Photo of the Day 454

Fisherman, Mocha, Yemen, 1964

Photograph by Thomas J. Abercrombie

Once-thriving Mocha, Yemen, grew rich exporting coffee, cultivated in the mountains nearby, and its name became synonymous with the drink. Decline set in when 18th-century planters successfully grew the bean in Java and the New World. Today blowing sand dusts the town and silts its harbor.

(Photo shot on assignment for "Behind the Veil of Troubled Yemen," March 1964, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 348

Clouds, Yemen, 1979

Photograph by Steve Raymer

Clouds gather in a dramatic sky over north Yemen, once a crossroads for the frankincense trade. To the Romans this elbow of land along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden was Arabia Felix—Happy Arabia—perhaps because the abundance of silks, spices, and pearls that came north by camel caravan made it seem a bountiful place.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "North Yemen," August 1979, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 334

Temple Ruins, Near Marib, Yemen, 1979

Photograph by Steve Raymer

Pillars of a Sabaean moon-god temple jut from the desert near Marib, Yemen, offering clues to a powerful kingdom that may have been ruled by the legendary Queen of Sheba, mentioned in both the Koran and the Bible.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "North Yemen," August 1979, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 209

Mudbrick Houses, Shibam, Yemen, 2005

Photograph by George Steinmetz

The city of Shibam, Yemen, rises from the Rub al Khali, or Empty Quarter, a sea of sand that occupies one-fifth of the Arabian Peninsula. The distinctive mud-brick skyscrapers that house Shibam's 5,000 residents have earned the city its nickname: "Manhattan of the Desert."

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Empty Quarter: Exploring Arabia's Legendary Sea of Sand," February 2005, National Geographic magazine)