The Barran Temple () is a Sabaean temple near

Marib Marib (; Ancient South Arabian script, Old South Arabian: 𐩣𐩧𐩨/𐩣𐩧𐩺𐩨 ''Mryb/Mrb'') is the capital city of Marib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of ''Saba’, Sabaʾ'' (), which some scholars beli ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

; also known as the "Throne of Bilqis", it dates back to the 10th century BCE and was dedicated to the god al-Maqah. In 2023, along with other landmarks of the ancient Kingdom of Saba, the temple was added to the UNESCO

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

Background

The temple is located to the west of the Temple of Awwam, also dedicated to the god

Almaqah Almaqah or Almuqh (; ) was national deity of the Sabaeans of the pre-Islamic Yemeni kingdom of Saba', representing the Moon or Sun god. He was also worshipped in Dʿmt and Aksum in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The main center for his worship was at th ...

. The main features of the structure are the six columns and the sacred well in the middle of the courtyard. Until the 1988 excavations only five columns were known to exist, when remains of another were discovered. The temple is considered to be the largest pre-Islamic temple in

. It was partly excavated by

Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips (November 29, 1811 – February 2, 1884) was an American abolitionist, labor reformer, temperance activist, advocate for Native Americans, orator, and attorney. According to George Lewis Ruffin, a black attorney, Phillip ...

' expedition of 1951–1952. In addition to its religious functions the complex may have also served as a documentation center, as the inscriptions describing the events surrounding the Sabaean state were found on the walls.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=September 2019 1951 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Yemen Sabaean architecture Religious buildings and structures in Yemen Temples World Heritage Sites in Yemen Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba (Marib) 10th-century BC religious buildings and structures