Mareb Dam Civilization [Archives:2000/45/Culture]
Yemeni Association for History and Heritage Protection, in coordination with Al-Saeed Corporation for Sciences and Culture recently held a symposium on ancient history of Yemen.
The Association has been established in Taiz a few months ago. The symposiums theme was the Mareb Dam which began with a lecture by Al-Saeed Corporation General Manager Faisal Saeed Fare. He said, History is the vessel of the human experience. It is a science that has its basics. It must have documents because its goal is to make man know about himself. He indicated that the study of the Near East history as suffering from the small number of specialists and scarcity of writings on the history of the people of our country.
Most historical traces in our country were discovered by non-Yemeni scientists and researchers. All the old historical traces proved that the old Yemeni people were clever in many aspects of life. This made their products as expensive as oil now which is for the nations of the Mediterranean.
About Mareb Dam
This dam is called (Al-Arem Dam) and is the biggest in the south of Arab Peninsula. It is located near Mareb, south-west of the city. In the ruins of Mareb Dam, engraved writings in Musnad Script were found. The dam underwent repairs in the reign of King Sherhabeel Bin Yafor in A.D. 449 and 450 as well as repairs in the Abraha reign during the Ethiopian invasion of Yemen in A.D. 525 and 571.
Mr. Al-Ezi Musleh, Antiquities Office General Manager in Taiz, delivered a speech in the symposium. He said, Mareb Dam has offered a lot to the Yemeni people. It used to store large quantities of water, irrigate a vast area of land for securing food. This dam was mentioned in the Holy Quran, in the Arabic Literature and in historical ruins. There were various myths about the destruction of the dam. Abu Alhasan Al-Hamdani visited it a thousand years ago and saw its outlets and channels extending over areas of about 500 km and found traces of Al-Gannatain Land, (Land of the two Paradises).
The dam was established on both northern and southern outlets of Al-Baraq Mountains,. The peoples use of the its rocks in building houses made its destruction faster. When it was built again, the outlets of Al-Gannatain Land were ruined. It is a draining dam, not a transfer dam. A Swiss team that carried out a study on the dam, its outlets and measurements, concluded that it used to store 55 million cubic meters. The cascades of the dam extend over 10,000 km almost from the outskirts of Sanaa, Dhamar, and then Rada. The water force per second was 950 cubic meters. Fifty cubic meters of water per second were distributed from its canals.
When Did The Dam Appear?
An American delegation from Chicago University has made studies of the prehistoric archeological sites and found that man immigrated from Africa, crossed Bab Almandab towards the coastal line, mountains, Hadhramout and went westward to Mareb. They also found fossils dating back to 1.25 million years. That means dwelling in Mareb started a million years ago. Mareb basin was forming many swamps. A swamp was discovered north Al-Ebre, another in Al-Hamra Area. Floods were flowing into a river extending from Al-Gauf to Al-Maseela. This was discovered by means of satellites. Population condensed and spread out in Al-Gedran Area in Mareb. There are also about four thousand graves. This reveals that people spread in this area, depended on hunting and later on farming. However, Mareel Wise explained that there were decades of drought started in Mareb basin and perhaps in all Yemen and continued for 40,000 years, then after 33,000. Drought happened again for 21,000 years and it also happened between 8000 and 5000. Swamps remained in this area because the expedition found, in Sada basin, fossils for beast animals that used to live on land and return to water. Dr. Madiha Rashad has made a study near Al-Maqrood Mountain. The results showed that the drought dates back to 7000 BC. Furthermore, the results of the study made in Al-Hamra Area by the Italian team, the finding of bones of pigs, confirm the spread of population in Sada. Els Bruno says that the drought really started in Mareb since 4000 BC. Thus, man started immigrating gradually into the valleys outlets. In other words, man had ascended from these areas to higher ones.
What do studies say?
Studies say that people had lived in those areas before that time. The red signs on the maps we have got indicate locations of the old stone ages dating back to 4000 BC.
Likewise, studies confirmed that the stone graves, above ground level, in the Green Mountain in Oman date back to 4000 years BC. In addition, the findings of drawings for fighting people and prey animals during the Stone Ages inside the dam are other confirmations that man lived in those areas earlier than 4000 years BC.
How did it begin?
Building Mareb Dam:
The geological structure of the region is rocky and admitting no farming because it is an oil soil there. Besides, the ground water there contains sulfuric acid. This does not make it suitable for farming. The scientist Marfolondo thinks that Mareb basin had formed between 500 and 400 million years during the missionary movements. Moreover, Serwah Volcano, the most famous volcano in Yemen extending from Serwah to four-lava in Rada, made it difficult for any kind of cultivation.
However, the first man made Mareb an agricultural region by making small dams and reservoirs. Of course, when water precipitated, much precipitation remained and consequently the region became agriculturally formed. Mareb Dam was the first transfer dam draining water directly over Al-Gannatain Land. On the other hand, the continuous precipitation made the level of the agricultural land higher until it became at the same level as the dams outlets and this hindered the dam completely. After that, man ascended to a higher region and another two-channel-transfer dam appeared and continued working for a long time. This dam was built in the same way as the previous ones. It was built with horizontal arches and a pyramid structure behind. The rocks behind the dam were two meters long but what appeared above the ground were 50 meters. Thus, the structure was raised to withstand the water shocks and impacts.
Elli Bri says that the water force comes to 5060 cubic meters. This is enough to sweep away and destroy the dam completely. However, when the horizontal arches were built, the water bumped into them and the approaching force of water is distributed across the ground center and branched out through the channels. Studies agree that the history of Yemen dates back to the 8th century BC. Some books have acknowledged this, too. New findings say that the beginning of writing was in the eleventh century, since 1200 BC. By referring to the letter from the prophet Sulieman to Queen of Sheba, we find that the Queen could read and write.
Mareb Dam: architecturally:
The dam was built with stone material and the arch is 700 meters long. Besides there is a main channel that distributes water. The extension of the dam is natural.
What the dam underwent and what is grown there:
The dam has undergone precipitation and water was passing from the top of the arch. Sesame, lentil, barley, wheat, sorghum, pomegranate, grapes and palm trees were grown there as mentioned in the sculptures.
The Collapse of the Dam:
Because of the high level of the arch, it formed a big pressure on the rocks of the dam. Scientifically, the sedimentary layers were the main factors of ruining the dam during the reign of Sharhabeel Yafor. Historians say the collapse of the dam occurred between the 5th and the 6th century BC.
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