Great Dam of Marib

Remains Of The Dam At Wadi Adhana, Marib, Yemen
In Yemen, Marib is the site of one of the world's greatest ancient structures, a magnificent feat of early engineering and masonry techniques ; It is the dam across Wadi Adhana, the largest wadi in the south Arabian highlands ; Its purpose was to hold and to divert the water, which flooded down the wadi during the rainy season, over the nearby agricultural land. ; It also allowed the water to soak into the ground and full up the aquifers, thus supplying the wells ; Recent excavations undertaken by the German Archaeological Institute show that, while the structure was erected in the eighth century BC, irrigation works in the Wadi Adhana at Marib were initiated at least at the beginning of the second millennium BC ; Two sluices of the much repaired eighth century dam remain: the northern one, usually approached first, and the southern one on the other side of the wadi, which is more extensive and almost as high as it was originally ;
They demonstrate the Sabaeans

Image copyright: Eric Lafforgue Photography (Eric Lafforgue Photography), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.