A trip to Sayoun [Archives:2006/969/Last Page]
August 3 2006
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14 years old
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I have been visiting Yemen since last three years in my summer vacations as my father is posted here in Sana'a. I have traveled quite a lot and was very much impressed with the rich cultural and historical heritage and varied geography of Yemen. In this article I would like to share the experience and information which I gathered during my recent trip to the historical city of Sayoun which is approximately 770 km from Sana'a and is in the province of Hadramout.
While on the way to Sayoun at three hours drive from Sana'a is one of the oldest cities of Yemen “Marib”. It is famous because of the remains of an old civilization of the era of Queen Bilquis including her two palaces from which one is currently under excavation, an old dam and a Mosque supposed to be built by Hazrat Suleiman AS.
It is believed that the whole palace was built of a single stone and is approximately 4000 years old. The special design of the palace was such that it produced the sound of a roaring lion by the blowing of wind at night to keep the wild animals away. We can still see the ancient language written on the stones. After seeing the palace thoroughly we went to the palace which was under excavation. I had never seen an under excavation site. The whole area was fenced but still we could see the remains very clearly.
After having a look at this place we left for the 4000 year old dam. A new dam was built at another spot but still we could see the ruins of the old dam. It was interesting to know that even thousands of years back people had a concept of water storage and built such dams, the remains of which could be seen even today.
The next place we went was the 4000 year old mosque of Hazrat Suleiman AS. Now only the remains of the mosque are left but still we can see the language of that period written on the mosque.
The next thing we saw was the oil field. It was a little far away but we could clearly see the flames of fire coming out of the chimney. The great sand desert starts at this point. On both sides of the road there was a massive sea of sand and there was no end. I had seen a real sand desert for the first time in my life.
Then we finally reached the city of Sayoun. This city has a unique style of architecture which dates back to thousands of years. One of its main features is the continuous rows of holes which are probably the windows of the buildings. There is an old famous palace of a king which has been turned into a museum. This beautiful palace is a part of the historical heritage of this city.
At half an hour drive from the main city is an old town “Shibam Hadramout”, one of the oldest sites of the world. This is the famous walled city which is built entirely of clay and straw. When we went inside, all around us were high rise buildings of mud which speaks a lot about its past glory. This city is approximately 2000 years old that's why some of the houses were even falling apart.
With that we came to the end of one of our most memorable trips in Yemen.
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