DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-islamic arabian Inscriptions: Site details

Editor: Jérémie Schiettecatte

View of the 'Acropolis'
Catalogue 2000: 147

View of the 'Acropolis'
Catalogue 2000: 147
Old town
Fontaine and Arbach 2006: 64
Bronze incense burner on splayed foot.
Catalogue 2000: no. 31

SITE INFORMATION

Ancient name	Mryb / Mrb
Country	Yemen
Geographical area	Maʾrib
Governorate	Maʾrib
Kingdom	Saba Himyar
Coordinates	Latitude: 15° 25' 39.6" Longitude: 45° 20' 5.8"
Coordinates accuracy	certain
Type of site	Settlement
Tribe	Tribe: Fys²n Tribe: S¹bʾ Tribe: ʾs¹bʾn (nisba) Tribe: S¹bʾ Khln Lineage: ʾnwyn Lineage: ʿṯkln Lineage: ʿṯkln ʿṣyt Lineage: Gdnm Lineage: Grt Lineage: Hmdn Lineage: Ḥbtlm Lineage: Ḥlḥlm Lineage: Ḥzfrm Lineage: Kbr ʾqynm Lineage: Kbr Ḫll Lineage: Krbm Lineage: Mqrm Lineage: Mwḍʿm Lineage: S¹ḥr Lineage: Tḥyʿz Lineage: Yhʿn Lineage: Zbnr
Deities	ʾl ʾlhn ʾlmqh(w) ʾlmqh bʿl Ms¹kt w-Yṯw Brʾn ʾlmqh bʿl ʾwm ʾlmqh bʿl Ḥr(w)nm ʾlmqh(w) bʿl Ms²rʿm ʾlmqh ḏ-Mryb ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl ʾwm ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl Ḥrwnm ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl Ms¹kt ʾlmqh Ṯhwn bʿl Ms¹kt w-Yṯw Brʾn ʾlmqh Ṯhwn w-Ṯwr Bʿlm ʾlmqh Ṯhwn w-Ṯwr Bʿlm bʿl Ḥrwnm ʾybm ʿṯtr ʿṯtr ḏ-Ḏbn ʿṯtr ḏ-Ḏbn bʿl Bḥr Ḥṭbm ʿṯtr ḏ-Gwftm ʿṯtr S²rqn Bʿlt Qnyn ḏ-S¹mwy ḏ-S¹mwy ʿdy Wtrm ḏ-S¹mwy bʿl Wtrm ḏ-S¹my bʿl Wtrm ḏt-Bʿdn(m) ḏt-Ġḍrn ḏt-Ġḍrn bʿlt S¹fly ḏ-Ġmmm ḏt-Ḥmym Hbs¹ Hwbs¹ Krwm Rbʿn Yhʿn Rḥmnn Rḥmnn Mlkn Rḥmnn mrʾ S¹myn Rḥmnn mrʾ S¹myn w-ʾrḍn S¹ḥr S¹mʿ S¹mydʿ S²ms S²ms mlkn Tnf S²ms¹ Ḥmt S²ms¹-hmw Tnf bʿlt Ġḍrn Tʾlb Rymm Ṯwn Ṯr Bʿlm Wd(m) Wll
Structures	Dwelling (indeterminate) Dwelling (concentrated) Workshop Market place Quarry Light hydraulic structure (ex. canal, well) Large hydraulic structure (ex. dam) Wells, cisterns Building with political function Rampart Small temple Large temple Pilgrimage temple Church Synagogue Graveyard Paved road Rock inscriptions
Language	Sabaic
General description	Extension: 100 ha (approx. intra muros). The great oasis of Mārib lays on the biggest hydrographical plain of all Yemen, being irrigated by three courses: the wādī Dhāna (the main and the central one), the wādī Jufayna (N) and the wādī ʿAlīb (S). To SW the area is bordered by Jabal Balaq al Awsaṭ, which has been extensively used in antiquity for its quarries and for burials. Northwards Mārib is facing the Ramlat as-Sabʿatayn desert sands.
Chronology	The thick stratum of limes (up to 20 m) which deposited for centuries on this area has rendered particularly difficult the discovery of proto-historic or even prehistoric sites in the plain but, according to surveys in the surrounding areas, this region is one of the most ancient to have been inhabited. Prehistoric microliths have been in fact found, and many stone alignments (mainly concentrated in the northern volcanic rocks) can be assigned to a long proto-historic phase. A continuous settlement can be hypothesized in the area, given the political and economic attractiveness of the area. This continued to be at least until the city of Mārib maintained its political supremacy. Signs of decadence are in fact clear since the 4th century BC. From now on Mārib begun loosing its centrality and power within South Arabia. The definitive crisis has its most clear sign at the beginning of 7th century AD when the last break of the Great Dam was not repaired any more.
Classical sources	Eratosthenes of Cyrene, in Strabo Geogr., 16, 4, 2 (3rd cent. BC): Μαρίαβα Strabo, Geogr. 16, 4, 19 (1st cent. BC): Μαρίαβα Pliny the Elder, Nat. Hist. VI, 32, 160 (1st cent. AD): Mariba Pliny the Elder, Nat. Hist. VI, 32, 155 (1st cent. AD): Mareliabata Claudius Ptolemy, Geogr. 6.7.37 (2nd cent. AD): Μαράβα/Μαρά Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 23, 6, 47 (4th cent. AD): Baraba
Travellers	1843: T. Arnaud 1870: J. Halévy 1888: E. Glaser
Archaeological missions	1947: A. Fakhry (Egypt) 1951 / 52: AFSM (USA) 1975: C. Robin (France) 1979: J. Dayton and R. Serjeant (UK) since 1975: DAI (Germany) since 1997: AFSM (USA)

