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Shibam: Manhattan of the Desert

From Wikipedia:

Shibam (Arabic: شبام) is a town in Hadramawt, Yemen with about 7,000 inhabitants. It has been the capital of the Hadramawt Kingdom for several periods of time. (There is also a town by the same name outside Yemen's capital of Sana'a. To avoid confusion, the town of this article is therefore often referred to as Shibam Hadhramaut.)

Shibam owes its fame to its distinct architecture, which now is on UNESCOs programme to safeguard the human cultural heritage. The houses of Shibam are all made out of mud bricks, but about 500 of them are tower houses, which rise 5 to 11 stories high. This technique of building was implemented in order to protect residents from Bedouin attacks. While Shibam has existed for around 2,000 years, most of the city's houses come mainly from the 16th century. However, many were rebuilt over and over again during the last few centuries.

Shibam is often called "the oldest skyscraper-city in the world", or "Manhattan of the desert."

Most of these buildings work like they would here in the States, with one or two apartments per floor. They're also made of mud brick, making them the tallest mud buildings in the world. Some of them reach upwards of 100 feet or more, with the tallest structure being the minaret in the center of town at 175 feet.

I'm not sure why, but this city fascinates me. It's so old and beautiful.  These houses are from the 16th century, there's almost no structure in the US that old! I spent the greater part of this evening looking through photos, they're absolutely amazing. So, I figured I'd blog them for everyone else to see.