Sadd al-Arim Secondary Dam
Marib North Dam Extension · North Sluice Extension
Sabaean Kingdom 750 BCE - 570 CE·Sabaean (Saba) kingdom·🇾🇪 Marib Governorate, Marib Oasis, Wadi Dhana, Yemen
About
About Sadd al-Arim Secondary Dam
Secondary saddle dam and north sluice extension of the Sabaean Marib Dam complex, distinct from the 580-m main Marib embankment: a 420-m long, 18-m high earthen embankment with ashlar-faced sluice tower and rectangular limestone spillway 12 m wide, dated to 750 BCE (Mukarib period) via Sabaean inscription RES 3945 on sluice lintel. Unlike the main dam's 1986 reconstruction obscuring antiquity, the north secondary dam retains original Sabaean ashlar masonry with 7th c.
BCE Sabaic dedicatory text to Almaqah. The dam closed the northward spill gap that fed the northern oasis fields (15,000 ha), doubling irrigated area beyond the main dam's southern field. 1 km of north canal distributary with 12 gated off-takes. 570 CE with main dam, corroborating Sayl al-Arim Quranic flood narrative.
Why it mattersSecondary Marib dam demonstrates Sabaean hydraulic complexity as system not single embankment; provides epigraphic fixed point via RES 3945.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Synchronicity of north vs main dam breach 570 CE
Theories
- 01North oasis as agricultural intensification hypothesis
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.750 BCE (Sabaean Mukarib) with repairs 520 CE Abraha
- Period
- Sabaean Kingdom 750 BCE - 570 CE
- Culture
- Sabaean (Saba) kingdom
- Builders
- Sabaean Mukarib engineers
- Purpose
- Northern oasis irrigation diversion closing spill gap
- Abandoned
- 570 CE Sayl al-Arim breach with main dam
- Rediscovered
- 1960s Brunner survey; 1980s German Archaeological Institute (DAI) Sabaean inscription publication
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
750 BCE
Sluice lintel RES 3945 dedicatory inscription
520 CE
Abraha repair inscription at south dam counterparts
570 CE
Breach deposit synchronised with Quranic Sayl al-Arim
On the ground
Structures & features
15.4000° N · 45.3500° E · 1100 m · 2 mapped features
North Sluice Tower
hydraulic12-m ashlar sluice tower with RES 3945 Sabaic inscription
15.4010° N · 45.3520° ENorth Canal Distributary
earthwork2.1 km north canal with 12 gated off-takes to northern fields
15.4050° N · 45.3550° E
Gallery