Dams in the western mountains of Yemen: a Himyarite model of water management

Description

In the western mountains of Yemen, about sixty dams were identified during the last thirty years. Inscriptions date these dams to between the first century BC and the fourth century AD, which corresponds approximately to the Дimyarite era. Most of these structures exhibit the same construction pattern: a high masonry wall associated with spillways. Their similarities led us to think that most were gravity dams used for irrigating fields. The major problem faced by agriculturalists of ancient South Arabia was the seasonality of rain. Barrages made possible the storage and the allocation of water year-round in order to increase agricultural yields. Therefore, associated irrigation systems were functioning in quite a different way from the irrigation systems of the lowland kingdoms that were based on the immediate allocation of floodwaters. It would seem that the Дimyarite period represents a new development in terms of water and land management.

Abstract

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