Editing Aden (section)

== Culture ==

=== Dialects ===
{{Main|Yemeni Arabic|Taʽizzi-Adeni Arabic}}

The entry of the Yemenis into Islam contributed to their abandoning their ancient script and replacing it with the late Nabataean alphabet in which the Qur’an was written.{{Efn|Jawad Ali says: It appears from researchers finding writings written in the Musnad in various places in the Arabian Peninsula, including the coasts of the Arabian Gulf, some of which are ancient and some of which are close to Islam, that the Musnad pen was the authentic and first Arabic pen among the Arabs. All the people of the Arabian Peninsula wrote about it, but the Christian preaching that entered the Arabian Peninsula and spread in various places brought with it the late Armenian pen, the pen of the Eastern churches, and began spreading it among the people. Because it was his sacred pen with which the clerics used to write. Since this pen was easier to write than the musnad, it found widespread followers among those who converted to Christianity and among pagans as well, due to its ease of writing. However, it was not able to eliminate the musnad as people continued to write with it. When Islam came, the scribes wrote the revelation with the pen of the people of Mecca so that the revelation would descend among them. The Mecca pen became the official pen for the Muslims, and Al-Musnad was then sentenced to death. He died and was forgotten by the Arabs, until the Orientalists resurrected him and brought him back to existence again, to translate for us the ordinary writings that were recorded in him. Jawad Ali, Al-Mufassal fi Tarikh al-Arab before Islam, vol. 8, p. 153|name=note1}} Today, Yemenis speak Arabic in the Yemeni dialect, which is a developed dialect and closely linked to the ancient language.<ref>AFL Beeston.'' foreign loanwords in Sabaic'' 1994 pp.39-45</ref> It has three dialects with branches: the [[Sanʽani Arabic|Sanani dialect]], the [[Hadhrami Arabic|Hadrami dialect]], and the [[Taʽizzi-Adeni Arabic|Taizi-Adeni dialect]], in addition to the [[Bedouin Arabic|Bedouin dialect]] of the residents of [[Marib]]. [[Al Jawf Governorate|Al-Jawf]], [[Shabwa]], and [[Hadhramaut#Inner Hadhramaut|Inner Hadhramaut]], and each of these dialects has characteristics and features.<ref>Janet C E Watson; ʻAbd al-Salām ʻAmri.''Wasf San'a : texts in San'ani Arabic'' Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 2000. p.324</ref><ref>A. Al-Saqqaf (2006): Co-referential devices in Hadramî Arabic, pp. 75-93</ref>

=== Music and poetry ===
[[File:Mohammed_Salem_Bin_Shamikh_-_aden.jpg|link=https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%84%D9%81:Mohammed_Salem_Bin_Shamikh_-_aden.jpg|thumb|240x240px|Artist Muhammad Salem bin Shamekh at a popular singing concert in Aden]]{{Main|Music of Yemen}}
Adeni art or the ''Adeniyat'' is an art of Arabic music. Among the ancient artists of Aden are Iskander Thabet Saleh and Muhammad Murshid Naji, and among the poets are Abdul Rahman Ibrahim Muhammad, Ahmed Ghaleb Muhammad Al-Jabri, Abdullah Abdul Karim Muhammad, Ali Abdullah Jaafar Aman, Farid Muhammad Barakat, Lotfi Jaafar Aman, and Mohsen Ali Brik.<ref>[[موسوعة شعر الغناء اليمني في القرن العشرين]]، الجزء الخامس، الطبعة الثانية 2007، رقم الإيداع في دار الكتب:(297)</ref>

"Adeni music" played a major role in Aden society, and artists in the Aden dialect were called "al-Mutariba", meaning people of music. Adeni music began in 1920 when the army of the Aden Protectorate was formed, and after it the National Guard, where there were teams for those forces and those teams participated On special occasions and weddings.

=== Sports ===
{{See also|Yemeni League|Football in Yemen}}
[[File:Sports_Assembly_Edenic.jpeg|link=https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%84%D9%81:Sports_Assembly_Edenic.jpeg|thumb|240x240px|Aden Sports Association]]

==== Pre-independence ====
The first beginning of Adenian sports dates back to the year 1902, when the Adeni Tennis Club was established, with its headquarters in the Al-Qatee’ neighborhood in Crater, and Youssef Muhammad Khan founded the "Recreational Club United" in the city of Crater, and it was known as the Yousef Khan Stadium. The city of Aden is considered the first city in which sports were practiced in the Arabian Peninsula, and the first private club in Aden was founded in 1905 under the name "Al-Ittihad Al-Muhammadi Club", as the first sports club in Yemen and the Arab world. He was fighting the occupation army divisions and the fleet divisions coming and passing to the port of Aden.<ref name="adenalghad.net2">[https://adengad.net/news/6987/#.VPWfDPmsUdo#ixzz3TKOWGgRE من ذاكرة عدن الرياضية .. الريادة الزمنية للكرة العدنية] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402154448/http://adenalghad.net/news/6987/|date=02 أبريل 2015}}</ref>

