It is time to open the National Museum [Archives:2006/920/Culture]

It is remarkable that Yemen's National Museum has been closed to the public for nearly three years. Although there are other museums in Sana'a such as the Military Museum and the Popular Heritage Museum, it is the National Museum that cherishes within it an archeological collection best reflecting Yemen's glorious history. It is this country's landmark, containing its treasures, promoting its tourism and contributing to its national income. Previously a palace of Yemen's Imam, the National Museum with its attractive exhibits introduces Yemen to foreigners.



Closed for maintenance

“I wish I could open it this month, but the decision is not mine,” museum director Abdulaziz Al-Gendari said.

He described renovation and maintenance works to which he attributed the three-year shutdown. He particularly noted that building a warehouse was the real reason behind the museum's inaccessibility.

“We built a seven-meter-deep underground warehouse. That took about three years while other renovations only began in 2004. The problem lay in digging the warehouse, which isolated the museum and prevented visitors from coming in,” Al-Gendari said.

However, one might question the time spent, even if such a warehouse has the following specifications. It is equipped with fire-proof walls, armored doors, central ventilation and high-tech surveillance devices, as well as emergency pumps in case of flooding. It also can accommodate more than a million archeological finds and contains a safe for the most precious pieces.

Because the warehouse was built in front of the museum's main building, it prevented visitor entry. Its roof, which is the museum's front yard, was paved with stones in a way facilitating smooth visitor movement. Thanks to renovation, wheelchair-bound disabled citizens also may now visit the museum as there are suitable passages, as well as an elevator to all floors.

Warehouse construction and the yard were financed by the Social Fund for Development while remaining renovations were financed by the Heritage and Culture Development Fund, a body of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.



Finished but not open

The perplexing issue is that although the maintenance work is finished, the museum has not opened officially. “On Jan. 21, we were directed by the head of the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums to allow tourist groups into the museum. A considerable number of tourists have visited the museum and are pleased with it,” Al-Gendari said. Nevertheless, he cannot predict when the museum will open to all visitors, but “I hope it will open this month.”

He further described other renovation and maintenance work to the museum which he thinks has rendered it more attractive and appealing.

“We restructured and redesigned the museum building, restoring old halls and making new ones and supplying them with extra archeological pieces. On the ground floor, we redesigned the interior and furnished it with a new collection of Yemeni scriptures written in ancient Musnad Yemeni script. Engraved in the plough style, i.e., from right to left, then left to right and so on, the scripts are sacrificial and were presented to ancient Yemeni deities. Some date back to the seventh century B.C., while others date to the sixth century B.C.,” Al-Gendari explained.

First floor renovations to the pre-Islamic section include adding two new halls for the Hadramawt Kingdom and for pre-Islamic archeological gifts given to President Saleh. The level's remaining halls were supplied artifacts according to their specialties.

Two halls also were constructed for Yemeni coins and for illumination, featuring pre-electric means such as traditional candlesticks, oil lamps, lanterns, etc.

Additional renovations include adding two halls to the Popular Heritage section, the first for Yemeni architecture, featuring many types of traditional Yemeni architectural models such as that of the Old City of Sana'a. The section's second new hall is dedicated to ornaments worn head to toe by Yemeni women.



No historical superiority

Al-Gendari personally does not believe any one artifact is historically more important than another.

“I am commonly asked which one is the best. I answer that any two archeological finds have equal historical importance because they give us information about history.” He gave the example of a small coin which “actually has bearing on many aspects. If it is made of gold, that tells us the state was prosperous. The date also shows the time span. If there is more than one city for minting, that shows the state's power and the areas it ruled. A coin also tells us about the king who ordered its minting,” Al-Gendari explained.

Another example he cited is that of a statue which, by examining the type of attire on it, tells us about the costumes of a certain time period. “The way it was made gives us an inkling about how dexterous the people were and so on and so forth,” he added.



Archeological work unstopped

According to Al-Gendari, work did not stop during the museum's closure. “Yemeni specialists restored some 1,300 archeological wood and bronze pieces. We take pride in this, as the team comprises only Yemeni nationals who have been trained locally and abroad.

“Documentation is conducted professionally and meticulously. We give every piece that comes to us an ID with a special number, a description of its dimensions, type, original location, source, etc. This information is entered into a database, which allows us to retrieve any stolen piece from anywhere in the world because we have proof that it is ours,” Al-Gendari explained.

He said the museum's archeological finds exceed 25,000 and come from a variety of sources such as the two committees of the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, artifacts confiscation at Yemen's exits, police seizures, state excavations and foreign expeditions who have agreements with the state.

In the end, Al-Gendari complained that Yemen has relatively few museums compared to the glamour of its history and civilization. He urged establishing more museums to better promote Yemeni culture locally and internationally.

The Sana'a-based National Museum was established in 1971 at Dar Al-Shukr, a pre-revolutionary imamate palace. It originally contained two sections for ancient antiquities and for popular heritage. In the course of its development, it came to include an Islamic artifacts division as well. As it expanded, authorities thought to transfer it to a more spacious location and consequently, it was moved to Dar Al-Sa'dah, another palace.
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