Speaker A
The greater part of the Arabian is of bleached landscapes with vast arid deserts.
A 1977 documentary exploring Yemen's culture, traditions, and daily life in the ancient city of Sana'a.
Key Takeaways
- Yemen's rich cultural heritage remains deeply tied to ancient Islamic and tribal traditions.
- The souk is a vital economic and social hub reflecting Yemen's artisanal and agricultural life.
- Health education efforts face challenges due to traditional customs and limited awareness.
- The Sherchef veil symbolizes strong religious and cultural values affecting women's visibility.
- Qat chewing is a significant social ritual that influences daily life and community bonding.
Summary
- Yemen, known as Arabia Felix, is a fertile and historic land largely hidden from Western eyes until recent years.
- The capital city Sana'a is one of the best-preserved Islamic cities, with origins dating back to 6000 BC.
- The souk (marketplace) is central to Yemeni life, with specialized streets for different crafts and trades.
- Traditional Yemeni items like the madah pipe and jambia dagger are crafted and used as cultural symbols.
- The film highlights the strict Muslim tradition of Sherchef, the veiling of women, and its social implications.
- Helen Fanning, a nutrition expert from Ireland, works on health education campaigns focused on baby care.
- The call to prayer and mosque life are integral to daily routines, with Sana'a hosting over a thousand mosques.
- Chewing cat (qat) is a widespread social activity among Yemeni men and some women, often accompanied by the madah pipe.
- The documentary captures the blend of ancient traditions and the challenges of modern development in Yemen.
- It also portrays the gender roles and cultural customs deeply rooted in Yemeni society.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
But within this region there lies a land of autumn colors seen by few Western eyes.
Speaker A
This is the land of the Yemen.
Speaker A
Arabia Felix, Arabia the Fortunate, the fertile.
Speaker A
Until only a few years ago, the Yemen Arab Republic was a secret place.
Speaker A
It had been forbidden for the people to reveal themselves to strangers, and at the sight of a foreign face or a camera, many of them will turn their faces to hide.
Speaker A
The land is majestic, overpowering and bewitching. The buildings are hewn from the stone in which they are set.
Speaker A
It can be a harsh country, it can be cruel, but it is always fascinating.
Speaker A
On a wide plane, situated 6,500 feet above sea level, is the capital city of Sana'a.
Speaker A
To control the surrounding heights is to be master of all you survey.
Speaker A
The city of Sana'a stands little changed from medieval times.
Speaker A
It is believed to be the best preserved Islamic city in Arabia, and there is evidence that its origins date back to 6,000 BC.
Speaker A
To enter the gate of this ancient citadel, Babel Yemen, is to pass through the door of an earlier civilization.
Speaker A
Here life bubbles as in a cauldron. Here a proud and colorful people throng together in riches and in poverty.
Speaker A
In sickness and in health, in strange custom and in unyielding tradition.
Speaker A
The market, or souk, is at the heart of Babel Yemen.
Speaker A
Through these arteries pulses the lifeblood of day-to-day living.
Speaker A
Within this labyrinth of narrow lanes, each trade occupies its own street.
Speaker A
Each craft practiced clusters together with its like for mutual support.
Speaker A
Hundreds of small shops are set alongside each other within the walls like so many cupboards.
Speaker A
Sana'a and the other towns throughout the Yemen are the marketplaces to which the tribal farmers bring their produce for sale.
Speaker A
Goods are carried into the souk by vehicle, by cart, camel, donkey, man or woman.
Speaker A
The madah pipe is an essential piece of equipment in every Yemeni home.
Speaker A
Each component of these pipes will have been turned, hammered, carved or otherwise embellished within the narrow confines of the souk.
Speaker A
No bargain is struck in a hurry.
Speaker A
And the sands of time run slowly.
Speaker A
Every man arms himself, if not with a gun, then with the jambia dagger.
Speaker A
It has no practical use but one, and that use is to be avoided.
Speaker A
The handle will be of bone or horn or even sometimes wood.
Speaker A
This, together with the blade and the scabbard, will have been wrought by the craftsmen here in the souk.
