People of Saba
"Is it not a warning to such men (to call to mind) how many generations before them We destroyed, in whose haunts they (now) move? Verily, in this are Signs for men endued with understanding." ( Quran: 20/128)
The kingdom of Saba is known to have existed in the region of Yemen. The capital city of the Sabaean state Marib, was very close to the River Adhanah. The people of Saba constructed a dam on this river and they began irrigation. The height of the dam was 16 metres, its width was 60 metres and its length was 620 metres. 9,600 hectares of land could be irrigated by means of the dam.
Marib was also situated on the trade routes. With the help of the dam and their geographical positon, the city reached a high level of prosperity and became a symbol of wealth and luxury. The Sabaean people had fruitful vineyards and gardens.
The people of Saba were worshipping the sun instead of Allah(God). They built temples in the area. Two famous temples were: the temple of the sun and the temple of the moon. The ruins of the temples and inscriptions writen in Sabaean language are still visible in Marib.
The people of Saba became arrogant, they were not grateful, they rejected their Prophet and they turned away from Allah(God). Therefore Allah(God) punished them with a flood. The dam collapsed and the resulting flood destroyed the vineyards, gardens and the cultivated fields. Sabaean people went into a period of recession and the end of the Sabaean state came. The ruins of the dam are left behind for today's people as a warning. This fact is told in Quran in the following verse:
"There was, for Saba, aforetime, a Sign in their home-land - two Gardens to the right and to the left. 'Eat of the Sustenance (provided) by your Lord, and be grateful to Him: a territory fair and happy, and a Lord Forgiving!'. But they turned away (from God), and We sent against them the Flood (released) from the dams, and We converted their two garden (rows) into "gardens" producing bitter fruit, and tamarisks, and some few (stunted) Lote-trees. That was the Requital We gave them because they ungratefully rejected Faith: and never do We give (such) requital except to such as are ungrateful rejecters." (Quran: 34 / 15-17)
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