The Old Walled City of Shibam

THE OLD WALLED CITY OF SHIBAM (central Yemen)

This 16th-century city of seven-story sun-dried mud brick tower houses in central Yemen is known as the "Manhattan (or sometimes Chicago) of the Desert” for its resemblance to modern skyscrapers. The one-time caravan stop on the Southern Arabian plateau's spice and incense route is surrounded by a fortified wall on a rocky spur above the bed of a wadi.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)