PPT Slide
In the desert east of Yemen’s
moist mountainous areas lies the area called Saba, better known in the West as Sheba, the place of origin of King Solomon’s consort. Marib was the heart of this ancient kingdom, and remnants of what is probably the world’s oldest dam remain visible today, 3,000 years later.
Marib south sluice, Himyaritic text
Marib north sluice, showing the 18 m of silt that built up to destroy the dam’s usefulness.
Marib dam impounded the waters
that flowed from the mountains
into the desert basin. This water
infiltrated the soil, bringing
groundwater within easy reach of
hand-dug wells. A new, modern
dam operates similarly today, and
the Marib area is again settled