place · L0264
Sana'a צנעא
Highland capital of Yemen and the chief city of Teiman's Jewry — the community that corresponded with the Rambam, made the Mishneh Torah its halakhic canon, and preserved distinct ancient traditions of Hebrew pronunciation and Targum until the twentieth-century airlift. Anchor of the Teiman column on this atlas's map.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- צנעא
- Also known as
- Sanaa, San'a
III. Where
- Modern location
- Sanaa, Yemen
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sana'a held the largest and leading Jewish community of Yemen, with its own quarter (Qa' al-Yahud) and a scholarly tradition reaching back to antiquity; local tradition dates the community to the First Temple's fall.
The First-Temple origin is the community's own tradition, not documented history. |
external tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| In the Mawza exile (1679) the Jews of Sana'a and nearly all Yemen were expelled to the Tihama lowlands, a catastrophe from which the community returned decimated — the event lamented in R' Shalom Shabazi's poetry. | external | ★★★★☆ |