ʿAmrān ( ar, عمران;

Old South Arabian Old South Arabian (or Ṣayhadic or Yemenite) is a group of four closely related extinct languages spoken in the far southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula. They were written in the Ancient South Arabian script. There were a number of othe ...

: 𐩲𐩣𐩧𐩬 ''ʿmrn'') is a small city in western central

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. It is the capital of the

'Amran Governorate ʽAmran ( ar, عمران, ʽAmrān) is one of the governorates of Yemen. Districts 'Amran Governorate is divided into the following 20 districts. These districts are further divided into sub-districts, and then further subdivided into villa ...

, and was formerly in the Sana'a Governorate. It is located by road northwest of the Yemeni capital of

Sana'a Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gover ...

, at the upper (southern) end of the al-Bawn plain. According to the 2004 census it had a population of 76,863, and an estimated population of 92,763 in 2013.

History and architecture

'Amran has a long history, dating back to the pre-Islamic era. During that period, it was one of the main centers of the

Bakil The Bakil ( ar, بكيل, Musnad: 𐩨𐩫𐩺𐩡) federation is the largest tribal federation in Yemen. The tribe consists of more than 10 million men and women they are the sister tribe of Hashid(4 million) whose leader was Abdullah Bin Hussein ...

tribal confederation. At the time of the Sabaean kingdom, the town blossomed into a fortress. A series of bronze plaques from that time were found in the town in the mid-nineteenth century and are now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. In particular, in the seventh century it was the great city of valour during the clashes against the Sabeans, a plurality of regionally based tribes. Remains of carved stones that belonged to former temples and palaces bear witness today of past glory. A large stone inscription is found in the western city gate (Bab al-Kabir). 'Amran is largely absent from medieval sources, and the nearby fortified town of

al-Jannat Al-Jannat ( ar, الجنات ) is a small town in Amran District of 'Amran Governorate, Yemen. It is located about 2.5km from 'Amran, the governorate capital, at the edge of the al-Bawn plain. Overlooking the town is the height called Jabal al- ...

eclipsed it in importance during this period. This may have been partly because 'Amran, located in the middle of the al-Bawn plain on level ground, was less defensible, whereas al-Jannat had a more strategic location. The 10th-century writer al-Hamdani described the ancient palace at 'Amran, but he gives no details about its population or any indication that it was still occupied. From the late 14th century onward, 'Amran appears to have emerged as a strategic site, and it appears frequently in historical texts such as the '' Ghayat al-amani'' of

Yahya ibn al-Husayn Yahya may refer to: * Yahya (name), a common Arabic male given name * Yahya (Zaragoza), 11th-century ruler of Zaragoza * John the Baptist in Islam, also known as Yaḥyā ibn Zakarīyā See also * Tepe Yahya Tapeh Yahya () is an archaeological ...

during this period. Then, in the 1500s and 1600s, 'Amran is mentioned as a more generally important city. ʿAmran is completely surrounded by walls which date to 1720. The surrounding landscape is dominated by terraced landscapes with stone walls to counteract erosion of fertile arable land. The old souq is noted for its stone columns.

Economic development

The road through the city from Sana'a was modernized following Chinese investment and is over long, and the old medical centre has been transformed into a small public hospital. The city is located in a fertile area in what was the centre of the area's coffee industry.

References

Populated places in 'Amran Governorate {{Yemen-geo-stub