Page 201 - Arabian Studies (V)

COMMUNICATION

Regular and Permanent Markets
in the San‘a’ region

Robert Wilson

In the course of several visits to Yemen the writer collected a few notes
about the locations of markets both permanent and weekly. The list given
here includes principally the northern part of the San‘a’ plain, the Bawn
and the Jabal ‘Iyal Yazid.

Definitions
There are three types of market in the fullest sense:
1. Weekly markets with no associated dwellings where there might be a
group of stone shelters used only on the market day and not at any other
time. Such markets are often to be found on ‘neutral’ sites, perhaps outside
a village (e.g. al-Jahiliyyah) or in some cases a considerable distance from
the nearest settlement.
2. Weekly markets with associated dwellings. These are still weekly
markets in the strictest sense, there being very little commercial activity on
any but the market day and possibly no means of support except from
trading. The examples listed include Suq Bayt Na‘m and al-Sararah, both
of which are on important routes. There is usually a tea shop open at Suq
Bayt Na‘m for travellers, and at al-Sararah there is even a samsarah (partly
bombed during the war in Yemen) for people stopping overnight, either for
the markets of on their way to the outlying district of al-Sudah.
3. Permanent markets. Larger settlements usually have a suq area within
their perimeter where it is possible to shop on every day of the week.
However, these markets also have one or two ‘special’ market days in the
week when, for instance, it is possible to buy livestock and meat, etc.

Many villages also possess a shop or small group of shops which cannot
properly be counted as markets since they exist as a convenience to the local
inhabitants and not as centres of trading.

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