Song of Sana’a | Global Knowledge Systems

Overview

The Song of Sana’a, also known as al-Ghina al-San’ani, designates a group of songs that belongs to a rich musical tradition practised throughout Yemen. Derived from various poetic traditions dating from the fourteenth century, this genre constitutes an integral part of social events, such as the samra marriage evenings and the magyal, the daily afternoon gathering of friends and colleagues. The songs are interpreted by a solo singer accompanied by two ancient instruments: the qanbus (the Yemeni lute), and the sahn nuhasi, a copper tray which is balanced upon the player’s thumbs and lightly struck with the other eight fingers. There are a large number of melodic types. Modulation from one to another within a single performance is rare, but the artistry of a performer is judged by his ability to embellish a melody in order to highlight the meaning of the text and to move the listeners....

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: Yemen
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: Yemen
Countries: Yemen

How the System Works

Music, Performance and Oral Literature Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuidf81d7fa6-15cf-4663-9fda-596d8957fd41

ich_public_ref77

inscription_year2008

title_enSong of Sana’a

title_frLe chant de Sana’a

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesYE

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00077

concepts_primary_namesInstrumental music, Vocal music

concepts_secondary_namesDance, Emotions, Idiophones, Instrument making, Plucked string instruments, Poetry, Wedding

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/00231-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enThe Song of Sana’a is a group of songs accompanied by the fine sound of the Yemeni lute and a lightly struck copper tray. The poetic repertory, written in both Yemeni dialects and classical Arabic, abounds in wordplay and is renowned for its emotional content.

main_image_copyrightSamir Mokrani

main_image_authorAli al-Anisi

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/kdHbypelaJQ, https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/rfJwde0X-Qk

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Instrumental music Vocal music Dance Emotions Idiophones Instrument making Plucked string instruments Poetry Wedding UNESCO representative list World Heritage connection: Old City of Sana'a

Review and Corrections

If this record misstates authority, access, naming, language, source context or community preference, please request a review.

Suggest correction