Speaker A
For a Yemeni, it is no shame to demonstrate his excitement or his emotion.
Speaker A
It is not at all unusual to see men treat or greet each other with great affection.
Speaker A
Primitive farm implements forged in this fire will be used by farmers to till the soil in the high mountain ranges surrounding Sana'a.
Speaker A
Within a hundred other fires, the blacksmiths and tinsmiths forge the tools and chains which weld together past and present.
Speaker A
This indeed is a man's world in which Helen Fanning finds herself.
Speaker A
Helen is a nutrition expert working with other workers from her native country of Ireland.
Speaker A
Her work in the Yemen is organized by an international development agency.
Speaker A
With appropriate name of Concern.
Speaker A
So many of the people around her have yet to understand the connection between diet and dysentery, between health and hygiene.
Speaker A
For many months now, Helen has been working on a project.
Speaker A
She has been preparing a poster campaign which will convey the elementary rules of baby care.
Speaker A
Helen's model is the mother of a large family.
Speaker A
Of course, they all know that this is their mother and father knows.
Speaker A
But you and I and Helen will have to take it on trust.
Speaker A
In accordance with strict Muslim tradition, a woman's face must remain hidden from all other men.
Speaker A
This is the custom of Sherchef.
Speaker A
A simple story may be told with simple pictures.
Speaker A
How to bathe a baby.
Speaker A
How to feed a baby.
Speaker A
How to keep a baby clean and healthy.
Speaker A
In a country where the transition from childhood to adult is but a few brief years.
Speaker A
Where the minimum age for a girl to marry is nine.
Speaker A
It is good that they too should understand this story.
Speaker A
The posters will be seen and understood in clinics and health centers throughout the Yemen.
Speaker A
One of Helen's fellow workers, nursing sister Margaret Moriarty, now explains the program to a group of student doctors.
Speaker A
It is some reassurance to Helen to know that the Arabic captions of her posters are both legible and understood.
Speaker A
The custom of Sherchef, or the veiling of all women, is a major factor in the lifestyle of these people.
Speaker A
It is not possible for the Westerner to appreciate the very deep convictions which preserve such a tradition.
Speaker B
We must learn and educate ourselves and our children.
Speaker B
I think it's better without the Sherchef.
Speaker B
Sherchef is an expression of darkness.
Speaker A
Do you think that this will ever change?
Speaker B
Maybe one day we'll get rid of the Sherchef.
Speaker B
But we'll never wear trousers.
Speaker B
Always we'll have the veil of Islam.
Speaker B
The hair, my two hands, and the legs to be hidden.
Speaker A
Terry is able to find out for herself.
Speaker A
Just what it feels like to be behind the veil.
Speaker A
The first layer of veiling will be worn inside the home so that at least the eyes will be seen by friends of the family.
Speaker A
Eyes can sometimes be revealing.
Speaker A
Perhaps too revealing.
Speaker A
So whenever outside the house, a second veil is drawn to obscure the entire face.
Speaker A
In common with women the world over, the art of makeup is an essential part of their toilet.
Speaker A
As might be expected in such circumstances, there is an air of mystery and the elaboration of this art includes both the hands and the feet.
Speaker A
These are decorated in a highly ornate fashion using henna.
Speaker A
Traditionally, makeup is only worn by married women who are after all the only women likely to be seen by a man.
Speaker A
Their husband.
Speaker A
Facial makeup is also elaborate, and they use a great deal of perfume.
Speaker A
The full treatment we see here is most likely to be applied on those special occasions such as weddings.
Speaker A
Several times each day, the call to prayer echoes from every minaret throughout towns and cities.
Speaker A
The first call in the darkness is at 4:00 AM.
Speaker A
The call is taken up from mosque to mosque and the sound is amplified by loudspeakers within each minaret.
Speaker A
Here in the great mosque of Babel Yemen, founded by command of the Prophet Muhammad himself, the centuries roll away.
Speaker A
This most ancient monument to Islam was enlarged even in the earliest centuries by order of the Khalif.
Speaker A
The Quran, being the word of God.
Speaker A
Is recited with great reverence.
