3 ms·

I have heard this with regard to Cairo, but as for Yemen... citation needed. It sounds like reactor-grade bolonium.

• jpatokal 12y ago
  Good luck digging up citations to Yemeni tax law, but I've seen it in Jordan as well. Perhaps some shared vestige of Ottoman rule?
  • idlewords 12y ago
    People have reported similar stories from Turkey and Greece, for what it's worth. No one seems to agree whether it's about tax stuff or leaving the option to extend dwellings by another floor. In Yemen the practice is to have the top floor of a dwelling be the mufraj (room with views where men chew qat) which is what makes me skeptical about the tax idea there. The buildings certainly don't look unfinished from rooftop level. The thing that makes me most skeptical, though, is just that it's such a wonderful, repeatable story.