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Hadhramaut Governorate

Governorate of Yemen From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hadhramaut Governoratemap
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Hadhramaut Governorate[a] (Arabic: محافظة حضرموت, romanized: Muḥāfaẓat Ḥaḍramawt) is a governorate of Yemen. Lying within the large historical region of Hadhramaut, it is the country's largest governorate. The capital of Hadhramaut is the city of Mukalla. Other cities in Hadhramaut include the historical towns of Shibam, Sena, Seiyun, Tarim, and Ash Shihr.

Quick Facts محافظة حضرموت, Country ...
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Hadramout's capital Al-Mukalla

The Socotra Archipelago was transferred from the Aden Governorate to the Hadhramaut Governorate in 2004. It was subsequently separated to create Socotra Governorate in December 2013.[3]

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Etymology

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This section is an excerpt from Hadhramaut § Toponymy.[edit]

The origins of the name Ḥaḍramawt is disputed, and numerous debated hypotheses regarding its meaning exist. The most popular folk etymology is that the word comes from a nickname of Amer bin Qahtan, who is thought to be the first person to dwell in the region, meaning "death has come", from the words in Arabic: حَضَر, romanized: ḥaḍara, lit. 'he came' and Arabic: مَوْت, romanized: mawt, lit. 'death'.[4][5] Another theory is that it is a variant of the name of Islamic prophet Hud[b] who was sent to this region or his last words "Ludara al-mawt," meaning "death has come."[6]

The name Ḥaḍramawt has also been found within Biblical Hazarmaveth.[note 1] The name means "court of death" and is composed of two parts: Hebrew: חֲצַרְ, romanized: ḥaṣar, lit. 'dwelling; court' and Hebrew: מָוֶת māweṯ "death".[9] There, Hud was the descendant of ʿĀd, son of Joktan,[c] the purported ancestor and progenitor of the South Arabian kingdoms. According to tradition, the family of ʿĀd was the first to settle in the region, and when the sons of ʿĀd had died, Amer bin Qahtan, nicknamed "Hadhramaut", came to power.[6]

Though the origins of the name are unknown, there are several scholarly proposals. Kamal Salibi says that the diphthong "-aw" is an incorrect vocalisation, noting that "-ūt" is a frequent ending for place names in the Ḥaḍramawt; given that "Ḥaḍramūt" is the colloquial pronunciation of the name, and also its ancient pronunciation, the correct reading of the name would thus be "place of ḥḍrm". Salibi proposes, then, that the name means "the green place", which is appropriate given its well-irrigated wadis, giving a lushness that contrasts with the surrounding high desert plateau.[10]

Variations of the name are attested to as early as the middle of the 1st millennium BC. The names ḥḍrmt (𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩) and ḥḍrmwt (𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩥𐩩) are found in texts of the Old South Arabian languages (Ḥaḍramitic, Minaic, Qatabanic and Sabaic), though the second form is not found in any known Ḥaḍramitic inscriptions.[11] In either form, the word itself can be a toponym, a tribal name, or the name of the kingdom of Ḥaḍramawt. In the late fourth or early 3rd century BC, Theophrastus gives the name Άδρραμύτα,[12] a direct transcription of the Semitic name into Greek.
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Geography

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The Bugshan Palace in Wadi Dawan

Adjacent governorates

Districts

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Al-Hami coastal town

Hadhramaut Governorate is divided into the following 28 districts, after the creation of Socotra Governorate in December 2013. These districts are further divided into sub-districts, and further still into villages:

Two districts have formed in the new Socotra Governorate since December 2013:

Villages

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See also

Notes

  1. also romanized Hadramawt, Hadramaut or Hadramout, pronounced /ˌhɑːdrəˈmɔːt/ ⓘ HAH-drə-MAWT
  2. identified as Eber in Biblical tradition
  3. identified as Qahtan in Islamic tradition
  1. [N 1]
    Biblical Hebrew: חֲצַרְמָוֶת, romanized: Ḥăṣarmāweṯ; Genesis 10:26[7] and 1 Chronicles 1:20[8]

References

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