Marib

Marib is the capital city of Maʼrib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Saba,which some scholars believe to be the ancient Sheba of biblical fame.It is located approximately 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of Yemen’s modern capital, Sana’a, and is in the region of the Sarawat Mountains.In 2005 it had a population of 16,794.The ancient city, in a fertile oasis irrigated by the impounded waters of the Maʾrib Dam, has been called “the Paris of the ancient world.” It was on one of the principal caravan routes that linked the Mediterranean world and the Arabian Peninsula, and it prospered especially because of its trading monopoly of frankincense and myrrh from Yemen and the southern coastal region of Hadhramaut.

The surrounding region borders the southern Arabian desert known as Rubʿ al-Khali (“Empty Quarter”), mostly in Saudi Arabia. Although there are several wadis such as Ḥarīb and Al-Jawf, the region has the poorest agricultural productivity in the country. The land slopes eastward from 6,000 to 3,000 feet (2,000 to 1,000 metres) where it merges with the Rubʿ al-Khali. Sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys are raised, and dates are cultivated. Since 1984, when large deposits of petroleum were discovered nearby, Maʾrib has played a central role in the country’s oil industry.