Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Yemen's Long and Complicated History

Starting point is 00:00:00 For thousands of years, Yemen has been one of the most important crossroads in the world. It was home to ancient kingdoms, the legendary land of Shiba, the port that gave Moka coffee its name, and a strategic gateway between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Its mountains, tribes, empires, and divisions have shaped a history as rich as it is complicated. And despite its history, it's also a land that has been exceedingly difficult to unify. Learn more about the history of Yemen on this episode of Everyttaxion. Everything Everywhere Daily. Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive.

Starting point is 00:00:48 The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor. Free of charge.

Starting point is 00:01:07 BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Hey y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.com. Wayfair, every style, every home. The Yemen of today may not initially appear well suited to a flourishing civilization, yet its unique geography has afforded it distinct advantages throughout history. The Sarawad Mountains, which runs along the coast of the Red Sea, traps July, monsoon winds. The western slopes of the mountains drain into the Wadi Hadramut Valley, an unusually

Starting point is 00:01:52 lush section of the otherwise arid Arabian peninsula. To thrive in this difficult climate, early Yemeni states had to harness the monsoons and develop agricultural methods suited to intermittent rainfall. Early urban centers built irrigation systems to distribute water after the July rains and also developed terrace farming, which diffused rainfall and reduced soil erosion. The biggest water project was the Great Marib Dam, built by the ancient Sabians. Built as an earthwork mound in 1750 BC, the Marib Dam was finally completed in the 8th century BC, spanning 1900 feet or 580 meters, and linking two mountain peaks to form a massive reservoir. The Marib Dam collected July floodwaters, forming a large temporary river to channel the monsoon deluge. The wealth generated by

Starting point is 00:02:43 the Marib Dam led the Romans to refer to the region as Felix Arabia or Happy Arabia. To observers from outside the region, Yemen appeared to be a paradise. A first century Greek traveler to the region, Strabo, characterized the region's agricultural production by noting, quote, many streams water the land, and the people enjoy a great abundance of all things. The country is well shaded by trees and produces a wide variety of fruits, end quote. The region's most enduring legacy was frankincense and myrr, the aromatic resins produced by its trees. Frankencense and mer were highly coveted commodities in the region and were literally more valuable than gold by weight. These precious resins were obtained by cutting into tree bark and collecting the hardened sap as the trees healed.

Starting point is 00:03:32 The Roman historian Pliny the Elder described the economic power of the incense trade when he wrote, quote, the Sabians are the richest of all, for they possess the wealth of the Romans and the Parthians alike, selling the produce of their seas and their forests while they purchase nothing in return. End quote. The story of the queen of Shiba exemplifies Yemen's economic power and the profit from its exports. Sheba was the kingdom of the Sabian people, which has also been claimed by the nation of Ethiopia. The historical record of Shiba is limited, but we can refer to the Bible, early Islamic writings, and the Torah, which portray her as the wise queen of a southern state overseeing a powerful trading network. The queen famously brought King Solomon

Starting point is 00:04:16 a caravan of gifts while impressing him with her wisdom. Ethiopian accounts also tell of an affair between the queen and Solomon that led to the establishment of a new royal lineage. Yemen's prosperity came to a tragic end in the sixth century. Massive flooding broke the great Marib Dam, washing away a thousand years of stability in a single disaster. The destruction of the dam ushered in a massive wave of migration across the Arabian Peninsula. The migration brought urban Yemenis into the northern reaches of the peninsula, which was primarily populated by Bedouin nomads and had very few cities. The cultural and linguistic landscape of the entire peninsula was transformed by the migration of

Starting point is 00:04:58 Yemeni tribes, such as the Aos and the Khazra. As these groups moved north. northward and integrated with the Bedouins, a unified Arab culture began to emerge. This synthesis was further enriched by the merging of Yemen's literary traditions with Bedouin's storytelling, which gave rise to a new form of Arabic prose. This new linguistic unity and the formation of a unified Arab culture only grew stronger after the emergence of Islam. After the rise of the Prophet Muhammad, the Yemeni migrants would play an outsized role in the survival of the early Muslim community.

Starting point is 00:05:33 Muhammad's revelation and subsequent teachings created unrest in Mecca, and in 622, year one of the Islamic calendar, he was exiled to the city of Medina. In Medina, Muhammad sought help from the Ansar. The Ansar consisted of Yemeni tribes who had migrated north to Medina and were among the earliest converts to Islam. During the formative years of the religion, protection from tribal communities was essential, and Muhammad relied on Yemeni migrants. These groups had been in Medina since the destruction of the Mirab Dam where they fought over farmland and water resources. These conflicts had turned deadly, and seeking a way out, they turned to the Prophet Muhammad for mediation. Muhammad mediated their dispute, and these two groups became his staunchest allies. They powered his quest to bring Islam to the Arabian Peninsula, including Yemen, which became one of the earliest regions to join the Islamic community.

Starting point is 00:06:26 The traditional ancient trade along the incense road slowed after, the rise of Christianity in Islam. But despite this slowdown, the trade of a new commodity reverse the fortunes of Yemen and stands as one of its signature legacies. Coffee. Coffee likely originated in Ethiopia's coastal forests spreading across the region and reaching Yemen during the 15th century. Arabica coffee grows well in Yemen as it thrives at high elevations and in alluvial soil. The sun-drying process of Yemeni-Arabica produces a complex fruit-forward coffee that soon became a sensation in the region. Coffee emerged as a coveted cash crop. Moka is named after a port in Yemen and refers to the coffee variety, not its flavor.

