Wadi Zahr ( ), also spelled Wadi Dahr ( ), is a

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, located just north of

Sanaa Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

on the western edge of the Sanaa plain. It is watered by a perennial stream whose source is the large

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

on the eastern slopes of

Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb ''Jabal An-Nabī Shuʿayb'' (), also called Jabal Hadhur (), is a mountain of the Harazi subregion of the Sarawat, located in Bani Matar District, Sanaa Governorate, Yemen. It is the highest mountain in the country and the Arabian Peninsula. ...

. The wadi proper begins near the village of Suq Bayt Naʽam and then flows eastward for about 7 km through a steep-sided gorge before ending on the Sanaa plain. Wadi Zahr has fertile soil and was historically a strategic area with several forts. The main settlement in the area today is

Qaryat al-Qabil Qaryat al-Qabil ( ), often called simply al-Qaryah, is a village in Bani al-Harith District of Amanat al-Asimah Governorate, Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, ...

Name

The 10th-century writer al-Hamdani consistently spells the wadi's name as ''Wādī Ḍahr'', and specifically states that "it is said Wādī Ḍahr, spelt with

ḍād () is the fifteenth letter of the Arabic alphabet, one of the six letters not in the twenty-two akin to the Phoenician alphabet (the others being , , , , ). In name and shape, it is a variant of . Its numerical value is 800 (see Abjad numerals ...

." He says that the wadi is named after one Ḍahr ibn Saʽd ibn ʽArīb, of the tribe of

Himyar Himyar was a polity in the southern highlands of Yemen, as well as the name of the region which it claimed. Until 110 BCE, it was integrated into the Qatabanian kingdom, afterwards being recognized as an independent kingdom. According to class ...

. The spelling ''Ẓahr'', however, is more common.

History

Wadi Zahr is mentioned very frequently in historical sources from the medieval and early modern periods. Its significance came from both its strategic value and its agricultural production. It was a bastion of the

Isma'ilis Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept M ...

of the

Banu Hamdan Banu Hamdan (; Ancient South Arabian script, Musnad: 𐩠𐩣𐩵𐩬) is an ancient, large, and prominent Arab tribe in northern Yemen. Origins and location The Hamdan stemmed from the eponymous progenitor Awsala (nickname Hamdan) whose descent ...

tribe, who ruled the area.

Forts

Wadi Zahr is the site of several historic forts, including Fiddah, Ṭaybah, and Munif:

Fiddah

Jabal Fiddah is a steep-sided mountain on the south side of the wadi. Al-Hamdani described it as "a high rocky peak which is very precipitous and (therefore) beyond the reach of climbers." The main fort, built by the Hatimi sultan of Sanaa in 1184 (584 AH), was located below the summit, on the southern side of the mountain. At the top of the mountain was another fortification called al-ʽAnqā'. The fort of Fiddah remained in use until the downfall of the

Sharaf al-Din dynasty Sharaf may refer to: People * Sharaf (name), list of people with the name Places * Sharaf, Kermanshah, Iran * Bostan Rud Sharaf, Iran * Sharaf, part of Sanaa Governorate Other uses * ''Sharaf'' is part of the honor codes of the Bedouin * ''Shara ...

in the 16th century.

Ṭaybah

West of Fiddah, and also on the southern side of Wadi Zahr, is the fort of Ṭaybah, which is now in ruins. It was originally called ''Dawram'' (or ''Dūram'', the vocalization preferred by

Muhammad al-Akwa Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

), and under this name it appears in the '' Iklil'' of al-Hamdani and the ''

Tarikh Sanʽa' Tarikh () is an Arabic word meaning "date, chronology, era", whence by extension "annals, history, historiography". It is also used in Persian, Urdu, Bengali and the Turkic languages. It is found in the title of many historical works. Prior to the ...

'' of

al-Razi Razi () or al-Razi () is a name that was historically used to indicate a person coming from Ray, Iran. People It most commonly refers to: * Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865–925), influential physician, alchemist and philosopher, also known b ...

. The first reference to the modern name ''Ṭaybah'' is in the year 1324 (724 AH), in 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 * Yahya of Antioch / Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Antaki / Yaḥya ibn Saʿīd al-Anṭākī, 11th century Christian Arabic historian. * ...

. It is then mentioned several more times in that text as a frequently contested stronghold.

Munif

The fortress of Munif (''Ḥiṣn Munīf''), now in ruins, is located on the north side of Wadi Zahr. Its first mention is in the year 1386 (788 AH), also in the ''Ghayat al-amani''.

References

{{Wadis of Yemen Zahr Geography of Sanaa Governorate