Carl August Rathjens (born 11 March 1887 in Elmshorn , Germany; died 29 July 1966 in Hamburg , Germany) was a German geographer whose primary interests were in South Arabian historiography, geology and ethnography. He made several visits to Yemen , in the years 1927, 1931, 1934 and 1938. He is considered the greatest scholar of Yemeni research in the 20th century. He contributed more than any other in conducting scientific and ethnographic research, resulting in a wide range of findings, and he has left over 2500 ethnographical items and some 4000 positive and negative photographs from South Arabia .
54-413: (Redirected from Rathjens ) Rathjen , variant Rathjens , is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Carl August Rathjens (1887–1966), German geographer Deborah Rathjen , Australian scientist Peter Rathjen (born 1964), Australian scientist and medical researcher Uwe Rathjen (born 1943), West German handball player Tobias Rathjen,
108-583: A German murderer; he is responsible for the Hanau shootings [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with the surname Rathjen . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rathjen&oldid=1260157558 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
162-550: A Ministry of Antiquities and to build a museum in which the archaeological findings could be stored and preserved. Rathjens also suggested that the Imam should invite from Germany a team consisting of an archaeologist and philologist for ancient Semitic languages in order to inspect the excavations, as well as to document their findings and do the deciphering of the inscriptions, by using strict scientific methods as those used in Europe. The Imam
216-587: A ceasefire. In July 2024, the port was attacked by Israel in retaliation for the Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv. Al-Hudaydah is generally composed of a flat plain that gently slopes towards the sea. The elevated areas consist mainly of small sand dunes or remnants of inland masses. Geologically, this coastal plain is part of the Red Sea rift valley, covered by recent deposits, which can be divided into two categories, though it’s difficult to distinguish their boundaries. Near
270-572: A cultural ethnological museum at Sana'a. The museums were closed again during the civil war which erupted in Yemen in the 1960s. Fiotor Grazjenevitch, who was sent to Yemen from St. Petersburg to work in a hospital in Taiz, also took an interest in Yemen's archaeology and was part of a Russian mission to unearth a few sites north of Sana’a. He also pressed for the reopening of the archaeological museum in Sana’a. Rathjens
324-529: A decade later. This was not the only pioneering work accomplished by Rathjens. The museum in Sana'a, however, was not always open. Political and economical hardships caused its closing. During the Second World War the museum was closed, but again opened after the war. Claudi Fayan worked as a medical doctor in Sana'a in the beginning of the 1950s and she took the initiative to reopen the museum, and also worked to open
378-435: A delegation of fifty soldiers and an inspector. With the help of fifty local workers, they unearthed a grave from the second century CE. Rathjens assumed that in Yemen, archaeology was in its nascent stages and that it should be encouraged and expanded. He reasoned, however, that the research should be done in a professional way, employing scientific methods. This gave him the incentive to request from Imam Yahya that he establish
432-471: A geological survey of that country and to document the fauna and flora in regions between Jeddah and Mecca. At Jeddah, Daniel van der Meulen, who was a Dutch diplomat and Consul at Jeddah, invited them to stay in his house while waiting for the visa from King Ibn Saud . The king's answer reached them after ten days, in which he explicitly forbade them from entering the interior of his country. The three scholars were disappointed and frustrated. They left Jeddah on
486-677: A good rapport with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Muhammad Ragib, with whom he communicated in French. Rathjens and his colleagues were the official guests of the Imam Yahya. They were housed in the state guest house in Bir el Azab , near the Jewish Quarter at Sana'a. In his letters to family members and friends, he had repeatedly described how he enjoyed the hospitality of the king and felt that his life in Sana'a
540-515: A new pier was built, which had trouble with depth, leading most imported items to be dumped on the beach instead of delivered by dock. Coal was often available for visiting vessels. A new harbour was built 10 miles northwest of the town by the Ottoman government , with a small train line leading to Al Hudaydah, and connected to the Sana-Hodeida Railway. A French company built the rail system, which
