Description
In the Bible, one of the passages of Genesis, or the ancient geography is exposed by means of genealogies: the small son of Sem, “Yogtan begat …, Hasarmaweth = Hadramawt, …, Sheba = Saba” ( Gen.10). And the most famous mention is the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. Book of Kings. Ch. 9.10. who reigned at 106 ‘av. The same story is told in the Koran under the name of Balkis, Saba = Balkis (Sura 27). The peoples of classical antiquity had selected seven “Wonders of the World”, Arabia was too impenetrable to be included; a monument could have caught the attention of the Classics, the famous Dike of Marib, pride of the inhabitants of the peninsula to the point of to be mentioned in the Koran (Sura 34) and to be at the center of the legends on the dispersion of the Arab tribes. The ancient oasis then extended over 20 km long and 8 km wide, the largest in Happy Arabia. It is divided by the course of wadi Dhana, into two sets, Yarsan to the south and Abyan to the north, to use the Sabeian names. The Sabeennes inscriptions, in situ, mention “Marib and its two valleys” just as the Koran (Sura 34) speaks of “two gardens, on the right and on the left”. Today, the Dike of Marib has lost none of its symbolic force. Yemen hastened to rebuild a Dike upstream in 1986. The foundation stele insists on historical continuity, not only does it refer to the ancient seawall, but it is written in two languages, sabeen and arabic. The city of Marib was the largest and most populous in the kingdom of Sheba. It was surrounded by a wall 4.5 km long encircling a real “tell” with an area of 120 ha and 1.5 km long and 1 km wide. Outside the city, important vestiges of which the oval temple of Awwam (Mahram Balkis) measures 300 m in circumference and Baran (Arsh Balkis) consecrates to the god Almaqah (the god Moon). Its six monolithic pillars, 9m high, become the symbol of the Unified Yemen – after the national flag. The legend of the Queen of Sheba / Balkis and the legend of the Dam of Marib: myths which found the identity of a people, we recognize the functions of the founding myth there. “The old and the new” this question expresses well in this passionate choice to make this site a founding place of its identity and its unity, to hold a National Festival of Arts and Traditions of Yemen. Like Babylon in Iraq, Jerash in Jordan, Baalbek in Lebanon. An Archaeological Park in this mythical place will give the countries of the world the image of a great civilization, equal to those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Abyssinia. It is with the myths that we make History and the reflection on Art arises in the shock of the centuries. a great civilization, equal to those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Abyssinia. It is with the myths that we make History and the reflection on Art arises in the shock of the centuries. a great civilization, equal to those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Abyssinia. It is with the myths that we make History and the reflection on Art arises in the shock of the centuries.