Hello everyone, this week we're going to look at the rise of the Yemeni kingdom of Saba. Yes, I know this is the History of
Africa podcast, but the story of Saba is so crucial to Ethiopian civilization that any series on Ethiopian history that excludes their story would be incomplete.
Anyways, here's a map of Saba in case you get lost during this episode.
This is a picture of the Marib dam. This dam controlled the floods of the Wadi Dhana, allowing the Sabaeans to efficiently use Yemen's sparse water for irrigation. Various forms of the dam remained in use until the 6th century AD, and remained an important facet of southern Arabian life. The dam was permanently breached in 570 AD when the siltation of the reservoir made the dam unusable. The destruction of the dam destroyed the Yemeni society of the time, an event alluded to in the Quran. According to the Quranic depictions of events, the failure of the dam caused a destructive flood, sent by God to punish the southern Arabians for their continued practice of the old pagan faiths.
But they turned away. So We sent against them a devastating flood, and replaced their orchards with two others producing bitter fruit, fruitless bushes, and a few sparse, thorny trees. -Surah 34:17
The Marib dam remains a symbol of national pride to the modern people of Yemen, depicted on the shield of the eagle's chest in the country's national coat of arms.
Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. This show isn't free to produce, as I have to pay for hosting, and spend usually about 20+ hours each week writing scripts, recording, editing and, uploading to various platforms, in addition to writing articles. So please, if you'd like to support the hard work we put into the show, please click the support show link at the top of the page.
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