594-552: A personal interest in the Jews of Yemen , photographing them and writing about the Jewish Quarter and its architecture. During Rathjens' visit with the chief rabbi (either in 1927 or 1931), he copied down the names of the towns and villages settled by Jews in Yemen from a list made available to him by the rabbi and taken from the tax rolls, for which the rabbi was accountable to the king. The total number of Jewish communities in Yemen he puts at 371. Rathjens' son, Carl Rathjens Jr. (1914–1994),
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#1733085601398648-479: A previous scholar, Carsten Niebuhr , who in 1763 measured the effects of temperature and precipitation during his first few weeks in Yemen. Eduard Glaser , who had spent more time in Sana’a and had made numerous visits to Yemen at the end of the 19th century, also brought from Germany instruments to measure the temperature, the humidity and the precipitation. Glaser did it from the balcony of a guest house in which he lived. While Niebuhr's and Glaser's work in this field
702-808: A ship which brought them to East Africa. There, they felt uncomfortable with the idea about returning at that time to Europe, having not fulfilled their mission. Therefore, they decided to visit South Arabia, which was not originally a part of their itinerary. Rathjens, with his two compatriots, disembarked from a boat which brought them to Yemen the first time in 1927. Upon their arrival in Hodeida , Carl Rathjens wrote to his family in Hamburg that when he entered Yemen he had “left civilization behind him; there are no banks, neither hotels, nor embassies. There are no cars, nor asphalt roads. There isn't any post office in Hodeida; one can use
756-592: A special review on the Jewish community in Yemen , in a book entitled, Jewish Domestic Architecture in San’a, Yemen , a book detailing their recent history and culture, with documentation of the crafts and the material culture of the Jews in Sana’a. Carl Rathjens was avant-garde in systematically processing the flora of South Arabia, which he saw there in 1927 and 1928, and added considerably to knowledge in this field. Rathjens took
810-518: A university that was as old as al-Azhar . On 20 July 2024, during the Israel–Hamas war , the city was the target of an Israeli air raid in response to repeated Houthi attacks against Israel and an attack on Tel Aviv that resulted in the death of a civilian. The Israeli strike targeted port oil facilities and a power plant, resulting in a large fire killing six and wounding 87. The IDF claimed that they targeted military facilities. Situated on
864-441: A written permit. This action was also seen as a pioneering step for the entire region. Carl Rathjens also initiated the establishment of a meteorological station. The Imam agreed to his project and nominated him to be in charge of erecting the station. He was given fifty soldiers to assist him. Rathjens started by drawing a plan of the building, but he himself had to look for wood in the remote outlying districts of Sanaa and to bring
918-507: A young German student of geography, geology, astronomy, meteorology and biology. At short notice, and without planning, he continued on his journey and traveled to Ethiopia in 1908, accepting a friend's proposal to visit his uncle who officiated there as a priest. During his stay in that country, he met Jews in the Tigré region of Abyssinia and studied their history, religion and culture. In 1911 he earned his doctorate under Erich von Drygalski with
972-509: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Carl August Rathjens Born the son of a teacher, Carl Rathjens began his academic studies in 1906 in the University of Hamburg , and then continued to expand his higher education in the universities of Kiel, Berlin and Munich on the subjects of geography, geology, cartography, meteorology, astronomy, botany, zoology, demography, sociology and economy. Rathjens travelled to Egypt as
1026-673: Is slightly north of Al Hudaydah proper, and is the terminus of the Marib–Ras Isa oil pipeline from inland Yemen, with a major storage and offloading vessel named FSO Safer moored offshore, though idled since the beginning of the Yemeni Civil War in 2015. In 1920, the British described Al Hudaydah's port as being a "poor harbour." With two entrances, it was only able to provide adequate storage and shelter for small boats, with larger boats and ships having to dock over two miles away. In 1908,
1080-604: Is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its principal port on the Red Sea and it is the centre of Al Hudaydah Governorate . As of 2023, it has an estimated population of 735,000. In Islamic chronicles, the name Al-Hudaydah was first mentioned in the year 1454/55. The city's importance grew in the 1520s, when the Ottomans took over the Yemeni Tihāmah region. In the 1830s, Al-Hudaydah
1134-583: The Aden British Protectorate and purchased antiquities from there worth thousands of pounds. Most of the collectable items which he brought out of Yemen are today stored in the Museum of Ethnology in Hamburg ( Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg ), among which are hundreds of inscriptions from the Himyaritic and early Islamic period, Arabic and Hebrew manuscripts, thousands of items relating to ethnography and
