Sirwah ( OSA: Ṣrwḥ, ''Ṣirwāḥ Ḫawlān'') was, after

Ma'rib Marib (; Old South Arabian: 𐩣𐩧𐩨/𐩣𐩧𐩺𐩨 ''Mryb/Mrb'') is the capital city of Marib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of '' Sabaʾ'' (), which some scholars believe to be the ancient Sheba of bibl ...

, the most important economical and political center of the Kingdom of Saba at the beginning of the 1st century BC, on the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. Ṣirwāḥ was surrounded by a fortified wall. The city layout inside the oasis included a number of large buildings. It’s also a part of

Khawlan Khawlan (, ) is an ancient Tribes of Yemen#Himyar, Himyarite Arab tribe that archeologists view as one of the old tribes of Yemen that were contemporary to the kingdoms of Sabaeans, Saba and Minaeans, Ma'in. There are two tribes in Yemen with the ...

. The ruins of Ṣirwāḥ are located 40 km west of Ma'rib. The town was well protected by its position in the mountains, but at the same time put limits on its development. As a result, Ṣirwāḥ quickly lost its position as a capital, which was taken over by Ma’rib, which was in an important economical center since it was located on the incense route. The town nevertheless remained an important centre for the Sabaeans, as shown by the large number of temple buildings. It was also the site chosen by King Yada'il Dharih I to build an important temple to

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 ...

about the year 700 BC. In 2023, along with other landmarks of the ancient Kingdom of Saba, Sirwah 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 ...

Archaeology

Archaeologists from the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office, Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and ...

have in 2005 discovered and salvaged an inscription from the Sabaean Kingdom that is ca. seven meters long and weighs over seven tonne. This heavy block of stone was a standing feature of the sanctuary of Almaqah and had fallen from its plinth during an earthquake. The inscription gives an account of the battles of a Sabaean, carried out against his immediate neighbors in the south-east and north of Yemen. The epigraphist Norbert Nebes from the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

described the inscription as the most important one so far from the period of the first century BC. Some restorative work was undertaken on these sites before the breakout of the Yemeni Civil War. During these works a further temple was discovered dating back to the 7th century BC. This sanctuary has a monumental entrance, decorated with pillars. It contains a number of rooms, built out of wood and stone, the layout is unique for Yemen in this period. One of the longest inscriptions which composed of 20 lines is describing the conquerors and campaigns by king

Karib'il Watar Karibʾīl Watār Yahanʾm ( Sabaean: , romanized: ; 7th century BCE), sometimes distinguished as was probably the most important ruler of the early days of the Sabaean Kingdom. He is sometimes regarded as the founder of the kingdom proper, as ...

. Since the breakout of civil war in Yemen in 2015, Ṣirwāḥ has been a frontline between the

Houthi The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely ...

rebels and forces allied with President

Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi (born 1 September 1945) is a Yemeni politician and former military officer who served as the second president of Yemen from 2012 until his resignation in 2022. He previously served as the second vice president of Yemen fro ...

, making excavations almost impossible. Prior to this, a number of German excavations took place in Ṣirwāḥ, which it was hoped would further knowledge about the earliest days of the

Sabaean Kingdom Sheba, or Saba, was an ancient South Arabian kingdom that existed in Yemen from to . Its inhabitants were the Sabaeans, who, as a people, were indissociable from the kingdom itself for much of the 1st millennium BCE. Modern historians agree th ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

Monumentale Inschrift im Reich der Königin von Saba gefunden (Monumental Inscription found in the Kingdom of Saba)
(PDF; 175 kB)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081018215220/http://www.dainst.org/index_8266_de.html Mitteilung des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Yemen Architecture of ancient Yemen World Heritage Sites in Yemen Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba (Marib)