The National Museum is housed in Dar al-Shukr, the former palace of Imam Yahya — a many-storeyed Yemeni-style building just outside the old city walls. The collection traces Yemen's history from prehistoric times through the great kingdoms of Saba, Ma'in, Qataban, and Himyar to the Islamic period, with particular strength in pre-Islamic stone inscriptions, bronze sculpture, and alabaster reliefs from Marib, Shabwa, and the lost southern Arabian civilisations.
The building itself is worth the visit even if the displays are uneven — the climb up the staircases gives a vivid sense of how the imams actually lived. Many objects from southern Arabian sites are on display here rather than in the regional museums, which were less well-equipped to protect them.