Rayʽan ( ar, رَيْعَان ) is a village in

Hamdan District Hamdan District ( ar, مديرية همدان) is a district of the Sana'a Governorate, Yemen. , the district had a population of 85,370 inhabitants. It is named after the ancient Yemeni tribe of Hamdan. Populated places (incomplete list) * Al- ...

Sanaa Governorate Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء '), also spelled San'a or Sana, is a governorate of Yemen. Its capital is Sanaa, which is also the national capital. However, the city of Sanaa is not part of the governorate but instead forms the separate governorate ...

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 located a short distance from the head of the

Wadi Dahr Wadi Zahr ( ar, وادي ظهر ), also spelled Wadi Dahr ( ar, وادي ضهر ), is a wadi in Yemen, located just north of Sanaa on the western edge of the Sanaa plain. It is watered by a perennial stream whose source is the large catchment area ...

near

Bayt Naʽam Bayt (Arabic: or Hebrew: , both meaning ''house''; there are similar words in various Semitic languages), also spelled bayit, bayyit, bait, beit, beth, bet, etc., may refer to: All pages with titles containing ''Bayt'' Jewish religious terms * ...

, so that all the water coming down to the wadi from

Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb ''Jabal An-Nabī Shuʿayb'' ( ar, جَبَل ٱلنَّبِي شُعَيْب, lit=Mountain of the Prophet Shuaib), also called ''Jabal Hadhur'' ( ar, جَبَل حَضُوْر, link=no, Jabal Ḥaḍūr), is a mountain of the Harazi subregion of ...

passes through a steep, narrow valley, just north of Rayʽan.

History

There was once a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

in the valley north of Rayʽan, until it was destroyed by an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

in 245 A.H. (859 C.E.). The dam's exact purpose is unclear, but Robert T.O. Wilson suggested that it "may have helped to control floodwaters which would otherwise pass unchecked into Wadi Dahr." Such a flood happened in 1974. From the

Rasulid The Rasulids ( ar, بنو رسول, Banū Rasūl) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty who ruled Yemen from 1229 to 1454. History Origin of the Rasulids The Rasulids took their name from al-Amin's nickname "Rasul". The Zaidi Shi'i Imams of Yemen were ...

period onward, Rayʽan was frequently used as a military encampment.

References

{{Reflist Villages in Sanaa Governorate