By: Dr. Hussein Alamri,

Under "History of Arabia", the Encyclopedia Britannica describes ancient Yemen as a land of "a generally homogenous population" that historically and geographically remained undivided, extended beyond the present boundaries and was successively the center of power in the Arabian peninsula.
It was always associated with a flourishing economy and wealth acquired from agriculture and commerce.
With the advent of the nineteenth century, however, the central authority weakened and insecurity prevailed in almost all parts of the country when the British landed in Aden in 1839 and when the Ottomans had to retreat
northwards to Tihama in 1872.
Encyclopedia Britannica also explains that successive Yemeni states were often if not always the dominating force in western and southern Arabia.
Arab historians and European orientalists agree with ancient inscription and tenth century writings that Yemen is historically known as an undivided stretch of land that extends to Hijaz in the north and to as far as Oman in the south.
Several Yemeni and European scholars have in their academic accounts ascertained this fact. Dr. Werner Daum, for instance, gives an impressive survey of the history of Yemen.

In "FROM THE KINGDOM OF SABA TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MODERN YEMEN:3000 YEARS OF CIVILIZATION IN SOUTHERN ARABIA", published
in English and German in 1987, Dr. Daum and other Arab and western experts give testimony to the unity of the land and people of Yemen throughout history.

PRE-ISLAMIC ERA
Historical facts and epigraphic evidence suggest that the Saba kingdom ruled Yemen in its entirety in the first millennium BC. The state of Saba'is mentioned in both the Holy Koran and in the Old Testament.
Yemeni anthropologists, moreover, consider Saba' as a symbol of their country's ancestral entity and of the origin of its being undivided, a characteristic which is idiosyncratic of virtually Yemen alone.
In volume II of his book "ON THE ERYTHRAEANSEA", Agatharchiodes, the Greek
historian in the second millennium BC describes the Sabeans as "the most populous among the Arabs. They occupy and inhabit the territory called Eudainon Arabia (fortunate Arabia) which is rich in valuables ... a land
that produces everything nice we need ...and the people are of nicely-built figures.
Saba' which represents the entire nation is situated on a hill and it is one of the nicest cities in the Arab land. Its ruler is mandated
by the people to govern the whole territory".
According to ancient inscriptions unearthed and are at present on display in Sarwah, Sabean Mukerribs (high priest-princes who combined religious and temporal power in the state) were authorized by Mokha and Saba' Gods
to rule the land of Yemen in the seventh century B.C.
The inscription show the name of the territory under the rule of the Mukerribs, namely Saba' and the central highlands (from Taiz to Sa'da), Najran, Ma'afer(Taiz province) Shabwa, Datheena to the sea, Yafi'a, Abyan, Lahj, Mayfa'a and the rest of Hadhramout.
Early Himyaritic inscriptions in the first half of the first millennium AD give the names of kings who ruled the land of Yemen the lest of whom is Abrahah the Abyssinian (542 AD). Each king carries a title, which in reality represents the name of a Mikhlaf (administrative unit).
On the names of kings and their relevance to Yemeni Mikhlafs and the political unity of Yemen in the first millennium BC, one can refer to:
SABEAN INSCRIPTIONS FROM MAHRAM BALQIS by Albert Janne, publication of the American Foundation for the study of Man-volume III, Baltimore, 1962, L'Unification du Yemen Antique, M.A.K.Bafaqih, Geunthuer, Paris 1990,
and Die Geschichte von Saba, H.Von Wissmann, Wien 1982 .

POST-ISLAMIC ERA
No two people disagree that after a considerably long period of tribal conflicts and foreign interventions by the Abyssinians, the Yemeni people converted to Islam willingly and peacefully and they all became united
under the banner of the new religion. Yemen remained undivided under the rule of the Islamic State until the disintegration of the late Abbasid State. Like other Islamic Arab regions, Yemen was one of the first territories
that sought independence. However, domestic conflicts continued between individual counties with each attempting to bring about the unification of the entire region.
Unity was achieved under the Suleihiya State (1037-1098), the Rasoulites (1229-1454) and the Taharites in 1517 after whom the Ottomans drove their armies' southwards and came to rule Yemen for a century.
It is worth mentioning in this context that the Imams whose rule was terminated in 1962 also attempted to extend their authority to cover the whole of the country.
With this background, it can rightly be said that partitioning, unlike unification, has always been a key question in the long history of Yemen.
Only in the pre-Islamic era and in modern history did partitioning occur thanks to internal weakness and power struggle, external intervention, intrigues, And occupation of southern Yemen is a case in point.
The history-long yearning desire for unification has successfully culminated
in the proclamation on May 22,1990 of the Republic of Yemen. In the meantime, the move has unequivocally dealt the coup de grace to anti-unity elements inside and outside the country.


SABA