Yemeni Heritage Recorded: Digitization and Assessment of Endangered Traditional Urban Centers

Yemen’s historical cities preserve unique examples of decorated high-rise earthen buildings, religious and military architecture, and Islamic urban planning. Their outstanding value has been recognized with the inscription on the World Heritage List. This unique heritage has been severely damaged by conflict, and more recently by extreme weather events related to climate change.

To support the conservation and management of these important monuments, the Centre Français de Recherche de la Péninsule Arabique (CEFREPA) and Iconem (France) are providing both job training on site and deploying advanced 3D technologies to record the endangered urban centers of Sana’a, Zabid, Shibam, Al Rawada, Jiblah, Seiyun, Tarim, and Wadi Dawan.

The project is implemented in close partnership with Monumenta Orientalia, and in collaboration with the General Organisation of Antiquities and Museums (GOAM) and the General Organisation for the Preservation of the Historic Cities of Yemen (GOPCHY), under the initiative "Documenting Yemeni-Built Heritage at Risk."