Marib Dam
سد مأرب | |
Ancient Yemen | |
Site notes | |
---|---|
Part of | Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba, Marib |
Criteria | Cultural: (iii), (iv) |
Reference | 1700 |
Inscription | 2023 (45th Session) |
Endangered | 2023–... |
The Marib Dam (
Other important ancient dams in Yemen include the Dam of Jufaynah, the Dam of Khārid, the Dam of Aḑraʾah, the Dam of Miqrān and the Dam of Yathʾān. Historically, Yemen has been recognized for the magnificence of its ancient water engineering. From the Red Sea coast to the limits of the Empty Quarter Desert are numerous ruins of small and large dams made of earth and stone.[citation needed]
In 2023, along with
Ancient dam
The site of the great Dam of Marib, also called the Dam of 'Arim (
The medieval Arab geographer
It is between three mountains, and the flood waters all flow to the one location, and because of that the water only discharges in one direction; and the ancients blocked that place with hard rocks and lead. The water from springs gathers there as well as floodwater, collecting behind the dam like a sea. Whenever they wanted to they could irrigate their crops from it, by just letting out however much water they needed from sluice gates; once they had used enough they would close the gates again as they pleased.[8]
Construction
The date of the first construction of a dam at Ma’rib goes back to somewhere between 1750 and 1700 BC. The earliest inscription on the dam is one placed there at the time of its construction or repair of parts of the dam undertaken by Yatha' Amar Watar I, son of Yada' El Zarih I, who reigned in 760–740 BC. The following repair was in the time of Yada' El Bayin II who reigned in 740–720 BC.
The dam was composed of packed earth, triangular in cross section, 580 m (1,900 ft) in length and 4 metres (13 feet) high. It ran between two groups of rocks on either side of the river and was linked to the rock with substantial stonework. The dam's position allowed for a spillway and sluices between the northern end of the dam and the cliffs to the west. Around 500 BC, its height was increased to 7 metres (23 feet), the upstream slope (the water face) was reinforced with a cover of stones, and irrigation was extended to include the southern side as well as the northern side.
After the end of the Kingdom of Sabaʾ, the dam fell under the control of the
Maintenance
The Muslim historian al-Isfahani (whose Annals were completed in 961 CE) maintains[9] that a dam breach occurred some 400 years before the rise of Islam, but Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī[10] assigns it to the time of Abyssinian rule.[citation needed]
Ancient South Arabian sources report that in about 145 BC, the dam suffered a major breach during the war between the people of Raydān and the Kingdom of Sabaʾ, and that is the very breach that many scholars consider to have caused the Sayl al-ˁArim (
The archaeology of the Ma'rib Dam shows the effects of siltation behind dams in antiquity, and measures to extend the operational life of the reservoir.[12] The same problems of siltation encountered in the ancient dam were also faced in the construction of the new dam.[13] Despite the increases in height, the dam suffered numerous breaches (recorded major incidents occurred in 449, 450, 542 and 548) and the maintenance work became increasingly onerous; the last recorded repairs took place in 557.[citation needed]
Final breach
Locals report that the final breach of the dam had been predicted by a king called ʿImrān, who was also a
لَقَدْ كَانَ لِسَبَإٍ فِي مَسْكَنِهِمْ آيَةٌ ۖ جَنَّتَانِ عَن يَمِينٍ وَشِمَالٍ ۖ كُلُوا مِن رِّزْقِ رَبِّكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لَهُ ۚ بَلْدَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ وَرَبٌّ غَفُورٌ، فَأَعْرَضُوا فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَيْلَ الْعَرِمِ وَبَدَّلْنَاهُم بِجَنَّتَيْهِمْ جَنَّتَيْنِ ذَوَاتَيْ أُكُلٍ خَمْطٍ وَأَثْلٍ وَشَيْءٍ مِّن سِدْرٍ قَلِيلٍ
"There was for [the tribe of] Sabaʾ in their dwelling place a sign: two [fields of] gardens on the right and on the left. [They were told], "Eat from the provisions of your Lord and be grateful to Him. A good land [have you], and a forgiving Lord. But they turned away [refusing], so We sent upon them the flood of the dam, and We replaced their two [fields of] gardens with gardens of bitter fruit,
