EFFECTS OF WAR ON THE LOSS OF CULTURAL HERITAGE OF YEMEN

Abstract

Since the civil war in Yemen began in 2015, the war has led to historical destruction, thousands of lives have died, and various heritage sites have been damaged, which has led to the destruction of the infrastructure of various cities and towns. Cultural costs are on the rise in a country with potentially the best traditional urban fabric and vernacular architecture in the Middle East. The thereat to culture of Yemen’s heritage, which have largely remained unchanged for more than 500 years are severe and there are multiple causes: pressure from development, inadequate enforcement procedures as in many cities of Yemen. Yemen has got very rich and diverse culture built heritage sites of universal significance, UNESCO has designated the old cities of Sana’a, Zabid, and Shibam as world heritage sites. The unique qualities of Yemeni historic cities have extraordinary homogeneous, planning and architectural style and has very rich and diverse traditional built and cultural heritage sites, and many of its major cultural assets are of universal significance. World heritage property is a fragile, non-renewable, and irreplaceable resource, therefore should not be destroy. Cultural heritage in an area that is judged and recognized as one of the world heritage, has a particular historic value and should be protected and preserved, such properties consist of art and architecture works, manuscript books, and other properties of artistic, historical, or archaeological interest, including ethnological documents. Vandalism problems also arise from public behaviors and their attitude to cultural property. The respect for culturally built heritage has gradually been lost over the last years, due to the economic problems of the average citizen. The destroyed buildings and structures that have been studies as options for inclusion in the proposed program are present in the paper research. To achieve the objectives of this study; a detailed analysis of the cultural heritage and its critical situation with particular reference to the reasons behind them, in the last decades during the war, will be made.