Marib Dam East Wadi Dhana Barrage
سد مأرب الشرق - وادي ذنة · East Barrage Marib · Wadi Dhana East
Sabaean to Himyarite·Kingdom of Saba (Sabaean South Arabian) then Himyar·🇾🇪 Marib Governorate, Marib District, Wadi Adhanah/Dhana east embankment, Balaq Hills east spur, Yemen
About
About Marib Dam East Wadi Dhana Barrage
East earthen-rockfill embankment 480 m of the Sabaean Great Dam of Marib (c.1750–170 BCE Sabaean, peak c.700 BCE), impounding Wadi Dhana at the Balaq Hills gap to irrigate 9600 ha of the Sayhad desert sayl delta. The 14-m high, 60-m base East barrage of compacted silt, limestone facing and sluice masonry (South Sluice twin to North Sluice) created the Marib oasis famed in Quran (Saba surah) and said to have burst c.570 CE — the Sayl al-'Arim flood. East barrage is the better-preserved spur with inscriptions of Yada`il Dharih (7th c. BCE) and later Himyarite repairs, plus Himyarite spillway.
Why it mattersGreatest South Arabian hydraulic work, irrigating Sayhad from Sabaean state to Quranic flood, prototype for Arabian sayl irrigation.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Dating earliest silty core vs masonry
- 02Cause of 570 CE breach — maintenance vs seismic
Theories
- 01Sabaean mukarrib theocracy via dam control
- 02Sayl al-'Arim Quranic memory of hydraulic failure
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1750 BCE construction begun, major phases c.750 BCE Yada`il Dharih and c.350 CE Himyarite raising (Sabaean to Himyarite)
- Period
- Sabaean to Himyarite
- Culture
- Kingdom of Saba (Sabaean South Arabian) then Himyar
- Builders
- Sabaean hydraulic engineers (mukarribs) and Himyarite masons
- Purpose
- Sayhad desert irrigation — Wadi Dhana flood diversion to 9600 ha oasis (two-crop sayl system)
- Abandoned
- c.570 CE breach Sayl al-'Arim and Himyarite abandonment
- Rediscovered
- 1843 Arnaud French; 1950s Wendell Phillips; 1983 German Archaeological Institute (DAI) Marib Dam excavations
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.1750 BCE
Initial E embankment at Wadi Dhana
c.750 BCE
Yada`il Dharih masonry sluice phase
c.570 CE
Breach Sayl al-Arim
On the ground
Structures & features
15.3950° N · 45.2750° E · 1146 m · 2 mapped features
East Barrage — Yada`il Sluice and Inscription Wall
sluice15-m Sabaean limestone sluice with Old South Arabian monumental dam inscription of Yada`il Dharih, 7th c. BCE
15.3960° N · 45.2760° EEast Barrage — Himyarite Spillway Channel
hydraulic50-m wide rock-cut spillway with Himyarite raising courses and gypsum mortar bonding
15.3940° N · 45.2740° E
Gallery