Yemen, or "Al Yaman," which means, "The South," is a rather large, sparsely populated country at the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. One of the oldest centers of civilization in the world, much of Yemen's land is actually fertile enough to keep a stable population, unlike that of its neighbor to the north, Saudi Arabia, whose climate historically required its citizens to have nomadic know-how to get by. Invading kingdoms coveted this fertile land and ruled parts of Yemen throughout its ancient history--kingdoms such as the Semites, the Sabeans, the Himyarties (most notably ruled by the Jewish king Yusuf Asar Yathar/"Dhu Nuwas" who was notorious for persecuting Christian Aksumites) and even the Sassanids from Persia.  

Islam arrived early in Yemen, around the year 630, while Muhammad was still alive, and Yemen became one of the first provinces in the Arabic/Islamic empire. (Today 99% of Yemenis are Muslim.) Yemen remained very much under Arab control until the 19th century when the Ottomans took much of the northern part of the country, making Sanaa its capital. British forces were also interested in Yemen, specifically in the southern port of Aden. In 1904 the British and Ottomans formally split Yemen in two, with the Ottomans presiding over northern Yemen and the British over the south. In 1990 the North and South officially reunified and became the Republic of Yemen...though the merger was rocky, and there was war.   

Yemen has continued to experience terrible turmoil, with fighting between proxy armies supported by international powers like Iran and Saudi Arabia (and, more broadly, Russia and the U.S.), and we may acknowledge these struggles in class, but mainly we'll focus on the daily lives of Yemenis, and specifically on what they do to celebrate, enjoy life, and make peace.