Shibam Yemen: The World’s Oldest Skyscraper City

The desert of Yemen, Wadi Hadramout, is an ancient walled city, "Shibam," listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. It is called the "Manhattan of the Desert" or "Chicago of the Desert" because of its "skyscrapers." The land surrounded by a mud wall, the city of the 16th century, is one of the oldest examples of urban planning based on vertical construction.

Shibam Yemen ancient mud-brick skyscrapers

Shibam Yemen is famous for its towering mud-brick buildings in Wadi Hadramaut.

The Ancient Mud-Brick Skyscrapers of Shibam

Shibam Yemen is one of the world's most remarkable ancient cities, famous for its tall mud-brick tower houses rising dramatically from the desert landscape of Wadi Hadramaut. Often called the “Manhattan of the Desert,” Shibam is renowned for its unusual vertical architecture and centuries-old urban planning. The historic walled city demonstrates how traditional Yemeni builders created multi-story buildings using sun-dried mud bricks long before the modern skyscraper era.

Yemen Skyscrapers—Shibam, Hadramawt- can be described as a Yemeni town. It has approximately 7,000 residents and is the seat of the District of Shibam, in the Governorate of Hadhramaut. The ancient city of Shibam, built 400 years ago, was a thriving commercial center. Shibam became the capital of the kingdom of Hadramaut.

Ancient Skyscrapers—The city is famous for its incomparable architecture; all the houses in Shibam are built of adobe bricks. About 500 homes are called high-rises, as they have 5-11 floors; each floor was a single-family dwelling. This type of structure was designed to protect residents from Bedouin raids. While Shibam has existed for about 2,500 years, most urban homes were built in the 16th century. Many of them were repeatedly rebuilt in later centuries. In Shibam are the world's highest clay buildings, some of which rise to 30 meters or more.

Manhattan of the desert—These high-rise buildings are a product of the "traditional family system." According to local tradition, the family, as a rule, does not divide built premises and expands up to your living space thanks to the original roof. So, from generation to generation, it gradually formed a high dwelling. Each of the 500 such houses in Shibam has from 5 to 8 floors, home to 7,000 people. That is, on average, every building is designed for more than 100 people. The ground floor is given to animals; the second floor is kept-lischem; the third is accommodations. Usually, on the third-floor room host, fourt;h and fifth floors are rooms for women and children; on the sixth floor is a common room. In each room is not much space; the first and second floors are mostly devoid of windows.

Yemen Architecture

Old walled city of Shibam—In the city of Shibam, all objects, including fences, houses, mosques, and even schools, are built of adobe bricks (they are made of clay, straw, and water, dried in the sun for three days, and ready for use in construction). Such dwellings may persist for centuries and are a marvel of architecture. To protect the buildings from periodic rain, the exterior of the buildings' walls is maintained and regularly applied with fresh soil layers. The city is surrounded by a complete wall in a citadel known as the "walled city of Shibam." Every year, the residents of Shibam paint the exterior walls, which are whitewashed, which is sufficient to prevent water erosion. Shibam is built from environmentally friendly materials and blends in perfectly with the environment.

Where is the world's oldest skyscraper city?

Shibam, Yemen—Located in Hadhramaut Governorate's western region in the desert of Ramlat al-Sab'atayn. Its main road links Sana'a and other western cities to the far-eastern territories. Seiyun, the seat of an airfield, and Tarim are both located in the east. The road that runs from Alajlanya (in the west) connects Shibam with Mukalla, which is the capital of the governorate, on the Indian Ocean.

Buildings in the desert—Shibam is 160 km long and 2 km wide and is a dry valley. Here, rainfall, torrential rains, and floods are rare. However, in 1298 and 1532 was twice destroyed by floods. Today's buildings are constructed of Shibam mainly 400 years ago.

First Image credit Dan