Thula, Hababa, Kaukaban + Shibam

Thula, one of the most magical old towns in Yemen, at 2700m above sea level.

Thula has an old citadel dating from the 3rd century and called Ghourabe (meaning the crow), just like the djebel at which bottom it is situated. the ramparts with 5 entrance gates were built during the time of the Imam Mouthahar in the 15th century. at the time, there were also many Jews living in Thula, in a village just outside of the ramparts and who engaged in arts and crafts (silver and gold crafts, belts, saddles, etc.).

the old town of Shibam (not to confuse with the famous desert city Shibam in Hadramout region).

at the time, Shibam was one of the passage points for the caravanes on the incense route: after Marib and Sana'a, before Thula, Amran and Saada. it has one of the oldest mosques in the country, built in the 9th century by Asad ibn Abu Yufir at the place of a former pre-islamique temple. Shibam was conquered by the Ottomans who fortified it by constructing ramparts around it.

Hababa, another old passage city for the former caravanes. again, this city was enclosed by ramparts, with 3 (still existing) entrance gates.

Hababa with its famous water tank, which was used to store drinking water.

Kaukaban (sometimes also written as Kawkaban) is situated at 3000m above sea level.

the fortress city was originally founded to protect Shibam, which is directly below Kaukaban, at the bottom of its mountain. parts of the old town ramparts still exist, in particular the entrance gate. many houses were destroyed during the bombardments in the 1960s. the 1990s saw a period of re-habilitation of some of these old houses.

Kaukaban mystic in clouds and lovely with sunshine.

little village just below the mountain top of Kaukaban (at outskirts of Shibam), where people used to live in caves (nowadays mostly no longer inhabited). these cave dwellings go back to the time before islam, to the 3rd or 4th century.