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#17330856013981188-469: The Red Sea , Al-Hudaydah is an important port, exporting coffee, cotton, dates and hides . It was developed as a seaport in the mid-19th century by the Ottoman Turks . As of June 2018, three quarters of humanitarian and commercial cargo entering Yemen arrived via the port of Hudaydah . It serves as the entry point for Yemen's humanitarian aid and around 70% of commercial imports. The port of Ras Isa
1242-687: The 19th century, Al-Hudaydah had a large slave market. The slaves came from the Oromia region of modern Ethiopia . In 1914, during World War I , Imperial German troops led by Major Freiherr Othmar von Stotzingen established " Stotzingen-Mission [ de ] ", a wireless station , at Al-Hudaydah, which was used during the Arab Revolt to relay communications from Constantinople (now Istanbul ) to German East Africa as well as broadcast propaganda to Anglo-Egyptian Sudan , Somalis land part of population Northern side and Abyssinia . The city
1296-776: The Hamburg Colonial Institute and then worked for the World Economic Archives (Welt Wirtschaftsarchive), until his dismissal on political grounds in 1933, for refusal to join the Nazi party. During his years with the World Economic Archives, he would also lecture in the Geographical Department at the University of Hamburg. In 1927, Carl Rathjens, Hermann von Wissmann and an orientalist by the name of Erika Apitz travelled to Jeddah , Saudi Arabia, with an aim to make
1350-514: The Imam was fearful that the British would some day attack his country. It was under these conditions that Rathjens encouraged the German Foreign Ministry to sign a treaty of mutual defense with Yemen. In Yemen, Rathjens studied the political and juridical system of the courtiers, including the demographic structure of the nation, and informed his readers about minority groups living in the country, their social and legal status. He devotes
1404-513: The International Postal and Telegraph Association. Yemen was put on the global communication map and became a member in 1931, the first country of Arabia to do so. The Imam was fond of Carl Rathjens and trusted him. He saw in Rathjens a good ambassador for Yemen in Europe. The Imam was interested in importing wheat from Europe, because Yemen had suffered from several years of severe famine. He
1458-687: The Jewish community of Yemen), were put under the supervision of Aviva Muller-Lancet for transferral to the Israel Museum , where they are now housed on permanent loan to the Ethnology Department, today part of the Mandel Wing for Jewish Art and Life, under the title "S. Schocken Collection." Hodeida Al Hudaydah ( Arabic : الْحُدَيْدَة , romanized : al-ḥudayda ), also transliterated as Hodeda , Hodeida , Hudaida or Hodeidah ,
1512-690: The Middle-Ages. Yemen was, for him, like jumping back five-hundred years in a time machine. Already on his first visit, he developed a good rapport with the king, the Imām Yaḥyā Ḥamīd ad-Dīn (1864-1948) and his five elder sons, all of whom were serving the country and had ministerial posts, or else managed an important position in the court. Rathjens also nurtured a good relationship with the Prime Minister, Abdallah al Amri. With him he communicated in English. He had
1566-466: The Red Sea coast, the deposits are primarily marine formations from the late Tertiary and Quaternary periods, covered by modern wind-blown sand deposits. In contrast, near the foothills of the mountains, deltaic deposits are found, some of which are coarse, consisting of large gravel and rock fragments, while others are finer particles carried by streams descending from the mountains. These coarse deltaic deposits gradually disappear under sand deposits, and at
1620-540: The Telegraph only in Hodeida and Sana’a . There are only two stamps in use in the country and they are not recognized elsewhere outside of Yemen. In the houses there is no tap water; neither is there electricity. The families hardly ever used furniture in their houses. The industrial revolution had not reached this country. Most of the products were hand-made; neither machines, nor technological utensils were used.” Compared with Europe, he felt as though he had returned in time to
1674-572: The Yemenite culture among the Yemenite Jews in Palestine. Exhibitions were made and lectures were given about the rich Yemenite Jewish culture, with a display of their costumes and jewelry. In his collection are found some four thousand negative and positive photographs, being the largest visual collection ever made to date by a single researcher in Yemen, and which documents the state and its people during
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1728-514: The boundary between the two, freshwater springs emerge. The province's surface can be divided into three sections: Coastal Plains: The majority of Al-Hudaydah’s land lies within the Tihama coastal plain, which stretches from Al-Luhayyah in the north to Al-Khawkhah in the south, spanning approximately 300 kilometers in length and 60 to 150 kilometers in width. This plain is traversed by several valleys, which are outlets for flood and rainwater flowing from
