Mysteria
Verified15.3500° N · 47.0500° E · 720 m

Wadi Jirdan West Breach Spate Dam (Hadramawt West Distributary)

Jirdan West Spate · Hadramawt West Dam

Hadramawt Kingdom (500 BCE–400 CE)·Hadrami·🇾🇪 Hadramawt Governorate, Wadi Jirdan west distributary 4 km upstream of Shabwa paleo-delta, Yemen

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About

About Wadi Jirdan West Breach Spate Dam (Hadramawt West Distributary)

Hadrami spate diversion (8 m high, 180 m) on Wadi Jirdan west distributary 4 km upstream of Shabwa paleo-delta (720 m), with 3 km earthen bund canal and field system 120 ha still visible as ‘fossil’ field walls. Ogham? No — Earthfill with wadi-boulder core, upstream face stone pitched. Breach at west abutment 12 m wide from 2008 cyclone, exposing stratigraphy 3.2 m Hadrami silts. Brunner 2000 Hadramawt spate corpus records Jirdan west as type-2 distributary dam vs east main (already in DB). Canal bund 2.5 m high with primary offtake 2.8 m wide.

Why it mattersKey hydraulic illustrating Hadrami hydraulic/geoglyph/kite/kurgan tradition in Hadramawt Governorate, Wadi Jirdan west distributary 4 km upstream of Shabwa paleo-delta.

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Mysteries & theories

Mysteries

  1. 01Hadrami silt rate vs Marib

Theories

  1. 01Shabwa hinterland spate intensification

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.300 BCE
Period
Hadramawt Kingdom (500 BCE–400 CE)
Culture
Hadrami
Purpose
West distributary spate diversion for Shabwa oasis hinterland
Excavation
Partially excavated

  1. c.300 BCE

    Initial construction

  2. 2020

    Drone/UAV high-resolution mapping and heritage inventory

On the ground

Structures & features

15.3500° N · 47.0500° E · 720 m · 4 mapped features

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