Jibla and its surroundings

Site visited in December 2009.

Jiblah is small, pretty small. And everywhere in Jiblah you’ll be asked if you’ve ever heard about queen Arwa (full name: Sayida Arwa bint Ahmed) who ruled most of today Yemen in the 11th century. What’s missing in the town? Any commemorative monument (I am not thinking about any sculpture, it is a very Muslim country) or even a board informing of her past glory… (No, I am wrong! There’s some official information and boards in the museum, Queen Arwa Museum, multi-story building dedicated to her with some displays dedicated to Jiblah Baptiste Hospital and… president Ali Abdullah Saleh (!)).

The town of Jiblah is located few kilometres south from Ibb (the biggest city in the area) where I stayed for three nights and visited Jibla twice. You can get there from Ibb by local minibuses and will be left at the entrance to the town – the small and steep alleys make the town not convenient for any kind of car traffic. On the first day I visited the Queen Arwa Mosque which remembers the times of the biggest glory of the city and its northern entrance door still has the original wooden door with some Koranic inscriptions carved on it. Before entering the mosque, ask politely somebody sitting at its door, and being non-Muslim you’ll be let in with a company of somebody appointed especially for you; it is possible to walk in the pillared courtyard and enter the main praying …