1782-605: The city was exporting fuller's earth , hides, and coffee. The coffee produced in Al-Hudaydah was considered some of the finest in the region. The Hudaydah Port plays a crucial role in allowing food to be imported into the country. This role has been disrupted several times over the course of the Yemeni civil war . In June 2018, pro-Hadi government forces with the backing of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia entered
1836-590: The documentation of the material culture in Yemen. In 1939, Salman Schocken (1877–1959) purchased some 800 objects from Rathjens' collection of Yemenite Jewry's ethnographic material, which he then loaned to the Bezalel Museum at the insistence of Erich Brauer and Hadasah Perlman-Ḳalṿari-Rozenbliṭ. With the founding of the Israel Museum in 1965, Carl Rathjens' original collection at the Bezalel Museum, with more than 1000 photographs (of these, some 200 concerning
1890-526: The early 20th century due to more secure routes there. Al-Hudaydah had to transport its goods through Yemen and Indian ports for security reasons, making export to the United Kingdom troublesome. During this time period, the region imported cereal and rice from India, cotton from Manchester , England and the United States, iron and steel from Germany, and general goods from Italy and Austria . As of 1920,
1944-510: The internal highlands of the province and from the highlands and mountains of the neighboring provinces of Ibb, Dhamar, Sana'a, Al-Mahwit, and Hajjah, eventually emptying into the Red Sea. Major valleys include, Wadi Mour, Wadi Siham, Wadi Zabid, among others. Mountain Highlands: Notable mountains include Jabal Ras and Jabal Bura, both reaching elevations of 2,000 to 2,400 meters above sea level. Islands: There are over 40 Yemeni islands in
1998-413: The locals to dig-up and rob ancient graves and treasures and to clandestinely bring their findings for sale in the marketplaces. Rathjens was convinced that such trade in antiquities must be stopped and that all findings or discoveries should be documented and kept under national inspection in the country. Furthermore, the pre-Islamic cultural heritage should be part of the curriculum when teaching history in
2052-441: The material into the capital. He ordered straw from the region of Hodeida for covering the roof. The station was established in only a few months. The Wetter Dienst (“weather service”) station in Hamburg donated many measuring instruments and which Rathjens brought to Yemen. In the station, Rathjens and his students collected data on wind, climate, temperatures and precipitation three times a day. The results were sent by telegraph to
2106-525: The port, in an effort to dislodge Houthi forces. Due to the risk of a humanitarian crisis if the port is besieged, the United Nations attempted to secure an agreement with the Houthis to place the port under UN control, but was unsuccessful until 13 December 2018, on which date there was an announcement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres that the two sides to the civil war have reached an agreement on
2160-661: The rule of the Imam Yahya Hamid al-Din and describe a world and culture which has long since vanished and is no more. During his visits to Yemen in 1927, 1931, 1934 and 1938, he either collected, imprinted or bought hundreds of inscriptions dating back to the Himyarite period and the early Islamic Era, purchasing antiquities and collecting ethnographical samples in the various marketplaces throughout Yemen. He loaded these on approximately 100 camels and had them transferred to Hodeida where they were shipped to Hamburg. Rathjens also visited
2214-442: The schools, as well as taught to the locals. Therefore, he recommended to Imam Yahya that he publish a regulation forbidding the exportation of antiquities from the country. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs supported his view and recommended the same to the Imam for the benefit of the nation. The Imam agreed, and in 1931 he published a decree forbidding the sale and exportation of antiquities without first obtaining
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2268-676: The thesis, Beiträge zur Landeskunde von Abessininen ("Contributions to the Geography of Abyssinia"), in which he proposed to his professor the writing of a follow-up thesis for a habilitation degree, entitled, Die Juden in Abessinien , which would permit him to instruct as a professor. His study on the Jews of Ethiopia was published in 1921. After a short period at the State Zoological Institute in Munich, Rathjens worked from 1911 to 1921 at
2322-410: The weather service station in Hamburg. This was another innovation that Rathjens brought to Yemen and which contributed to the modernization of the country. Although Rathjens was not the first to collect information on weather and climate in Yemen, his work can be recognized as pioneering work in the sense that it was initiated and supported by the state. Such data had already been collected in the past by
