The unique city of Shibam in Yemen is hidden in the middle of the desert. It looks like a part of a story. Shibam city is also called an archaeological wonder. It is the oldest sky scraper city in the world. Hundreds of apartments dominate the skyline of the city and some are up to 11 stories high. Imagine, today’s sky scrapers are made of concrete and steel. But this city is 2000 years old and is made of only mud. Now the question is who built this city, why are the buildings so high and how did they do all this 2000 years ago. So let’s start the journey of this city.
5) Expandation
Seeing this ancient city for the first time, it is hard to believe how this old city is so modern. Even if we compare it to Manhattan which is a part of New York, So Shibam has its own special thing. This city is only 330 meters wide and 240 meters long. That is, this city is as big as the number of apartments in modern cities. But the population of Shibam is only 7000. Its population density is very high. That means more people live here in a very small area. This city is also many years older than normal cities. So old that even during the era of the Roman Empire, people were building tower houses in Shibam.
Shibam is not only special, its environment also makes it more precious. People use mud bricks in the entire region. But such tall buildings are seen only in Shibam. This is quite a strange thing. But even more surprising is that despite having so much space around, why did they not spread this city sideways. Why did they only build it high?
4) Structure
What is the purpose of building this city in the middle of the desert? The answer to this question is hidden in the geography of Yemen. If you look at the map of Yemen, orange and red show the places where people live. But most of Yemen is empty. Most people live in the mountains in the western parts of the country, where there are cities like Sana’a, or on the coast in areas like Aden. The middle of the country is a huge desert where hardly anyone lives. But here, in the cracks of a plateau, you find human settlements.
One such settlement is Shibam. These cracks are formed due to water. Shibam is located in a valley of death called Wadi Hadr. Wadi is actually called a dry river bed, which remains dry for most parts of the year. But during the rainy season, rivers flow here, which can be stored for drinking and is also used for agriculture. Because of this water, Shibam became an ideal place to build a settlement near the valleys in desert areas.
Because of this water, Shibam also became an important part of the Asian trade network. The people living here used to trade spices and incense sticks between India and Africa. Shibam is also mentioned in Greek sources and it has also been a part of many kingdoms. But this was a new name for European explorers. When Western travelers visited here for the first time in 1893, they could not believe from a distance whether it was a rock or a mountain. But this was not a rock but it was Shibam.
Here about 500 houses stand in a small place in the middle of the valley. European travelers compared the city of Shibam to Chicago. Perhaps this is why in 1885 a building in Chicago was counted among the world’s first skyscrapers. A building that was built on a steel structure. But Shibam is quite different from this. Because in this, not steel but clay was used.
3) Construction
The people who settled in Shibam faced extremely difficult conditions. The weather here is often hotter than 40 degrees Celsius and there are no trees here to provide shade. The stone here is so hard that it can only be used to make the foundation of the building. That is why the people here started living on local material. They used to make mud mortar and make bricks from it. Which was dried in the sun. 16 workers could make 8000 bricks in a day and the houses built with these bricks had a life of about 300 years.
Maintaining the city of Shibam was a continuous process. The material they used also had its effect on the design of the buildings. To make the foundation strong, the base of the building was kept wide. The walls were kept up to 1 meter thick at the bottom and their thickness at the top was only 30 centimeters thin. After laying the bricks, they were covered with mortar plaster. But it was quite challenging for the upper floors. The upper parts of the buildings were covered with white lime plaster. Due to which the upper part remained waterproof as well as cool.
Tall buildings in this desert were used to keep the walls cool. Due to being built close together, the heat of the sun does not fall directly on the walls and the mud plaster acts as an insulator. Which does not let the heat come inside. Apart from this, the reflective properties of white lime further reduce the heat. But the question is why did they not apply white lime plaster on the entire building. The simple answer to this is that lime was very expensive at that time and that is why it became a status symbol. The most important buildings like mosques were completely covered with white lime.
There were other ways to show status like the doors of apartment blocks were made of craft wood on which very beautiful designs can be seen. Building such tall buildings has its own challenges. There are no elevators in these buildings, so how do people manage it? People here see it as a sport. Going up and down two to three floors every day is a normal thing for them. But for the elderly people, it is very difficult. Not only people, but also large luggage and modern things have to be taken up.
Today, the people of Shibam use refrigerators and air conditioning units and to take these items upstairs, they are pulled up from the roof using ropes. Because after the fourth floor, the stairs become even narrower. Here every floor has a specific purpose. The ground floor is for storage and shops. Which was earlier closed due to the threat of wild animals. The first floor is used for animals. The second floor is for men and guests. The third floor is the family area where kitchens have also been built. The top floors are used for sleeping.
The real question still remains that why was such a high city built 2000 years ago when there was empty desert around. People of ancient times often built settlements on mountains or at heights. One of the main reasons for this was that there was a better way to protect oneself from wild animals and enemy attacks. But when space is less, you have to go towards heights. People were building four-storey buildings in this region 2000 years ago. But Shibam is still much higher than other cities.
This place was often the target of attackers. That is why the buildings here are built so close that their walls act as the city walls. People wanted to expand the city horizontally. But there was very little empty space. That is why they decided to expand the city vertically. But why was there less space here? The answer to this is hidden in an incident that happened 500 years ago. Due to which Shibam changed forever. Two big floods of the year 1298 and 1532 destroyed large parts of the city. At that time Shibam was surrounded by water just like a peninsula. These floods gave the city the shape that we see today.
2) Danger
This city was built by the same people who had been living here for centuries. Shibam is an example of human courage where people built a unique city even amidst difficulties. But danger still exists for this peaceful and unique community. In 2008, a big cyclone came towards Yemen which also caused severe floods. Some buildings of Shibam collapsed and many people lost their lives. But the damage could have been even more if their houses were not high.
Another big danger for this city is the ongoing war in Yemen. Due to which inflation has been affected the most. Nowadays a laborer is hardly able to buy anything here and then there was the incident of 2009 when a terrorist killed four South Koreans and their guide. Tourism has completely ended here due to war and fear. Explosions keep happening inside and outside the city. Which leaves a bad impact on the local people. The tourism that used to be here has now completely ended. Which was once the only source of income for many families here.
1) Community
Shibam is a place which you might have heard about only in news headlines. Today you are going to read a different aspect of this city. That will shows the behaviour of the people living in Shibam. Despite all these dangers, Shibam still stands and its people are proud of their city. These people love their city so much that they praise it everywhere. The people here live shoulder to shoulder. They are also very social with their neighbours and friends.
If a family is in trouble, the other families take care of it. Because they know that they will also get help if needed. All of them are so connected to each other that the common doors of some houses go up to the third floor. That means the elderly people do not have to go down to go from one house to another. Here three to four families live together in one house. When we see all this, we understand that this place is much more than a news headline.
Shibam is a great example of human creativity. The people here are living successfully in a harsh region with limited resources and a climate that is not suitable for humans. Although concrete and steel may be used here in today’s era, but these people are still keeping the old rituals of their city alive.
List Points of Shibam City
- Expandation
- Structure
- Construction
- Danger
- Community