Matthew Patay's
Note of the Month

 December 2007

 

Map and flag images provided by Graphic Maps

This month's featured note is from Yemen.
The denomination is 1,000 Rials and the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (SCWPM) Number is P-32. 

The note is dated (1998).

(front)

The banknote is dark brown and dark green on multicolored underprint.  The Sultan Al Kathiri Palace in Selyun is at center.

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The following information was obtained from:
Yostours.com.ye

Sultan Al Kathiri Palace in Selyun
(For the full article, please refer to the link above.)
 

Sultan Al Kathiri Palace originally was a fort, then after many modifications it became the official residence for Sultan Al Kathiri. The palace dates back in its present state to the late 20s of this century. It consists of 16 buildings, is 34m high and has 90 rooms. Part of it is now used as an archeological museum of traditions and customs as well as a public Library.

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(back)
The Bab al-Yemen gate and the old city of Sana'a is at center right.

The following information was obtained from:
World66.com

The City of Sana'a
(For the full article, please refer to the link above.)

Sana’a, the capital of Yemen is spectacularly beautiful. It's a fascinating city with unique architecture. It seems as if you were back in the middle ages in some tale of Arabian Nights. The way people dress and the way the buildings look has not changed the last thousand years. even new-Sana looks and feels old. The city is set in a pretty valley highlighted by rugged mountains.

The houses of old Sana’a are known as ’tower houses’ with some reaching eight storeys. In old Sana’a there are more than 14,000 of such houses. From the middle of old Sana’a cow market (Soq al-bakar), one can walk 500m in any direction without coming across new buildings. The ground and first floors of the old city houses are built of stone with the upper floors being built of mud. The floors are separated from one another with a strip of the same building material. The rooms are lit with marble arched stained-glass windows. The exterior walls are decorated with ornaments coated with lime in an up- Dated architectural style and similar materials. The ground floors are used as stores, while the large first floors are used for entertaining. There are also rooms allocated for women and children. The Mafraj is the male domain, located at the top of the house, and is a rectangular room with broad windows allowing good sight of the surrounding. It is the most decorated and beautiful room in the house.

A new quarter was added to Sana’a in the 14-th century called Quarter of Beer al-Azab, which was populated by the senior officials. This quarter was distinct in its architectural style differing from that of Old Sana’a with regard to orchards and fountains. In the middle of the 16th century, Sana’a again expanded by adding the ”Qa’a Al-Yahud”, The Jewish Quarter”.

Old Sana’a was encircled by rampart (Sor) dating back to the first century but it grew with the expansion of the city to include the new quarters. The rampart was in the shape of an 8, and used to have six gates, four of which were used for the old city. These gates were closed each night at 8.00 o’clock and were opened before the dawn prayer at 4.00 am. Today only the southern gate (Bab Al-Yemen) has survived. Many parts of the rampart together with its towers have collapsed but still some parts exist. Particularly the eastern and the southern part adjacent to Bab Al-Yemen.

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The following information was obtained from:
Wikipedia the online Encyclopedia

A Brief History of Yemen
(For the full article, please refer to the link above.)

Yemen is one of the oldest centers of civilization in the world. Between the ninth century BC and the sixth century AD, it was part of the Sabaean, Awsanian, Minaean, Qatabanian, Hadhramawtian, Himyarite, and some other kingdoms, which controlled the lucrative spice trade. It was known to the Ancient Romans as Arabia Felix ("Happy Arabia") because of the riches its trade generated. Augustus Caesar attempted to annex it, but the expedition failed. The Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum annexed it by around 520, and it was subsequently taken by the Sassanids Persians around 570.

In the 3rd century and again in the late sixth and early seventh century AD, many Sabaean and Himyarite people migrated out of the land of Yemen following the destructions of the Ma'rib Dam (sadd Ma'rib) and migrated to North Africa and northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In the 7th century, Islamic caliphs began to exert control over the area. After this caliphate broke up, the former North Yemen came under control of Imams of various dynasties usually of the Zaidi sect, who established a theocratic political structure that survived until modern times. (Imam is an Arabic term meaning religious leader). Egyptian Sunni Caliphs occupied much of North Yemen throughout the eleventh century. By the sixteenth century and again in the nineteenth century, north Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire, and in some periods its Imams exerted control over south Yemen.

North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and became a republic in 1962. In 1839, the British occupied the port of Aden and established it as a colony in September of that year. They also set up a zone of loose alliances (known as protectorates) around Aden to act as a protective buffer. In 1967, the British withdrew and gave back Aden to Yemen due to extreme pressure of battles with the North and Egyptian allies. After the British withdrawal, this area became known as South Yemen. The two countries were formally united as the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990.

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For more information about the Yemen visit:

TThe CIA World Factbook

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