From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Mareb" redirects here. For the river in
Ethiopia, see
Mareb
River.
"Mariba" redirects here. For the small town in
the United States, see
Mariba, Kentucky.
Ma'rib (Arabic: مأرب) or Marib is the
capital town of the Ma'rib Governorate, Yemen and was the capital of the Sabaean
kingdom (Ancient Sheba of
biblical fame[1]).
It is located at 15°25′0″N 45°21′0″E / 15.416667°N
45.35°E / 15.416667; 45.35,
approximately 120 kilometers east of Yemen's modern capital, Sana'a. It has a current
population of 16,794.
History
The Sabaean kingdom was located in what is now the Aseer region
in southwestern Yemen. The
Sabaean kings made their capital at Marib, and built great
irrigation works such as the Marib dams, whose ruins are still visible.
They also built castles and temples in the area, and were known for
trading the valuable frankincense[1]
and myrrh.[2] They
were a seafaring people and known to have influence and a
population in the East
African kingdom of Dʿmt,
across the Red Sea in Eritrea and perhaps Ethiopia, the only other
source of both frankincense and myrrh.
In 25 B.C., Aelius Gallus led "an expedition to Marib
(Yemen)."[3]
The Bar'an temple in
Marib. Built in the 8th century BC and
performed its function for nearly 1000 years.
The site of Ancient Marib was largely abandoned during the 20th
century. Although a small village remains, the multi-story
mud-brick buildings of the historic city are largely in ruins. The
modern city of Marib is located about 3.5 kilometers north of the
center of the ancient city.
2007
attack
A suicide bomber crashed a car packed with
explosives into a tourists' convoy as they were ending a tour of a
temple, killing 7 Spanish
tourists and their two Yemeni guides in an attack on July 2, 2007.
Yemeni officials have blamed al-Qaeda for the attack.[4]
Notes
- ^ a
b
"Saba / Sa'abia / Sheba".
© 1999-2008 Kessler Associates. http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/ArabicSaba.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-27. "The
kingdom of Saba is known to have existed in the region of Yemen. By
1000 BC caravan trains of camels journeyed from Oman in south-east
Arabia to the Mediterranean. As the camel drivers passed through
the deserts of Yemen, experts believe that many of them would have
called in at Marib. Dating from at least 1050 BC, and now barren
and dry, Marib was then a lush oasis teeming with palm trees and
exotic plants. Ideally placed, it was situated on the trade routes
and with a unique dam of vast proportions. It was also one of only
two main sources of frankincense (the other being East Africa), so
Saba had a virtual monopoly. Marib's wealth accumulated to such an
extent that the city became a byword for riches beyond belief
throughout the Arab world. Its people, the Sabeans - a group whose
name bears the same etymological root as Saba - lived in South
Arabia between the tenth and sixth centuries BC. Their main temple
- Mahram Bilqis, or temple of the moon god (situated about three
miles from the capital city of Marib) - was so famous that it
remained sacred even after the collapse of the Sabean civilisation
in the sixth century BC - caused by the rerouting of the spice
trail. By the that point the dam, now in a poor state of repair,
was finally breached. The irrigation system was lost, the people
abandoned the site within a year or so, and the temple fell into
disrepair and was eventually covered by sand. Saba was known by the
Hebrews as Sheba."
- ^
Age of Faith, p. 156
- ^
Chris Scarre, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome
(London: Penguin Books, 1995), 9. (also Augustus' Res
Getae 26)
- ^
Al Jazeera English - News -
Al-Qaeda Blamed For Yemen Attack
See also
References
External
links
Yemen
Wikis
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