The city of Maʾrib in north-central Yemen is best known as the site of the ancient fortified city of Maʾrib and its associated dam. The ancient city was the principal center of the pre-Islamic kingdom of Sabaʾ (biblical Sheba), which existed from 950 to 115 bce. The Maʾrib Dam regulated the waters of the Wadi Sadd and irrigated more than 23,700 acres (9,600 hectares), supporting a densely settled agricultural region. The Sabaean civilization peaked when power transferred from priest-kings to autocratic monarchs in the 6th century bce. Modern historians have called Maʾrib “the Paris of the ancient world” because it was a fertile oasis and was located on caravan routes that linked the Mediterranean world and the Arabian Peninsula.
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