Marib
مَأْرِب | |
|---|---|
 Marib City in 2021 | |
  Marib Location in Yemen | |
| Coordinates: 15°27′38″N 45°19′34″E / 15.46056°N 45.32611°E | |
| Country | Yemen |
| Governorate | Marib Governorate |
| District | Marib |
| Elevation | 3,670 ft (1,120 m) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • | 16,794 |
| Time zone | UTC+03:00 (Yemen Standard Time) |
Marib (Arabic: مَأْرِب, romanized: Maʾrib; Old South Arabian: 𐩣𐩧𐩨/𐩣𐩧𐩺𐩨 Mryb/Mrb) is the capital city of Marib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Sabaʾ (Arabic: سَبَأ),[1][2] which some scholars believe to be the ancient Sheba of biblical fame.[3] It is about 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of Yemen's modern capital, Sanaa, and is in the region of the Sarawat Mountains.[4] In 2005 it had a population of 16,794. However, in 2021, it had absorbed close to a million refugees fleeing the Yemeni Civil War.[5]
- ^ Quran 27:6–93
- ^ Quran 34:15–18
- ^ "Saba / Sa'abia / Sheba". The History Files (http://www.historyfiles.co.uk). Retrieved 27 June 2008.
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 (5 km) 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 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 [Note that the collapse of the dam was actually in 575 C.E., as shown in the timeline in the same article in the History Files, and attested by MacCulloch (2009)].
- ^ Robert D. Burrowes (2010). Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 234–319. ISBN 978-0810855281.
- ^ "Yemen's Marib: The city at the heart of a dirty war". BBC News. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.