MONUMENTS

City Walls

[By A. Agostini] The main ancient settlement lays at about 10 km from the Great Dam (see here below), centred on the Northern Oasis (together with the Southern Oasis, one of the 'Two Gardens'). The city walls gave the city a trapezoid shape and were originally 4.5 km long, thus representing the largest town of all ancient South Arabia. The wall was regularly punctuated by towers and curtains. Seven gates were giving access to the interior. This walled structure was the result of multiple interventions and modifications, which are clear from different techniques and material assemblages. Works on the structures falls within a very long period, spanning from the 8th century BC until the 3rd century AD. Inside this large walled area four mounds are detectable, having been places of more intense and continuous dwelling. The most impressive is the so called Acropolis, which stands out also because it was reused in Medieval times and its tower houses have been inhabited until the Sixties of 20th century. Nevertheless, traces of the pre-Islamic settlement are still detectable and, among these, there are the pillars later reused in the Sulaymān mosque but originally coming from one of the several intra-muros temples (probably 7). This mound was also probably the spot were the Royal Palace Salḥīn was standing.

Aerial photo of the city walls

Dam

[By A. Agostini] In view of the particularly fortunate environmental setting of the area, it has been estimated that human interventions, in order to manage and control the water resources, can go back to the 3rd millennium BC. Analysis if the silt deposits, although still controversial, should sustain such a high dating. The ruins of this mighty hydraulic complex are scattered in a very ample area. The most important are the Southern and Northern Sluices. The latter is the more impressive, and consists of massive walls with internal casemates packed with rubble and earth. The outer faces are however refined with limestone blocks. Its original measures have been estimated in 145 m in length and 14 m in height, this implies that a big portion of the structure is now submerged by the thick stratum of debris and silt. This increasing level of deposits is the reason why these structures needed frequent restorations and adaptations to the new environmental conditions. The last phase of the sluice is in fact realized with blocks reused from older stages. During this very long time span construction techniques evolved: in the last phase in fact metal clamps and cement are frequently used, while they seem absent in the more ancient portions of the structure, like the Southern Sluice, for instance, which seems to have been less involved in rehashes, still having many parts to be dated back to the 6th century BC.