tamarisks and something of sparse lote trees."[15]]The consequent failure of the irrigation system provoked the migration of up to 50,000 people from Yemen to other areas of the Arabian Peninsula, and even to the Levant.[citation needed
Modern dam
A dam was built in the 1980s by Doğuş Group,[16][17] close to the location of the old one, at the expense of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, whose tribe reportedly resettled from Ma'rib to his country,[4] sometime during the 17th century, or in the 6th century, after the collapse of the historical dam. The opening ceremony took place on 20 December 1986, in the presence of Zayed and Ayhan Şahenk of Doğuş Group.[18] The dam was considered by people inside and outside Yemen to have a positive effect on the agriculture and economy of the region of Ma'rib, and the country in general.[19][20]
The dam is 38 m (125 ft) high, 763 m (2,503 ft) long, built of earth across the Wadi Dhana at 15°23′47″N 45°14′37″E / 15.39639°N 45.24361°E, creating a storage capacity of 398 million cubic meters. The dam site is located 3 km (1.9 mi) upstream of the ruins of the Great Dam. The new dam, like the old, was designed to store water for irrigating the Ma'rib plains. However, the
Seepage that emanates from this dam does not threaten its structure but results in the loss of water. As a way of capturing the seepage, consideration is being given to rebuilding the ancient Ma'rib dam, both as a functioning structure and as a historic monument and tourist attraction. The complexity and volume of work involved in this project make it necessary that several organizations work together under the aegis of UNESCO, using financial contributions from international organizations.[21]The dam was damaged in an airstrike in 2015. Yemeni officials said that Saudi Arabian coalition forces were responsible for the airstrike.[22]
See also
Jawa Dam (Jordan), also an archaeological siteNotes
ISBN 978-1-3177-6157-0. Retrieved 27 October 2020.- ^ "Marib Dam: An Engineering Wonder of the Ancient World". SABA. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- ^ "Landmarks of Ancient Kingdom of Saba added to UNESCO's World Heritage List". Marib Governorate. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^
ISBN 978-0810855281. ISBN 978-0714111513. ISBN 978-0802849601.- ^ a b Ocean highways: geographical record, ed. C.R. Markham. January 1874. Ocean highways; geographical review. No. X, Vol. 1
- ^ Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī: Mu’jam al-Buldān.
- ^ In his eighth volume of the Annals.
- ^ Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī: Mu'jam al-Buldān. Vol. 4, p. 383.
- ^ The inscription by Abrahah was first published by Eduard Glaser, in the journal Mitteilungen der vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, Berlin, 1897. pp. 360–488.
ISBN 0-7844-0738-X. ISSN 0306-400X.- ^ Quran 34:15–17
- ^ Translation by Sahih International.
- ^ "YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC, EASTERN REGION AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT".
- ^ "Doğuş Construction Catalogue" (PDF).
- ^ WAM (29 July 2013). "Key aid projects during Zayed's time". Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ Al-Qalisi, M.; Vela, J. (30 September 2015). "The dam that Sheikh Zayed built". The National. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ Salama, S. (1 December 2015). "UAE playing a historic role in Yemen". Gulf News. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
ISSN 1930-630X.- ^ ‘Engineering Marvel’ of Queen of Sheba’s City Damaged in Airstrike 2015. National Geographic. 3 June 2015.
References
- "A study of the Marib dam and its sluice system (BC 115 to AD 575)". Hydraulics of Open Channel Flow. Butterworth-Heinemann. 2004. pp. 533–540.
ISBN 9780750659789.Bibliography
- M. C. A. Macdonald, Wabar, in: Jack Sasson, M. (ed.), Civilization of the Ancient Near East 8, London, 1995, 1351.
- Alessandro de Maigret. Arabia Felix, translated Rebecca Thompson. London: Stacey International, 2002.
ISBN 1-900988-07-0 ISBN 0-19-922237-1.- Hadden, Robert Lee. 2012. The Geology of Yemen: An Annotated Bibliography of Yemen's Geology, Geography and Earth Science. Alexandria, VA: US Army Corps of Engineers, Army Geospatial Center.