Human civilizations have been scientifically and culturally interconnected in societies through the centuries. When a nation gains prosperity, other nations make that prosperity their own. This human instinct of solidarity and inter-dependence, if not well directed and controlled, turns out to be a kind of public charge. This means that some feel satisfied with taking from what others have achieved.
Right from the beginning of life on earth, civilizations existed. Every century presents a different kind of civilization which disappears as the century ends. They come and go leaving behind totally unproductive societies. The new generation have given up creativity, and are contented with their ancestors' accomplishments. From this comes the necessity of searching history.

Yemen's civilization did not vanish with the destruction of Mareb Dam. It was alive inside every Yemeni, though they happened to be ignorant people and wandering nomads. Even nomads had had their own civilization which showed their greatness throughout the Arab Peninsula. Theater had been a feature of the Yemeni culture.
Theater, as historians depict it, began as a means of carrying out religious rituals. It was also closed due to religious beliefs. Yemen knew all religions, from paganism and nature worship to Islam. One who reads Mahammed Tawfeek's book Jaof Al-Lail (Midnight), about religions in Yemen, will realize that Yemen has had many cultural and literary advances. One of its main cultural institutions was theater.

Theater and civilization:
For centuries, theater has been associated with some level of civilization. History records that Yemen had witnessed one of the greatest of the ancient civilizations. Although those civilizations were wiped out, they left valuable traces which made their greatness stick in history. Literature, with all its genres, especially theater, had always been a representative of those civilizations. In Ashorian and Babeli civilizations, we find a simple foundation of literary development. There are some ruins of places for acting out performances which we may simply call theaters.

Yemen, A Source of Civilization:
The Yemeni civilization buried under the ground is a brings many questions. To the moment, it is not explored and there are still so many things to be discovered. The very few uncovered historical features attract the entire attention of scientists and researchers. Israel Welfenson says, "The southern part of the Arabian Peninsula is regarded as the original center of civilization. Geographically, Yemen is a country of hills, high mountains, and level lands. This diversity makes Yemen one of the more fertile countries of the world. Where fountains and wells streams, all kinds of crops and fruits grow. All the time, Yemen has been famous for that. This natural phenomenon helped to develop creativity and imagination in the minds of the Yemenis. It paid off with great developments in literature. These developments, in one way or another, are associated in other civilizations with solidarity and independence." 

Unfortunately there are not specific historical details about Yemen in the ancient times, and those we received do not tell much about its development. However, all the historians agree that Yemen had witnessed one of the oldest civilizations in the world, in which architecture and agriculture greatly flourished. But, historians still want a clear view of cultural activities in Yemen during those decades. Welfnson says that a country like Yemen, which reached that high level of prosperity and cultural development, must have had a formidable history in literature. Literary development, especially in poetry and theater, was a definite result of the development Yemen achieved in all fields of life. Definitely, it was no less thriving than the political or the agricultural development. Much evidence assures us that theater has existed in Yemen in the past and epics especially were its main subjects in acting performances. 

This evidence is supported by the Egyptian Sheikh Ahmed Zaki and other contemporary historians and archeologists. In his introduction to Ahmed Shawqi's Al-Sit Hoda or (Miss Hoda), Ahmed Zaki assures us of the existence of theater in Yemen, where people were highly cultured. "Thus, it was not unusual that our explorations in Al-Qahtanyeen land, home of Saba and Hemiar, led us to the remains of a theater near the Mareb Dam. Definitely, theater existed in Yemen, Arabia's center of civilization and development. When the Al-Arem flood came, all was brought to ruin and people left to the north." 

He says, "If those surface explorations asserted the existence of theater in Yemen in the past, then the coming serious explorations will discover origins of theater activities and other literary texts. Let's take, for example, Sifr Ayoob or ( Ayoob's Book). Some historians assure us that this text was originally written by a Yemeni author in the 20th century B.C. It was written in verse, they think, and then Jews translated it into Hebrew and made it one of their holy psalms. That made this text distinguished as an Arabic text. Even the names mentioned in Sifr Ayoob are common for people or nomads who lived in the Arab desert and this attests its Arabic or Yemeni origin. The historians attributed with this fact are, as recorded in (Arab History Before Islam), Dr. Gawad Ali and Ibn Azar, a Jewish scholar in the 18th century. Poems like Mont Gamri, they assert, are actually of an Arabic origin for Arabic is the only language that can competently present such works. The orientalist Mergelion supported this idea by linguistic comparisons. The American scholar Foster also shares the same opinion.

It is a fact that Yemen has distinguished works of poetry which date back to more than 20 centuries B C, before many Greek or Latin dramatic pieces appeared. This leads us to conclude that Yemen used to have a highly developed theater.

 

The renowned musician Ahmad Fathi is one of the symbols of Yemeni song, and is its messenger to the outside world. He enriched the Yemeni artistic movement with his distinguished creativity and his brilliance in playing the lute.
Fathi obtained an MA with distinction from the Cairo higher musical institute in December of last year for his thesis on the lute and its importance to Yemeni songs.

Our famous singer was born in Hodeida in the early fifties and was extensively affected by Yemeni traditional music. Yemeni music has affected him ever since his early childhood, in addition to eastern songs, especially Egyptian songs. I heard this from him myself in a Hodeida hotel during a visit there in late 1967.
Similar to other young artists, he started his march in Sanaa and concentrated on playing the lute. In the seventies he joined the musical institute in Cairo and obtained a diploma in harmonic music and specialized in playing the lute instrument.