Starting point is 00:07:12 In the 16th century, Yemen's prosperity wouldn't last much longer, as the country fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans were eager to control the Red Sea, not only for the coffee trade, but also the pepper trade. The Portuguese were beginning to establish control in the region, and the Ottomans could not allow that to go unchecked. Controlling the Bab al-Mandeb Strait between Arabia and Africa was vital for controlling the sea trade coming from East Africa in the Indian Ocean. However, maintaining control in Yemen exacted a staggering price. The Ottomans and their elite Jassanari units struggled to subdue independent Yemenis.

Starting point is 00:07:50 One Ottoman official described the cost of trying to subdue Yemen when he said, quote, Ottoman troops melted like salt in dissolved water. In Yemen, many of the people practiced Zadism, a branch of Shia Islam that is distinct from that of their Persian counterparts. These Yemeni Zetas never accepted the legitimacy of the Ottoman caliphate. Fierce urban resistance weakened the Ottoman hold on the region, and by 1635, the empire had no choice but to retreat, leaving Yemen in the hands of Zadhi imams. The Ottomans returned to the region 200 years later as part of the Tenzumat reforms to promote renewal and modernization.

Starting point is 00:08:29 During this period, the Ottoman Empire found itself in a shared occupation of Yemen. In the southern part of the country, they were compelled to coexist with the British, whose primary objective was securing control over the Gulf of Aden. To the British and the Ottomans, Yemen's value lay in its potential to control the region linking Mediterranean sea trade routes to the Indian Ocean. North Yemen gained independence from the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I as the Ottoman state dissolved, while South Yemen remained under British control until 1967. The importance of Yemen to the British only increased after the war, as the Bob al-Mandeb

Starting point is 00:09:08 Strait now controlled access to the vital Suez Canal. Yemen became a Cold War flashpoint as the region's nationalist uprisings drew the attention of both the Soviet Union and the United States. In the South, British occupation ended with the establishment of the Arab world's only Marxist-Leninist state, the People's Republic of South Yemen. It was controlled by the Soviet-aligned Yemeni Socialist Party. Soviet interest in Yemen was similar to that of every other empire that had come before them, access to key ports and control of its strategic geography. North Yemen was embroiled in its own struggle with Egypt and Saudi Arabia competing over control of the state during the North

Starting point is 00:09:50 Yemen Civil War from 1962 to 1970. Egypt was interested in. Egypt was interested in. Egypt was interested in in expanding its influence down the Red Sea in blocking the expansion of conservative Arab monarchy supported by Saudi Arabia. However, Egyptian involvement never yielded the results that President Gamel Abdul-Nasar anticipated and there was no quick victory. The Egyptians contributed nearly 70,000 troops to the struggle,

Starting point is 00:10:13 which only resulted in a protracted civil war. The North Yemen civil war eventually led to the creation of a fragile Republican government, but it was now clear that Yemen was a country that regional powers would try to influence for their own ends. With the collapse of communism, North and South Yemen unified in 1990

Starting point is 00:10:32 and created the modern Republic of Yemen. However, this did not bring unity or solve Yemen's problems, as the nation remained deeply fractured and troubled. Yemen has emerged as one of the greatest global crisis zone since 2014. Originally a domestic civil struggle, the situation has escalated into a broad

Starting point is 00:10:50 regional confrontation. The current landscape features Iran supported Houthi forces maintaining authority in the north, while the Saudi-backed Yemeni government retains jurisdiction in the south, reflecting centuries of deep-seated historical animosity. The conflict has led to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Iran and Saudi-backed forces have blockaded ports to prevent the other from asserting control. In the process, they've debrailed food distribution efforts. The destruction of vital water infrastructure and the failure of the monsoons has deepened the crisis over the last several years.

Starting point is 00:11:25 According to the United Nations, more than half of Yemen is experiencing severe food insecurity and the situation is deteriorating rapidly, with malnutrition or reality for more than 2.5 million children. For two-thirds of the population, the health crisis may be more acute than the food crisis. The United Nations estimates that approximately half of the nation's hospitals are currently non-functional, having been either demolished or rendered inoperable due to critical deficits in personnel and essential infrastructure. The collapse of water systems has resulted in cholera running rampant, and the water supply is suffering from problems of both scarcity and pollution. According to the World Health Organization, vaccine distribution has stopped, leading to the

Starting point is 00:12:08 resurgence of long-defeated diseases like polio. Despite being a single country on the map, Yemen remains a divided nation. It's a land where the north and south are separated not just by geography, but by different governments, different allies, and decades of conflict. Yemen's history is the story of a land that always mattered far beyond its borders. It was home to ancient kingdoms, controlled vital trade routes, shaped the history of coffee, and stood at the crossroads of Africa, Arabia, and Asia. But it's also been a place where geography, tribal politics, religion, and foreign intervention have made unity difficult and conflict a persistent part of life for centuries.

Starting point is 00:12:50 The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research in writing for this episode was provided by Joel Hermanson. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord, as this is where everything happens outside of the podcast. As always, if you leave a review on any of the major podcast apps,

Starting point is 00:13:20 You two can have it run in the show.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Yemen's Long and Complicated History

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.