http://www.english.hadhramaut.info Shibam in Hadhramaut [The Source: - ] Shibam in  Hadhramaut It is called Safra'a, and the "Manhattan of the desert" by the German explorer Hans Hellfritz. Its houses are considered the first skyscrapers of the world. Here you find loam houses  with 8 floors, 500 years old. After the destruction of Shabwa in the 3rd century A. D., its habitants fled to Hadramaut and founded the city of Shibam. From 1983 Shibam has been under special protection from the UNESCO