In 1924, the "Al-Husseini Sports Club" was founded in Crater, and a third club appeared in Tawahi under the name "Al-Bamboot Club" and Sheikh Othman. The 1930s witnessed the emergence of a number of clubs. In 1933, the "Nujoom Al-Layl Club", Al-Aidrousi Club, and Nujoom Al-Sabah Club appeared in Crater, and in Tawahi, the "Al-Ittihad Al-Islami Club" (Al-Mawlada) appeared.<ref name="adenalghad.net2"/>

Until that year, football matches were played in a friendly manner between the teams of the Crater, Al-Tawahi, and Sheikh Othman regions, as there were no federations regulating sports activity. In 1934, the occupation authority announced the establishment of a sports association called the "Adeniya Sports Association", after the increasing number of local clubs. Its members were appointed by the Governor-General of Aden, and all of its members were English, headed by the English Governor of Aden, Bernard Reilly, as sponsor. The association's board of directors consists of Hikam Bottom as president, the Indian Rosario as secretary, and two other members.

This association began holding the first club tournament, which was the "Rosario Cup Championship". Six clubs participated in the tournament, three from Crater (Al-Ittihad Al-Mohammadi, Al-Husseini, and Nojoom Al-Layl), from Al-Tawahi (Al-Mawalda, and Al-Bamiot), and from Sheikh Othman, Sheikh Othman Club, which includes Players from various small teams in the Sheikh Othman area, and Al-Ittihad Al-Mohammadi Club won this championship.

Among the most important tournaments held in Aden before independence were the Rosario Cup, the Riley Cup, the Somali Bassem Al-Nar Cup, the Aramco Cup, and the Kik Muncherji Championship.

=== Post-independence ===
After independence, the "Football Federation" was established on January 18, 1968, on the ruins of the "Adeniya Sports Association". The Federation took a decision regarding the Adeniya clubs, which had numbered about 64 sports clubs, reducing and merging the clubs in Aden and Lahj to only 16 clubs, and the clubs were forced to join or unite with large teams. In February 1968, several sports clubs were abolished, leaving only 12 clubs remaining. In December 1968, Al-Islah Club and Al-Shaab Club were merged into one club under the name of the latter in Al-Tawahi. In 1969, the Al-Ittihad Al-Muhammadi Club and Al-Tadamon Club were united in [[Crater (Aden)|Crater]], under the name Al-Tadamon Al-Muhammadi Club.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In the "First General Sports Conference" in 1973, the clubs were merged and reduced again, so that their number became only 7 clubs: Al-Ahrar Club, Al-Ahly Club, Shamsan Club, Al-Shaab Club, Al-Hilal Club, United Youth Club, and Aden Tennis Club. On July 18, 1975, the stage of forming urban clubs, and the beginning of the stage of politicization of the clubs in favor of the National Liberation Front, took place. It was decided to change their names and reduce them to become 5 clubs: Al-Tilal Club, Shamsan Club, Al-Minaa Club, Al-Wahda Club, and Al-Shoula Club.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

On July 18, 1975, the "Al-Tilal Sports Club" appeared, headed by Yassin Saeed Noman, as a new name for the "Al-Ittihad Al-Muhammadi Club", which was founded in 1905, and in 1976 the "Yemeni Football Federation" appeared. Al-Tilal Club participated in the "September 26 Cup Competition" in 1980, as the first football competition in which it participated with teams from northern and southern Yemen, such as the national team of Ibb Governorate, Taiz Governorate, Hadhramaut Governorate, Lahj and Hodeidah, at the Shaheed Al-Dharafi Stadium in Sana’a, and Al-Hilal was crowned champion of the September 26 Cup, after victory over Hodeidah national team by five clean goals.<ref>http://www.al-tilalclub.net الموقع الرسمي لنادي التلال الرياضي {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922003010/http://al-tilalclub.net/|date=2017-09-22}}</ref>

Football is the most popular sport in Aden. There are 9 stadiums in Aden, including the May 22 International Stadium, and 10 sports clubs. In November 2010, Aden hosted the [[20th Arabian Gulf Cup|2010 Arabian Gulf Football Cup]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arabian Gulf Cup in 2010 |url=http://www.admcsport.com/ar/football/news/article-8054 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112063336/http://www.admcsport.com/ar/football/news/article-8054 |archive-date=12 November 2010 |access-date=10 November 2010 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Tourist sites ===
[[File:Street Scene Aden Yemen.jpg|thumb|right|Crown Library of Aden, 1999]]
[[File:Old Town Aden Yemen.jpg|thumb|right|Aban Mosque]]
[[File:National museum of Yemen aden.jpg|thumb|right|The Palace of the [[Sultanate of Lahej]], now the National Museum of Yemen]]
[[File:Crescent hotel aden.jpg|thumb|right|The Crescent Hotel]]

