"كتيّب الجزيرة العربية. المجلد I. ١٩١٧" [‎٢‎٣‎٥] (٧٤٨/٢٤٤)

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the interior Hadhramaut towns; and all the houses are gathered
within the walls, since there is no security outside on account of
the neighbourhood of the Kathiri.
(6) The principal towns of the Kathiri are the following :
5. Seyyun, built on the slopes of Jebel Seyyun, at the edge of
a very extensive and fertile area, which stretches away to the lower
ground of the wadi and is dominated by the castle of the ruling
Sultan. The town is surrounded by walls of mud, embracing, within
the enceinte, a great number of gardens; it is entered by a low
gateway. The streets are broader and cleaner than most of the
Hadhramaut towns ; and the place has some pretensions to a
drainage system, many of the houses having outlets for this purpose
to walled pits.
Seyyun is a town of many mosques, their number being reputed
to exceed 300 ; the principal one, the Grand Mosque, stands on one
side of the great square. The town is the intellectual centre of
the Hadhramaut, the so-called Academy an annexe of the
grand mosque, being the place of assemblage of a great number of
reputed savants. The market is said to be the busiest in the whole
country, and is held in the square on Fridays at the termination of
noon-day prayers, merchants coming to it from all parts. Hirsch,
however, states that, when he was there (1893), ' there seemed to
be but little trade carried on, and there were only a few stalls in the
market'. The population is estimated at about 4,500.
The Seyyids of Seyyun are very powerful and wealthy, and many
of them have large castle-like houses. The palace of the ruling head
of the Kathiri stands on an elevated site, and is surrounded by its
own wall fortified with bastions and outstanding watch-towers.
The main block of the palace is surmounted by three very con
spicuous look-outs, the middle one being higher than the other two.
The chief is reputed to have two or three field-pieces and some old
cannon in his possession.
6. Terim, some 19 miles NE. of Seyyun, is a considerable and
straggling town built along a mountain slope above a broad belt of
cultivation and palm-groves which stretches away towards the east.
Its population, according to Hirsch (probably the only European
who has succeeded in visiting it, but who, owing to the hos
tility of the Seyyids, was obliged to return precipitately before he
had very thoroughly explored it), was about 4,000 in 1893, and was
declining. A low gate, with a large ruined fortress close by, gives
entrance to the town on the Shibam side, and just within this is the
main square, where the market is held: one side of the square is
occupied by the principal mosque. It does not appear, however,