is the seat of the District of Shibam in the Governorate of Hadhramaut. Known for its

mudbrick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...

-made

high-rise building A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...

s, it is referred to as the "Chicago of the Desert" (), or "Manhattan of the Desert" ().

History

The first known inscription about the city dates from the 3rd century CE. It was the capital of the Hadramawt Kingdom. In the 20th century, it was one of the three major cities of the Qu'aiti Sultanate, the others being Al- Mukalla and Ash-Shihr. The city was listed with the UNESCO World Heritage List, in 1982.Bricks and mortar fire: Yemen’s cultural heritage is in the crosshairs
17 December 2015. In 2008, a tropical cyclone flooded Shibam. During the

Yemen Civil War Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and sh ...

, the city suffered some damage after insurgents detonated a car bomb. There was also coalition bombing in the area. In 2015, UNESCO listed the city as "cultural heritage at risk".

Geography

The town is located in the central-western area of Hadhramaut Governorate, in the desert of

Ramlat al-Sab'atayn Yemeni Desert. The Ramlat al-Sab'atayn ( ar, رملة السبعتين) is a desert region that corresponds with the northern deserts of modern Yemen ( Al-Jawf, Marib, Shabwah governorates) and southwestern Saudi Arabia ( Najran province). Locate ...

. Its main road links Sana'a and other cities of western Yemen to the far eastern territories. The nearest towns are Seiyun, seat of an airport, and Tarim, both in the east. Another road, departing from the village of Alajlanya, in the west, links Shibam to Mukalla, the governorate's capital, located by the Indian Ocean.

Climate

Shibam has a hot desert climate ( Köppen: ''BWh''). At an average temperature of , June is the hottest month of the year. January is the coldest month, with temperatures averaging .

Architecture

Overview

Shibam, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is known for its distinct architecture. The houses of Shibam are all made out of mudbrick, and about 500 of them are tower blocks, which rise 5 to 11 stories high, with each floor having one or two rooms. 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 A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

city in the world". It is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction.Old Walled City of Shibam
UNESCO World Heritage Centre The city has some of the tallest mud buildings in the world, with some of them over 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 city is surrounded by a fortified wall, giving it the name "the walled city of Shibam". An edited photograph of Shibam was used as the skybox for the level Wet Dry World in the 1996 game

Super Mario 64 is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and PAL regions in 1997. It is the first ''Super Mario'' game to feature 3D gameplay, combining traditional ''Su ...

Threats

The mudbrick buildings are frequently threatened by wind, rain, and heat erosion, and require constant upkeep in order to maintain their structures. The city was heavily affected by flooding from a tropical storm in 2008. The foundations of many of the buildings in the city were compromised by the flood waters, eventually leading to their collapse. It was also the target of an Al Qaeda attack in 2009. In 2015, Shibam was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in danger when violent civil war erupted in Yemen. Historic buildings were significantly damaged during heavy bombing in Sana'a, and remain at risk from armed conflict.

Influences

The Dubai Global Village, an open-air shopping and entertainment complex in the United Arab Emirates, includes a Yemeni pavilion with mud-brick structures intended to evoke the architecture of Shibam.

Gallery

File:Shibam door.JPG, City gate File:Shibam2.JPG, View of some "skyscrapers" File:Shibam Yemen Interior.jpg, Two buildings on a street inside the town File:15 Šibam (10).jpg, Street view File:15 Šibam (14).jpg, Architecture pattern File:Old Walled City of Shibam-109044.jpg, Shibam buildings with balconies File:Old Walled City of Shibam-109041.jpg, View of Old Walled City of Shibam File:Jemen_Shibam-SJ_004_wp.jpg, View of Shibam