Marib North Sluice & Northern Oasis Canal (Sadd Ma'rib al-Shamali)
North Sluice of Ma'rib · Shamali Sluice
Sabaean to Himyarite (8th c BCE–6th c CE)·Sabaean / Himyarite·🇾🇪 Ma'rib Governorate, Balaq Hills, north abutment of Great Dam, Yemen
About
About Marib North Sluice & Northern Oasis Canal (Sadd Ma'rib al-Shamali)
The monumental north sluice and distributary head of the Great Dam of Ma'rib, the Sabaean hydraulic system's northern outlet feeding 15 km of primary canal to the northern oasis (Jannat Shamali). The sluice comprises 6 cut-stone piers with sluice-gate slots and bronze gate fittings, 23 m long, retaining a 763-m earthen dam with 12-m rubble core. 750 BCE and rehabilitated through five Sabaean–Himyarite phases to 575 CE (the Sayl al-Arim breach), it was the hydraulic control preventing Wadi Adhanah floods from destroying the northern palm gardens.
German Archaeological Institute (DAI) 1995–2010 cleared the sluice's five phases and 5th-century Himyarite inscription (Ja 651) detailing repair.
Why it mattersIconic Sabaean hydraulic control; hydraulic failure that entered Qur'anic narrative.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Frequency of major breaches
Theories
- 01Centralized Sabaean water kingship
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.750 BCE
- Period
- Sabaean to Himyarite (8th c BCE–6th c CE)
- Culture
- Sabaean / Himyarite
- Builders
- Sabaean engineers (under Mukarrib Yada'il Dharih I)
- Purpose
- Flood control and oasis irrigation distributary
- Abandoned
- 575 CE Sayl al-Arim breach (dam failure)
- Rediscovered
- 1843 Arnaud survey; 1988 DAI clearance
- Excavation
- Excavated
750 BCE
Earliest earthen dam and sluice pit
600 BCE
Stone sluice piers with Sabaean inscription
575 CE
Himyarite breach recorded in Qur'an 34:16
On the ground
Structures & features
15.3980° N · 45.2710° E · 1150 m · 2 mapped features
North Sluice Piers N-1–N-6
hydraulic23-m ashlar pier array with bronze-fitted gate slots
15.3980° N · 45.2710° ENorthern Primary Canal Head
hydraulicHead of 15-km canal feeding northern oasis palms
15.3990° N · 45.2750° E