page_title: Dhamar Governorate
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Dhamar Governorate / History
context_page_description: Dhamar, also spelt Thamar, is a governorate of Yemen. It is located to the south and southeast of Sana'a Governorate, to the north of Ibb Governorate, to the east of Al Hudaydah Governorate and to the northwest of Al Bayda' Governorate in the central highlands of Yemen.
context_section_description: Modern scientific studies have confirmed the existence of human activity at Dhamar since the Neolithic period, starting around 6000 BC and continuing during the following periods through the Bronze Age. The site of the Hammat al-Qa' – 10 km (6.2 mi) to the east of Ma’bar city – is one of the most prominent and significant Bronze Age locations in the Arabian Peninsula. The historic period of the South Arabian civilization in Yemen began between the 12th and 10th century BC. Dhamar contributed actively in the march of civilisation in Yemen, with ancient monuments dating back to 1000 B.C. at places such as al-Sha'b al-Aswad and Masna'at Marya.
  During the 2nd century BC, Raydanites established themselves at Zafar, about 50 km (31 mi) south of Dhamar, and they rallied the Himyarite tribes in their fight with Sabaean forces. Dhamar became the strategic place for the Raydanites. By the 2nd century AD, Naqil Yislah – 50 km (31 mi) to the north of Dhamar city – was the dividing line between the Sabaeans and the Raydanites under the leadership of the king Yasir Yahsadaq. The Raydanites succeeded, under the leadership of the king Yasir Yahnam and his son Shamar Yahrash, in ending the struggle for their favour, besting their adversaries, and extending their influence and power to the Sabaean capital Ma'rib and the districts attached to it. This victory in 270 AD led to stability in Yemen in general, and in Dhamar in particular. Soon afterward, in about 293 AD, military forces sent by the Raydanite king Shamar Yahrash conquered Hadramaut. Yemen was now united, and in this new era, Dhamar witnessed prosperity, manifested in the reconstruction of cities and cultic centers, in the construction of palaces, temples and fortification walls, and in the creation of water facilities such as dams, tunnels, and diversion barriers. The bronze statues of Dhamar Ali Yahbar and his son Tha'ran Yahna'am discovered at Nakhlat Al-Hamra' are physical illustrations of the high cultural attainments of Yemen under these Himyarite kings. This cultural florescence came to an end when invading Abyssinians conquered Yemen and destroyed Himyarite cities, particularly in the governorate.
  With the advent of Islam in the 7th century CE, tribes of Dhamar were the first in Yemen to embrace the faith at that time, and groups of its people trave'led north to assure the survival of its new community, and to carry it to new lands. During the period of local states independent of the Abbasid caliphs, the Dhamar region was a center of interest to the competing powers. The governorate and city of Dhamar saw a period of florescence, especially during the time of Imam Sharaf Al-Din, who erected, between 1541 and 1543, Al-Madrasah al-Shamsiyyah (Arabic: ٱلْمَدْرَسَة ٱلشَّمْسِيَّة‎, "The Sun School") in Dhamar city; this school was for many centuries a center for diffusion of knowledge and culture.
  During the 16th century, the Ottomans occupied Yemen, and Dhamar became one of the centers of Yemeni opposition to them. This resistance was eventually crowned by expulsion of the Ottomans from Yemen, at the hands of the Qasimi family, who took as their capital the town of Duran, northwest of Dhamar city. Dhamar endured, as did the other Yemeni governorates, severe hardships during the second Ottoman occupation in the 19th century, and under the Hamid al-Din imams during the 20th century. The latter government was forcefully overthrown by the Yemeni revolution, which broke out on 26 September 1962. Since the revolution, the governorate has witnessed a scientific and cultural renaissance that subsequently was strengthened by the achievement of Yemeni unification, and the triumph of constitutional legitimacy and unity against the forces of secession.
caption: Bazaar in Dhamar. Illustrated, etc, by Walter Burton Harris
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