Landmarks of Saba

About this place

The Landmarks of Saba are a group of seven archaeological sites in Marib Governorate in eastern Yemen, bearing witness to the ancient Sabaean civilisation of South Arabia. On 25 January 2023 UNESCO added them to the World Heritage List and also placed them on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Their tall stone pillars rising from the sand make an unforgettable sight. Among the most important is the Temple of Awwam, known locally as Mahram Bilqis, 7 km south-east of ancient Marib. It is the largest known temple complex in South Arabia and was dedicated to the god Almaqah. Nearly a thousand inscriptions found there form the most important collection for the pre-Islamic history of Yemen. The ancient Marib Dam was first built in the 8th century BC. At Awwam you see a row of tall square stone pillars and the remains of an oval wall. At the nearby Bar'an temple, known as the Throne of Bilqis, tall pillars stand alone in the sand. Old Marib itself is a ruin of mud houses on a mound, and at the ancient dam are huge stone sluice remains near the modern dam of the 1980s. They lie about 120 km in a straight line from Old Sanaa. The sites are spread out and exposed, so you need a car, a guide and plenty of water, and you should not climb the old pillars or walls. The UK Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to the whole of Yemen and tells anyone there to leave, so check official guidance before making any plans.