Speaker A
From more than a thousand mosques in Sana'a, the people spill over into the streets.
Speaker A
As though acting out some biblical epic under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille.
Speaker A
Today, Friday, the clamor will reach a crescendo to which all will feel obliged to contribute.
Speaker A
Soon, each group of friends makes to join others in the security of their homes.
Speaker A
Now is the time that the most important purchase of the week will be made.
Speaker A
Cat.
Speaker A
Cat chewing is the only widespread social vice.
Speaker A
It is almost a preoccupation, and most people chew cat at least once every week.
Speaker A
Others every afternoon.
Speaker A
Not long after leaving the mosque on a Friday.
Speaker A
The streets will have become quiet.
Speaker A
Every Yemeni man and many of the women indulge in the strange leisure pursuit of chewing the cat.
Speaker A
In the upper room, known as the Mufrag, a man and his friends gather to chew the hours away.
Speaker A
The women, of course, are with their friends in their own quarters.
Speaker A
The cat leaf is chewed, not swallowed.
Speaker A
And it is only the small inner leaves of the plant which are selected.
Speaker A
The drug is believed to have its effect through the optic nerve.
Speaker A
Which is readily stimulated at regular chewing sessions.
Speaker A
They drink water to increase the flow of juice.
Speaker A
Traditionally, all cat sessions includes the madah pipe, which has become part of the tradition.
Speaker A
The rough leaf of tobacco is fired by small pieces of charcoal.
Speaker A
And the smoke is drawn to the mouthpiece through water in the base of the pipe.
Speaker A
This gives a distinct bubbling sound as each smoker inhales.
Speaker A
Small receptacles or spittoons are placed conveniently around the Mufrag.
Speaker A
Which is furnished in a standard arrangement for sitting.
Speaker A
They recline at floor level on pallets or mattresses with backrests of stuffed cushions against the wall.
Speaker A
The development of roads and communications in such terrain is a formidable task.
Speaker A
The Chinese, the Russians and the Germans have each contributed to the engineering of roads connecting the capital city of Sana'a with the other main cities of Taiz and Al Hudaydah.
Speaker A
In most areas, rocky tracks are the only means of access.
Speaker A
The planning and building of such roads involves a great deal of time and not a little patience.
Speaker A
Bob Burke is a planner.
Speaker A
Column Rider is a road engineer.
Speaker A
Working with the Concerned Development team, they have been responsible for several engineering projects of this kind.
Speaker A
Not only coordinating all the different resources including finance, but also making the first ever maps of these areas.
Speaker A
Did you have to do any blasting here?
Speaker A
Oh, yes, it's quite a lot.
Speaker A
Just right here.
Speaker A
This place.
Speaker A
Yeah.
Speaker A
Yeah.
Speaker A
Yeah.
Speaker A
Yeah.
Speaker A
Quite a lot of blasting.
Speaker A
None of the bits are too strong.
Speaker A
Column here worked with the cooperation of local tribesmen who came to know him and respect him.
Speaker A
Fortunately for him and our camera team, the heavily armed sheikh with some of his men who arrived unexpectedly on the scene knew Column and extended a warm welcome.
Speaker A
His invitation to chew cat the following day was accepted by Column.
Speaker A
Who has come to recognize that such a relationship develops a warmth and understanding between people.
Speaker A
More than anything, they must regulate their scant resources of water.
Speaker A
Another example of the benefits that wise development can bring.
Speaker A
No matter in what circumstances they live.
Speaker A
In the meanest or in the grandest, they have a pride of spirit which sets them as a people apart.
Speaker A
They guard their traditions as they guard the cat.
Speaker A
With a watchful eye and if necessary with firearms.
Speaker A
The present economy of the Yemen depends overmuch on the employment of its men in the oil rich lands of their neighbors.
Speaker A
They wish to depend more on their own resources.
Speaker A
At present, 30% of the male population are obliged to earn their living elsewhere.
Speaker A
And send their wages to those at home.
Topics:YemenSana'aArabia FelixIslamic cultureSherchefqat chewingmadah pipejambia daggertraditional marketshealth education
