In the center of Yemen, which boarders Saudi Arabia and Oman, the walled capital city of Shibam is famous for its towering constructions.
When Freya Stark, a British Italian explorer visited Shibam in the 1930s, it reminded her so much of cities she had seen in the west that she coined the Yemeni city “the Manhattan of the Desert”.
Unlike the concrete jungle of New York however, Shibam’s towers are built out of mud and have been standing for hundreds of years.
Over time the mud bricks wear away with the force of the elements, and because they need constant minor replacements, giving an exact date to the structures is difficult.
Fertile ground which surrounds Shibam provided the perfect building materials. Soil, hay and water form a mixture which is shaped into bricks and left to dry and harden in the sun.
Then instead of using scaffolding, the early builders would lay a stone foundations before adding layers of mud bricks and floors as they went.
The architectural feats are considered so unique and impressive that Shibam, as well as the city of Zabid and the Old City of Sana’a, are recognized UNESCO World Heritage Sites which aims to protect the tradition which dates back to at least the 8th and 9th century.
However, these natural wonders are facing damage from every direction. A 2008 tropical storm flooded Shibam and damaged several buildings. 12 years later a 2020 survey of 8000 towers in Yemen conducted by UNESCO found that 78 were on the brink of collapse.