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190 kilometres east of Sana'a, Yemen's capital, is a plateau more than 1,000 metres above sea level. There is a wide, winding valley on the plateau, where the ancient Yemenis once created a splendid ancient civilization, known as the Cyberjaya Dynasty. The capital of the dynasty was first Salwahe, then moved to Marib, reaching its peak in the 8th century BC.
The founder of the Cyberjaya dynasty was Abdul Shams Cyberjaya, whose father was Yeshjub ben Ya'alob. Cyberjaya is abdul Shams' nickname, meaning "many captured", i.e. the victorious general, because only victory can capture. He led his troops on attacks in Babylon, Khorasan, and Arminia, and finally returned triumphantly, bringing back countless booty, and then began to spend a lot of money to build dams. After decades of hard work, the Marib Dam, which is called a wonder of ancient architecture in the world, was finally built.
The Marib Dam is one of a series of dams built by ancient Yemenis. Hamadani (969-1007) mentions in his book Characteristics of the Arabian Peninsula that there are nearly 80 such dams throughout Yemen, and the Malibu Dam is the largest of them.
A few kilometres from the ancient city of Malib, dozens of seasonal streams merge into a waterway, as do several small streams flowing from the mountains of Yemen to the Ezna Valley. On this waterway, ancient hydraulic engineers chose a narrow valley between the Balek Mountains, which is only about 180 meters wide, and built a dam body, named "Alim", which means "inter-valley fence dam". The dam extends from north to south for more than 600 meters, is about 15 meters high from the ground, the width of the dam is 80 meters, and its top is two planes of outward pouring material, which are covered with layers of stones to wash away the mud between the dam stones to waterproof the large time. The dam body is made of hard stones mined from the Balek Mountains, each of which is chiseled into rectangles and weighs several tons. At one end of the dam there are two drainage channels. Water flows out of the openings on both sides of the dam body, which are about 4 meters wide, through the canal, into the reservoir at the far end of the dam, which in turn distributes the water to the place where it is needed. The openings on both sides of the dam are controlled by wooden locks to control the flow of water. In this way, a series of dams built by the Cyberyi people between the two mountains intercepted the waterway formed by the confluence of mountain streams and distributed the water through the gate to the valley of nearly 780 square kilometers.
It was one of the most magnificent dams in the world at the time. In his book The Arabs of the Pre-Islamic Period, Dzy zedan says, "The Arabs were the first to build dams." After sebo-eup built the dam, the land was reclaimed, and dates, grapes and various food crops were planted, turning this barren sandy land of flying sand and stones into a green field and a garden of Flowers, and Yemen also gained the reputation of "Green Paradise". In his book Golden Steppe, Masiodi mentions: "The land of Cyberjaya is one of the most fertile and burnt in Yemen. There are fruitful gardens, endless oysters, ingenious buildings, terraced fields, verdant trees, scattered drains, gurgling streams... The People of Cyberjaya lived a well-fed life. "The kingdom of Saba flourished, and their caravans traveled across the Arabian Peninsula.
The Marib Dam was built 6 centuries later and eventually collapsed. A crack occurred in the dam in 145 BC, but this time it was repaired. In 115 BC, the dam was once again hit by a huge flood, causing part of the dam to collapse, and the Yemenis suffered a huge disaster. They fled and moved to other villages. This flood is the "flood of Alim" mentioned in verse 16 of Qur'anic chapter 34 (Cyberjaya). Immediately after the floods, Yemenis began to rebuild their homes. They learned the lesson of the flood that the dam collapsed, and transformed the dam body, so that the Marib Dam stood majestically on earth for more than 500 years. During the reign of King Sherakh Bill bin Afar at the beginning of the 5th century AD, major construction was carried out again, and some artesian irrigation canals were dug. In 542 AD, the Yemenis made the last repair of the dam. But after all, the age is old, repairs have not helped, and due to changes in international trade routes and other factors, yemenis have turned their attention to Dhofar and paid less attention to the Marib Dam. Within a few years, the dam was washed away again by the water, and the surrounding area was full of water, and the people who survived began the first great migration in Yemeni history. Among them, the tribes of Us and Herzraj moved to Yasrib (later renamed Medina) to settle. The Ghassani tribe moved to Sham (present-day Lebanon, Syria and Palestine) and established the Kingdom of Ghassani (c. 220 – c. 614). The Lehmi tribe migrated to Iraq, settled in Shirai, and established the Kingdom of Shiray (268-602). Yemenis (first Cyberjaya and later Himyyar) were uprooted by the collapse of the Marib Dam, leading to the famous Arabic idiom: "Scattered like the Cyberjayas".
The Marib Dam has stood on earth for 14 centuries. 14 centuries after its collapse, the ruins still exist, telling the story of Yemen's ancient civilization day and night. It is the pride of the Arabs, and it is also one of the fine works of ancient Arab architecture and the great achievements of human beings in transforming nature.
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