The Regional Museum in Zabeed: A Tourist Center for the Yemeni Culture [Archives:1999/25/Culture]

#4 in a Series: 
Museums in our country have formed a visible cultural and tourist image during the visits made by many tourists. We paid a visit to the Zabeed museum, to look at its pieces that represent our culture through various periods in the history. 
The Yemeni monument committee last year inaugurated the regional museum in Zabeed which was established in a corner which was left over from Zabeed’s fort. The museum has been kept in a room where wheat and maize use to be stored. This was at the time of the Ottomans colony of Tihama. This project was financed by the Canadian delegation and the general monuments committee. This museum was divided into five section halls manifesting the inherited pieces.These halls date back to the prehistoric ages or what was called the bronze age. There is another section that presents the things that had been studied or were discovered during the excavations in ‘Al-Madman’ area, situated in the eastern part of Zabeed close to the Red Sea. Some of the bronze devices and pottery pieces have been shifted during that age, manuscripts were found on pottery pieces written in ‘Al-Musned’ script. In addition to that, the Moon God’s mark, which was in ‘Al-Hatta’ temple in the city of Mareb, were found. During the excavation some of the stone devices which were at ‘Al-Hatta’ were found and also stones of the “laposodine” type were found which is a glassy substance, were used in making some of the stone devices such as hunting arrows, domestic knives and were also used in making weapons at that time. 
In one of the corners there is another section that represents the things that were found in Zabeed’s fort. Other colored and engraved gypsum ornaments are to be found; they were used at that time for decorating the walls and fronts of the houses. Four platforms of the Mosque in Zabeed were found as well, and were repaired 10-12 years ago. These repair works were supervised by Mr. Abdul Rahman Al-Hadrami, the general manager of the Zabeed house for relaxation. There are also some samples from the ‘Al-Rasoulia’ structures which were under the rule of ‘Bani Rasoul’ at that time. 
The people of Bani Rasoul were very interested in the colorful ornaments. There were also some samples of stones called ‘Manganic’ or catapult stones. These stones were spherical and of different sizes. They were used for destroying houses, as we use dynamite this days. There are also samples of water pipes that provided Zabeed with water from the eastern part of the country. These pipes were found accidentally in ‘Al-Makin’ farm during the exploration of the Canadian delegation and the General Monuments Committee during the same period. It was manifested that Zabeed at that time was supplied with water by these pipes which were made of pottery. 
After this discovery there was a land survey for two and half K.M. from the mountainous regions which were beside the farm. The marks of these pipes cannot be traced when we go to far away from the farm. The asphalt roads also hindered the delegation from proceeding with their work and find out where the paths lead, whether they were stretching towards Zabeed or somewhere else. 
The manifestation of this museum and its section was very important because there will be lots of developments in the future which will increase the number of visitors. Then, it will be both a cultural as well as a tourist attraction. 
By: Saleh Abdulbaqi, 
Cultural Editor
——
[archive-e:25-v:1999-y:1999-d:1999-06-21-p:./1999/iss25/culture.htm]