2376-408: The “International Postal and Telegraph Association”. The Imam instructed the director-general of the post office of Sana’a to assist him in these endeavors, while Rathjens went to Berlin to order new stamps that would also be recognized outside of Yemen. After finishing the preliminary preparations for the newer post office, Rathjens submitted an application for Yemen under the Imam to become a member of
2430-598: Was a geomorphologist, specializing in glacial, alpine research and special connoisseur of the East, especially Afghanistan. Rathjens' collection includes over 2,500 Jewish ethnographical items. He offered Mrs. Hadassa Calvari-Rosenblit of the Jewish Agency in Palestine to buy from him the duplicates. She forwarded his offer to the Hebrew University, which bought from him almost 2,000 Items. Rathjens contributed much to preserve
2484-461: Was also very interested in Rathjens working for him as a consultant for buying weapons in Europe, as well as other industrial commodities to help in the modernization of his country. Rathjens was also very interested in Germany developing friendly relations with Yemen and that the two countries would expand their commercial exchanges. Yemen was annoyed with the British authorities on its southern border and
2538-419: Was astonished that no public inspection had been put in place to make the trade in antiquities contraband on the markets of Sana'a, Taiz, Hodeida, Amram, Dhamar and Saada. He saw that merchants at the markets openly sold to tourists precious antiquities. Furthermore, he was also witness to conversations with foreign traders and tourists who ordered certain items from a certain region, by which means they encouraged
2592-570: Was briefly occupied by Saudi forces during the Saudi–Yemeni war of 1934 . After a disastrous fire in January 1961 destroyed much of Al-Hudaydah, it was rebuilt, particularly the port facilities, with Soviet aid. A highway to Sanaa , the capital, was completed in 1961. The city was also the site of a Soviet naval base in the 1970s and 1980s. Al-Hudaydah has a large number of historical places, including more than 100 old mosques. It also used to have
2646-526: Was controlled by Ibrahim Pasha 's troops, which turned over its administration to Sherif Husayn ibn Ali Haydar. In 1849, it became part of the Yemen Eyalet . The Malay writer Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir visited Al-Hudaydah on his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1854, and describes the city in his account of the journey, mentioning that the custom of chewing khat was prevalent in the city at this time. During
2700-435: Was described as being the centre of dhow building. The city was known for producing striped coarse cotton cloth, woven by hand. The artisans making the cloth were relocated to Al Hudaydah from Zabīd and Beit el-Faki due to tribal conflict. The city was also a centre for tanning and sandal making. In the late 19th century, Al-Hudaydah was a major exporter of coffee , although its export business shifted to Aden in
2754-514: Was halted upon the Italo-Turkish War breakout. In 1909, the port was bringing in less than the port at Jeddah . That year, 172 steam ships visited the port. The majority of the goods were from the United Kingdom , followed by Italy , Russia and Germany . German imports had grown from 1905 to 1909, with British shipping declining. Despite struggles with a good quality harbour, the town
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#17330856013982808-401: Was like a chapter taken from the book, A Thousand and One Nights . Rathjens and his two colleagues were accredited with making the first archaeological dig in Yemen. The Imam Yahya had sent the three German scholars to Huqqah to dig an ancient grave. Rathjens could not convince the Imam that the three of them were not archaeologists. The three German scholars left for Huqqah near Haggah with
2862-523: Was pioneering in a way, their work was of short duration and lacked the means for making comparisons with the data which they had collected over a longer period of time. Rathjens’ plan, however, was that the work at the station would continue for a long period. Therefore, he trained a local group to handle the operations of collecting and transmitting data. Rathjens was also instrumental in helping to improve Yemen's postal and communication services. Rathjens suggested to Imam Yahya that he register his country in
2916-520: Was willing to invest in a building for a museum, but not to invite expert scholars from Europe. Rathjens himself taught a locally educated judge how to copy the inscription and to document the items. The Qadi Sadiq was nominated by the Imam as the first director of the archaeological museum. This was the first archaeological museum in the Arabian Peninsula. The museum in British Aden was established
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