Bayt Baws ( ) is a historic village and fortress in Bani Matar District of Sanaa Governorate, Yemen. It is a largely deserted Jewish settlement. It is located to the south of Sanaa, in a strategic position on the western side of the Sanaa plain. It served as a locally important stronghold throughout the middle ages and was especially used as a staging point for campaigns against Sanaa. Its period of greatest significance was during the campaigns of Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, the first Imam of Yemen. According to tradition, Bayt Baws is named after a person named Dhà « Baws, whose genealogy is given either as Dhà « Baws b. âÂÂAbd al-RahmÃÂn b. Zayd b. âÂÂAbd Il b. Sharḥabël b. MarÃÂthid b. Dhë Saḥar or as Dhà « Baws b. Barël b. Sharaḥbël, of the tribe of Himyar.