Page 110 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

150 YEMEN

(2) The Highlands. On the mountain ranges and massifs of the
plateau we find the true mountaineer type, taller and bigger limbed
than the lowlander and of lighter complexion. There is no negroid
taint in the Yemen hills, but there has been some amount of inter­

marriage (confined to the mechanical and menial classes) with
women of the serf class, possibly of Abyssinian or Persian origin.
(3) The maritime hills which skirt the Tihamah are peopled by
a type intermediate between (1) and (2) : here one sees the swarthy
complexion of the plainsmen, but without the negroid taint,
except in the towns and large settlements, where the tribal types
have been more merged.
(4) Beyond the highlands, towards the south-west edge of the
Great Red Desert, there is a taller race again, with every trace of
Bedouin immigration which probably came from Jauf. These
eastward dwellers are known collectively, by the Yemenis, as Ahl
el-Mashriq, and they fear their dour fanaticism and fierce impetuous
character. The pastoral habit is predominant and the tribesman
is of purer descent and perhaps more highly developed in stamina
and intelligence than the tribal farmers of the plateau or of the
plain. This superior intelligence is doubtless derived from the
difficult, uncertain, and sometimes dangerous conditions of the
shepherd’s life, which tend to sharpen wits and to brace nerves and
muscles.
The Jews are an interesting and prominent class in Yemen, but
are only found in the towns and larger settlements of the highlands,
where some entire villages are exclusively peopled by them, or
where, as in the larger towns, they live in their own quarter. They
are mainly noted as craftsmen and have secured for themselves
much tolerance, for they are recognized, by Turk and Arab alike,
as an important and useful economic factor in the development of
the country. At Menakhah, for example, the best smiths and
carpenters are all Jews. Theirs is, however, in general, a rather
harried existence, and now that the Imam’s influence is coming
to the fore and the Islamic code is in vogue their position may
eventually be in jeopardy. They are subject to certain disabilities.
Though not interfered with in their religious practices, they are
not allowed to have schools or synagogues ; they assemble for
worship at private houses and the children are taught at home.
Nor may they build their houses more than two storeys high.
They are outwardly distinguished from the Arabs by their dress
—an ungirded tunic of print or cotton reaching only to the knees,
a close-fitting skull-cap, and the absence of weapons. They
dress their hair in a peculiar manner in two plaits, or curls, han<nn<*