# Why Wasn't the Marib Dam (Yemen) Rebuilt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-marib-dam-yemen-rebuilt/722397 "2015-06-13T00:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-marib-dam-yemen-rebuilt/722397/1 "2015-06-13T00:32:21Z")
The ancient Kingdom of Sabea (now Yemen) once had irrigated lands, fed by a resevoir formed by a large dam (Marib). This dam was excavated in the 1950s, by Wendell Philips. The dam was destroyed by an earthquake in antiquity-why wasn’t it rebuilt? BTW, was ancient Yemen the Bibilcal Sheba? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-marib-dam-yemen-rebuilt/722397/2 "2015-06-13T03:51:20Z")
I was under the impression that biblical Sheba was thought to be in the general region now called Sudan. Fight my ignorance, someone? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-marib-dam-yemen-rebuilt/722397/3 "2015-06-13T06:27:16Z")
I never heard of Sudan as a possible location for the kingdom of Sheba. Ethiopia is often mentioned, on the other hand, owing to local traditions. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-marib-dam-yemen-rebuilt/722397/4 "2015-06-13T12:03:00Z")
There is a dam there now - [Marib Dam - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marib_Dam) - Maybe the earthquake was so severe that either there weren’t enough people left to rebuild, or they thought that God didn’t like the dam and sent the earthquake to make a point. There are examples all over the world, and especially in desert areas, where people have abandoned what look like viable cities for no apparent reason. We have written records these days so we know why it happens. [20 Abandoned Cities, Towns & Places Around the World - WebUrbanist](http://weburbanist.com/2008/07/06/20-abandoned-cities-and-towns/) ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-the-marib-dam-yemen-rebuilt/722397/5 "2015-06-13T14:33:49Z")
> **[Kingdoms of the Arabs - Saba / Sheba](https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/ArabicSaba.htm)** > > Coverage of the various historical cultures, rulers, and states of the Near East The Marib area was a capital _because_ it was inland. This was probably a defensive move, or even isolationist. It became rich because of its gold. Gold was useful ,as the gold attracted the spice route traders, which would detour south to take advantage of the relatively safe thoroughfare…So much for isolation…well you can’t spend the gold without having a external trading system… So there was an external trading system, and that meant that there was food…The dam provided water… but reliable self-sufficient farming (animal and crop) would still have been elusive… So the gold ran out, the spice route moved north, and the power system changes over to a christian government capital in what is now Jordan. The poor area was a no mans land, and with no resources, the locals were easily held in siege… during their own in fighting, and so on… for their own safety , and better farmland, and easier trading of perishables, they moved on and created new settlements elsewhere… Mecca, Medina Oman , and Syria . Now if you were an Arab who didn’t want to bow to Rome … you’d rather bow to Mecca… well what would you do ? Well they got their Mohammud there in Mecca … Not saying they faked it…