Because the name of this city is originally written in Arabic script, it is also sometimes transliterated into English as Sanaa, as San’a, or as Sana.
In this city, a ruler named Abraha built a grand church. Likewise, for reasons of transliteration, his name is sometimes also spelled Abreha, Abrahah, or Abrahah al-Ashram. In the middle of the sixth century, probably around 567, he caused a structure to be built in an architectural style, “the equal of which neither Persians nor Arabians have ever built,” in his own words. This church has been the object of intense study by historians.
William Hugh Clifford Frend proposed the date of 567 as likely for the building of the church, but this must be regarded as an approximation.
Two historians, Barbara Finster and Jürgen Schmidt, wrote a detailed investigation of the church, including an analysis of, e.g., the building materials used in its construction:
Als Abraha seine Kirche plante, schrieb er an den Qaisar, d.h. an Justinian, und bat ihn um Unterstützung für sein Bauvorhaben. Dieser sandte ihm daraufhin Handwerker, Marmor und Mosaiken. Da auch der Yemen über Marmorvorkommen verfügt, muß Justinian einen speziellen Marmor geschickt haben, vielleicht den schön geäderten prokonnesischen Marmor oder bereits vorgefertigten Säulen.
This structure must have been impressive, because of the high quality of the materials used to build it, and because of the direct involvement of Justinian.
The church no longer exists. It, along with all the other churches in the area, as well as Christian schools and seminaries, was destroyed when Islamic armies invaded the area from the north.
The church as San‘a’ is a reminder of an era, prior to the rise of Islam, when the Arabian peninsula was inhabited by large numbers of Christians, who lived peacefully alongside Jews, animists, and Zoroastrians.
Given the surviving written descriptions of the church’s architectural details, the two historians were able to produce diagrams of the building. The building was surrounded by a plaza or courtyard:
Die Kirche selbst umgab im Abstand von 200 Ellen ein Peribolos mit einem mit Marmorplatten ausgelegten Hof, der möglicherweise Nebengebäude einschloß. Weiträumige Höfe, die vor allem Prozessionen dienten, sind für äthiopische Kirchen überliefert, und es ist anzunehmen, daß auch in San‘a’ Raum für den tawaf geschaffen werden mußte.
The church was an impressive structure, and the indoor and outdoor processions and ceremonies were grand events. The destruction of the church was a tremendous loss to the history of art and architecture.
