The Ethnography of the Yemenite Jews

Abstract The objects collected by Carl Rathjens during the 1920s and 1930s provide an insight into the ethnography of the Yemenite Jews of the time. Their material culture—dress, jewelry, home decorations, ceremonial objects, and household objects—was quite distinct from that of their Muslim neighbors. In some cases, these differences resulted from the external impositions of the imamic rule; but in other cases, they came about as a result of community choices. Jews additionally lived apart from Muslims, although there were only specific Jewish quarters in some of the larger towns. While there has been a revival of “Yemenite” ethnic arts and crafts in Israel, these do not copy the past, but rather are inspired by it.