He sang for the poet Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Makaleh for a period of time after his graduation and their joint production was widely welcomed inside and outside Yemen.
In the early eighties, he met with the Yemeni singer Abu Bakir Salem, who lives in Saudi Arabia, in their first song of Yemeni traditional music. That joint artistic work coupled with the new musicial introductions increased Fathi's reputation.
Our singer could not stay out of Yemen for long, and repeatedly visited his homeland. He was interviewed by the Television Space Channel for a show in which he talked about his artistic march and aspirations.

He also shared in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's artistic festival held in London along with other traditional troupes.
Last year the Culture and Tourism Minister Abdul Malik Mansour decorated the singer with the "Arts Medal" in appreciation of his role in raising the popularity of high Yemeni songs in the local, Arab and International arenas.
Fathi sang in a musical play in the seventies and sang a number of songs for Yemeni TV channel-2 for the poet Mahmoud Al Haj at that time.

Fathi, who is currently living in Cairo, said that he has strong relations with the Saudi singer Mohammed Abdou and that they will jointly sing in a carnival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia later this year.
The Yemeni singer, who won a high place at the international childhood festival in Cairo last year, is currently recording a new album, which includes songs written by Yemeni and Arab poets.

By: Saleh Abdulbaki,
Art Editor, Yemen Times

 

Drinking tea is one of the most common habits whether in the Arab or foreign countries and each country has its own traditional way of making and drinking tea.
In the old times, people used to drink one kind of tea but nowadays tea is sipped in various tastes that differ from one country to another according to the fabrication method and country of origin.
In Yemen there is only one factory for packing tea. Yemen Times asked a number of people from various Yemeni governorates on their drinking habits.

Aden
Fatema Abdul Qader from Aden said that people there prefer drinking tea with milk especially in the morning and after lunch.
She said that tea drinkers there prefer boiling water with sugar and adding cardamom or others until it tastes before adding tea. The mixture is then left to simmer a while before drinking it with cakes or biscuits. Coffee is not a favorite drink in Aden, she concluded.

Sanaa
In Sanaa, Ruwaida Saeed said that the capital's inhabitants prefer coffee which is presented to family members and guests day and night. Tea is sometimes made only if guests prefers it, she emphasized.
"We boil water with sugar and some cardamom before adding tea and pour it in glasses," she said, adding that they do not offer anything beside tea or coffee.
Coffee is consumed more than tea because people here feel that it represents their traditions which they inherited from the forefathers who did not know tea in the first place, Ruwaida underlined.

Hadhramaut
For her part, Amal Abdul Aziz from Hadhramaut said that tea is a must in that governorate after each meal.
She noted that Hadhramaut tea is prepared in a different manner, using either electricity or coal to boil water in a big kettle. A smaller kettle containing tea and some water is then put over the first one until it turns dark, she elaborated.
Amal said that sugar is put in the traditional small glass cups known in Hadhramaut and a small amount from that dark tea, then boiled water from the bigger kettle is added.
Coffee is only consumed on certain occasions, she said and noted that tea preparation is not made in the kitchen but in a certain place in the house allocated for that purpose.

Marib
However, in Marib there is no definite time for drinking either coffee or tea, according to Aneesa Ali who said that water is boiled along sugar in addition to mint or other tastes before tea is added.
She said that tea is poured in medium sized glasses to guests and added that coffee is drank more than tea in Yemen because it reflects Yemenis' love to their country and their coffee.

Tea Business
Asked about tea business in the country, Bashshar Abdou Al Khawlani, a merchant, said that tea is imported from numerous countries.
He singled out, however, India, Sri Lanka and Kenya for their good quality tea. Bashshar underscored that prices of tea differ according to its quality and package.
Tea imported from a number of countries tastes better than that imported from original country of cultivation, he said, adding that hundreds of tons are yearly imported by Yemen which only have packing factories.

By: Ahlam Al-Khawlani,
Yemen Times

During 2-11 February, 1999, the ministry of education organized a conference on social education for supervisors and instructors of social studies, at Khawla school. 52 schools, and 134 specialists from Sana'a municipality and Ibb governorate participated. Ms. Wahiba Ghalib, Social Services Advisor for Curricula and Instructions, at the ministry of education, and the Supervisor of the conference, stressed the important role of such conferences in improving the efficiency of social studies supervisors and instructors. "Social services has become an important aspect of education. In spite of the slow development we are making, regarding social services. Our country too, gives a great importance to this sector," she indicated.

The objective of the conference was to provide a chance, to all supervisors and instructors to meet, and discuss the problems, and difficulties social services face at schools, how to overcome them, and what students really need, and what should be provided for them.
Many issues were discussed such as, kinds of students who need help, the duties of social instructors, the importance of parent-teacher relation, and many other papers and researches on different social issues theme.

"People look down at our work, and they don't open up to us. Some of them feel that we are trying to interfere in their personal lives, they can never understand, that we are trying to help them. Very few cooperate with us," said Miss Anisa Abdul-Karim, a social service instructor from Ibb.

By: Ahlam Al-Mutawkil,
Yemen Times, Sanaa.