COUNTRY: Yemen
LANGUAGE: Hebrew/Arabic
“Sar Hamemuneh” is a song drawn from a centuries-old poem by a Yemenite-Jewish Rabbi who was extolling the virtues of friendships between the Jewish and Muslim people of Yemen.
Lyrics of All Around This World version:
Sar Hamemuneh, Sar hamemuneh
Chaver, my chaver, Sar hamemuneh
Sadiq, my sadiq, sar hamemeuneh
Yemeni Arabic, the primary language of Yemen, is very close to classical Arabic and is a dialect spoken in Yemen, southwestern Saudi Arabia and the northern part of Somalia. Like Arabic, the rest of Yemen’s indigenous languages are also Semitic in origin. These languages–Mehri, Soqotri and Bathari in particular–were the local languages of Yemen before Arabic swept it in the 7th century. Yemenite Hebrew, also known as Temani Hebrew, is no longer heard in Yemen because of the Yemenite Jews’ migration to Israel, though Jews of Yemenite ancestry in Israel still may speak it.
By the way, Arabic and Hebrew are both Semitic languages, meaning they are believed to share descent from Shem, one of the sons of the biblical figure Noah. The term “anti-Semite,” while today commonly understood to describe a person who is anti-Jewish, technically could also be able to refer to someone who detests Arabs. Or Mehri, Soqotri and Bathari.
In class we’re going to say hello and goodbye in Yemeni Arabic:
Hello: Marhaban/Ahlan
Goodbye: Ma’as salama
The music of Yemen shares its general melodic and rhythmic structures with the maqamat of other Arabic-language music throughout the region but developed along a different historical path because unlike most Middle Eastern nations, Yemen had a port, Aden, that was an important stop en route to the “Far East.” The music of Yemen kept one eye turned on India and Indonesia even while it fully embraced musical advances from Cairo and Beirut.
Vocalists of are of the utmost importance in Yemeni music. Yemeni lyrics emphasize poetry and whatever instruments are present at a performance are there to support the vocals. In the northern highlands, Muslim imams took a hard line on musical instruments (we learned why some fundamentalist Muslims consider music “haram” in our Saudi Arabian message), so in those areas the singer became even more key. In Israel, Jewish vocalists of Yemenite ancestry, like Ofra Haza, had no such prohibition. Haza blended Yemenite music with modern instruments and song structures to create a dynamic and wildly popular rootsy pop-folk. In class we sing her version of “Tzur Manoti,” an ancient Jewish devotional text that Haza first sings with its traditional Yemeni (minor key) melody, then
turns into upbeat, major key, danceable fun. [Watch Haza in two different performances of “Tzur Manoti,” the first with backing instrumentation, and her head uncovered, and the
second, a capella and wearing a head scarf. Perhaps the former was a performance
in Israel and the latter was a concert for a Yemenite Muslim audience…? In both, Haza and her costumed and very animated performers dance the Yemenite step, also known as the Temadi, which is one of the most popular steps in Israeli folk dance. You too can learn the
Yemenite step!]
The most formal yet widely adored performer of Yemeni musical poetry is the nashad, a singer with a high-pitched voice who leads a chorus in call and response compositions, going back and forth between demonstrating vocal artistry and eliciting participation
by the group. Nashads play an important role in Yemeni society by providing the musical soundtrack for Yemeni life events like weddings and funerals. Nashad music (the term that refers both to the form and the performer) seems to be adapting as Yemenis become more connected to global music, growing into modern sounds while still retaining its traditional meaning. Some nashads for us to hear: A very catchy nashad for children, especially those with big pencils | A formal nashad performance with a chorus | Individual nashad Naby Al-huda | A little boy aspiring to become a big nashad.
While music in Yemen does play an important role at public events, most Yemeni musical experiences happen a bit closer to home. There is a particular tradition in Yemen of spending the afternoons and evenings with family members and friends in a room at the top of the house, one with a lot of windows, talking about philosophy and art, playing instruments, singing, and certainly chewing qat (introduced above). The most prevalent music at these gatherings takes the form of homayni, a type of lyrical poetry that originated in the 14th century. (Homayni performers in San’a have developed a distinct vocal style that has become as “Sanaan singing.”) After hours of philosophy, homanyi and qat,
the session usually ends at dusk with a quiet, contemplative hour of personal reflection, known as “the Hour of Solomon.” Lights stay low and all are quiet. Those who are religiously observant say their evening prayers. Then, all qat-chewers, still deep in thought
about the state of their lives, return to their own homes to sleep well, rise well, make it through another day, and return the next evening to their friends, to the Hour of Solomon and, of course, to qat. (Listen to Mohammad Al-Hardithi perform houmayni poetry while accompanying himself on the oud, from his album “The Hour of Solomon.”)