Aden has several historical and natural sites of interest to visitors. These include:
*The historical British churches, one of which lies empty and semi-derelict in 2019.<ref>Jamal, Shafee (12 January 2012).  [https://web.archive.org/web/20150504222625/http://www.yementimes.com/en/1537/Culture/192/Aden%E2%80%99s-rich-religious-heritage.htm "Aden's rich religious heritage."]  ''[[Yemen Times]]'' (YemenTimes.com).  Archived 2015-05-04.</ref> 
*The [[Zoroastrian]] Temple
*[[Cisterns of Tawila|The Cisterns of Tawila]]—an ancient water-catchment system located in the sub-centre of Crater
*[[Sira Fortress]]
*The Aden Minaret<ref name="lonelyplanet.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/yemen/aden/attractions/aden-minaret/a/poi-sig/1075959/361192 |title=Archived copy |access-date=3 December 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220041914/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/yemen/aden/attractions/aden-minaret/a/poi-sig/1075959/361192 |archive-date=20 December 2016 }}</ref>
*[[Big Ben Aden|Little Ben]], a miniature [[Big Ben]] Clock Tower overlooking Steamer Point. Built during the colonial period, this was restored in 2012 after 3 decades of neglect since the British withdrawal of 1967.
*The Landing Pier at Steamer Point is a 19th-century building used by visiting dignitaries during the colonial period, most notably Queen Elizabeth during her 1954 visit to the colony. This building was hit by an airstrike in 2015 and is currently in the process of being restored in 2019.
*The Crescent Hotel which contained a number of artifacts relating to the Royal Visit of 1954 and which currently remains derelict as a result of a recent airstrike.
*The Palace of the [[Sultanate of Lahej]]/National Museum—The National Museum was founded in 1966 and is located in what used to be the Palace of the Sultanate of Lahej. Northern forces robbed it during the 1994 Civil War, but its collection of pieces remains one of the biggest in Yemen.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://arabiantica.humnet.unipi.it/index.php?id=aden-national-museum |title=Arabia Antica: Pre-islamic Arabia, Culture and Archaeology: About |website=arabiantica.humnet.unipi.it |access-date=14 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114172338/http://arabiantica.humnet.unipi.it/index.php?id=aden-national-museum |archive-date=14 November 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*The Aden Military Museum which features a painting depicting the 20 June 1967 ambush by Arab Police Barracks on a British Army unit when a number of the 22 soldiers killed that day were driving in two Land Rovers on Queen Arwa Road, Crater.
*The Rimbaud House, which opened in 1991, is the two-story house of French poet [[Arthur Rimbaud]] who lived in Aden from 1880 to 1891. Rimbaud moved to Aden on his way to Ethiopia in an attempt for a new life. As of the late 1990s, the first floor of the house belonged to the French Consulate, a cultural centre and a library. The house is located in [[al-Tawahi]]—the European Quarter of Aden—and is politically and culturally debated for its French nature in an area previously colonized by Britain.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Taminian |first=Lucine |title=Rimbaud's House in Aden, Yemen: Giving Voice(s) to the Silent Poet |journal= Cultural Anthropology|volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=464–490 |doi=10.1525/can.1998.13.4.464 |jstor=656569|year=1998 }}</ref>
*The fortifications of Jebal Hadid and Jebal Shamsan
*The beaches of Aden and Little Aden—Some of the popular beaches in Aden consist of Lover's Bay Beach, Elephant Beach and Gold Beach. The popular beach in Little Aden is called Blue Beach.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=Yemen |last=McLaughlin |first=Daniel |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |year=2008 |pages=183}}</ref> Some beaches are private and some are public, which is subject to change over time due to the changing resort industry. According to the Wall Street Journal, kidnappings on the beaches and the threat of Al Qaeda has caused problems for the resort industry in Aden, which used to be popular among locals and Westerners.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/middleeast/2013/06/06/aden-once-the-lively-beach-resort-of-yemen-struggles-under-sway-of-al-qaeda/ |title=Aden, Once The Lively Beach Resort of Yemen, Struggles Under Sway of Al Qaeda |last=Abi Habib |first=Maria |date=6 June 2013 |website=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=4 August 2017 |archive-date=14 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114170423/http://blogs.wsj.com/middleeast/2013/06/06/aden-once-the-lively-beach-resort-of-yemen-struggles-under-sway-of-al-qaeda/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Aidrus Mosque|Al-Aidaroos Mosque]]<ref name="lonelyplanet.com" />
*Main Pass – now called Al-Aqba Road is the only road into Aden through Crater. Originally an Arched Upper bridge known as Main Gate, it overlooked Aden city and was built during the Ottoman Empire. A painted crest of the 24th British army battalion is still visible on the brickwork adjacent to the Gate site and is believed to be the only remaining army Crest from colonial rule still visible in Aden. In March 1963 the bridge was removed by a British Army controlled explosion to widen the 2 lane roadway to the present 4 lane highway and the only reminder of this bridge is a quarter scale replica built at the end of the Al-Aqba road intersection known as the AdenGate Model roundabout.