In class we’re going to try to replicate this tradition–the qat-free parts of it, anyway. We’ll talk philosophy, sing a bit, then become very thoughtful and still.
More about Yemeni music:
National Geographic’s Yemeni musical overview | More about homanyi and Sanaan singing | Yemenite-inspired music is popular in Israel–definitely check out the band Yemen Blues, in which “East Meets West”
In class we’re going to listen to:
— Ahmed Fathi: “Darb Al Akdar”
Ahmed Fathi is “King of Oud!” (At least according to his website.) Fathi was born and raised in isolated North Yemen where he demonstrated musical ability from an
early age. Eventually he was able to join the “High Institute of Arab Music” in Cairo, and since then he’s been sharing Yemenite oud music with international audiences. Fathi blends Yemenite folk with orchestral arrangements, creating a modern and fluid yet still
traditional sound.
More about Ahmed Fathi:
About Fathi’s performance at New York’s Kennedy Center | Fathi performs “Love and Peace” | When you visit Fathi’s website, watch out! He’s pointing right at you
— Al-Yaman: “Si-Raa”
Al-Yaman is band based in Prague that fuses Yemenite sounds with electronica to forge a neo-Yemenite-progressive-dance-pop. Singer Ashwaq Abdulla Kulaib, a Yemeni native, fronts the group, fusing her talents and musical sensibilities with those of a respected line-up of international musicians.
More about Al-Yaman:
National Geographic on Al-Yaman | Watch Al-Yaman perform “Ya Bashar” (not great sound quality, but you get the idea)
Yemen, or “Al Yaman,” which means, “The South,” is a rather large, sparsely populated country at the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. (Get your bearings with this map.) One of the oldest centers of civilization in the world, much of Yemen’s land is actually fertile enough to keep a stable population, unlike that of its neighbor to the north, Saudi Arabia, which required its citizens to have nomadic knowhow to get by. Invading kingdoms coveted this fertile land and ruled parts of Yemen throughout its ancient history–kingdoms such as the Semites, the Sabeans, the Himyarties (most notably ruled by the Jewish king Yusuf Asar Yathar/”Dhu Nuwas” who was notorious for persecuting Christian Aksumites) and even the Sassanids from Persia.
Islam arrived early in Yemen, around the year 630, while Muhammad was still alive, and Yemen became one of the first provinces in the Arabic/Islamic empire. (Today 99% of Yemenis are Muslim, split evenly between Zaydi-Shi’a, whose members live in the north and northwest, and the Shafa’i Sunni, who mainly live in the south and southeast.) Yemen remained very much under Arab control until the 19th century when the Ottomans took much of the northern part of the country, making San’a its capital. British forces were also interested in Yemen, specifically in the southern port of Aden which it used as a refueling station for British ships traveling to India. Aden became even more desirable after the Suez Canal opened in 1869, giving boats a clear route through the Mediterranean into the Gulf. In 1904 the British and Ottomans formally split Yemen in two, with the Ottomans presiding over northern Yemen and the British over the south. (See a map of “North Yemen,” also called “Yeman Sana’a,” and a map of “South Yemen,” also known as “Yemen Aden.” You’ll see that, oddly, some of South Yemen is actually north of North Yemen.) Local Yemenis disliked this dual rule and rebelled against both the Ottomans and the British, inspiring tribes throughout the nation to join. Britain tried to manage South Yemen as an area divided into many small tribal kingdoms but it became unwieldy.
After the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918 northern Yemen became an independent state called the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, ruled mainly by Zaydi-Shi’a Muslim kings. North Yemen became known for its strict clerical rule and its increasing international isolation. In 1962, after an anti-royalist coup, the country, renamed the Yemen Arab Republic stumbled into an armed conflict now known as the North Yemen Civil War. In the conflict Saudi Arabia and Jordan supported the royalists while Egypt’s president Gamel
Adel Nasser (more about him in the Egypt background e-mail) sent 70,000 troops to support the republicans, hoping that if the Yemeni monarchy fell, so too would the monarchy in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately for Egypt, many Yemeni tribes sided with the royalists and, despite receiving Soviet military help, Egypt’s troops were not able to defeat them. Egypt’s troops withdrew in shame; Nasser called Yemen “Egypt’s Vietnam.” After Egypt withdrew, the royalist/tribal coalition fell apart; historians suggest the tribes had joined the collaboration in order to oppose the Egyptian meddling rather than out of sincere support of the monarchy. In 1970 Republican forces declared victory and vowed to
give tribal leaders a voice in government. Later that year, Saudi Arabia even recognized the Yemen Arab Republic (“North Yemen”) as a nation. Also in 1970, “South Yemen” changed its name officially to the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen and became a one-party, socialist-supported state.
Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, even though there were several skirmishes between the North and South–the Saudis supporting the North, the USSR the South–Yemenis talked often of reunification. In 1990 the North and South officially reunified and became the Republic of Yemen. The president of this presumably democratic, multi-party republic was long-time Northern Yemeni President, military leader and Zaydi-Shiite, Ali Abdallah Saleh.
Unfortunately for Yemen the merger between north and south has been rocky. A civil war between the two broke out in 1994. This time Saudi Arabia, which saw a united Yemen as somewhat of a threat, supported the South. The United States kept calling for peace negotiations the United Nations tried, and failed, to negotiate a lasting cease-fire. Eventually the South seceded and established the Democratic Republic of Yemen, which remained a nation unrecognized internationally. There was more fighting though, and the North defeated it. President Saleh announced an amnesty and welcomed southerners back into Yemen.
Throughout the ’90s and 2000s President Saleh remained in power, running in and winning several popular elections, most which were deemed free and fair. (Though
he faced very little opposition and the results always seemed a foregone conclusion.) In 1999 parliament elongated the presidential term to seven years and created a 111 seat, presidentially-appointed Islamically-inspired Shura Council to balance the popularly elected 301 seat House of Representatives. In 2005 Saleh said he wouldn’t run for president in the 2006 elections, then in 2006 changed his mind, won the election and remained in charge. Throughout his rule Saleh’s friendship with Iraq and Saddam Hussein withered and by the 2003 U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam he and Yemen had become increasingly close to Iran. The fact that Saleh is Shia Muslim and was facing opposition from a Sunni-oriented rebel group in the south helped solidify the Yemeni-Iranian bond. Saleh’s relations with the United States haven’t always been strong, though since 2000, when al-Qaeda bombed the U.S.S. Cole in Aden Harbor, the U.S. has tried, with intermittent success, to enlist Saleh as a partner in fighting “the War on Terror.”
In 2011 Yemenis turned on their TV sets, saw the mass movements of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions and wondered why they shouldn’t take to the street and try to oust Saleh. Some began to protest, calling not only for Saleh to resign but for the government to be more responsive to the increasingly impoverished population. Still, Saleh wouldn’t go. Even after being injured in a rocket attack and flying to Saudi Arabia for several months to recuperate Saleh eventually returned. Several times throughout the demonstrations Saleh has announced plans to one way or another leave the presidency, but so far that hasn’t happened. As of this writing (October 2011) protests by a complex coalition of students, civil society groups, Yemeni tribes, Sunni secessionists and even al-Qaeda continue, facing increasingly harsh government crack down. No one knows what’s going to happen next.
More information:
Wikipedia on Yemen | Watch this video for a basic overview of Yemen’s 3000 years of history, though you may want to take the part about Allah destroying the big dam with a grain of salt.
QAT:
One thing that people in Yemen can count on existing today, tomorrow and into the foreseeable future, as long as Yemenis have a say in the matter, is qat. Qat is a small evergreen shrub grown in Yemen that has become central to the national personality. Every day at about two in the afternoon a substantial percentage of the population (mainly male, but increasingly female) stops working, or studying, or protesting the government, and sits with friends and family to chew qat. When a person chews qat the plant releases a juice that acts like a mild amphetamine, enabling the chewer to spend hours engaged in somewhat hazy discussion about politics, society and the meaning of life. Qat sessions
last well into the evening and end with a contemplative “Hour of Solomon,” described a bit more in the music section below. While not everyone approves of this tradition (see articles like “Qat: The Plague of Yemen”) and while qat cultivation takes a lot of water, which in drought-stricken Yemen is a seriously dwindling resource, an estimated half to 2/3 of the population chews qat on a regular basis. Qat may be “the plague of Yemen,” but for the time being it seems to be here to stay.
More information:
According to The Atlantic, “You don’t ‘get’ Yemen if you don’t get Qat.” | Does Yemen’s Qat habit hinder a popular revolution? | PBS on Qat
