The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced, on Wednesday, the inclusion of the landmarks of the ancient Kingdom of Sheba in Ma’rib Governorate, northeastern Yemen, on the list of World Heritage in Danger.
UNESCO said in a statement on its website that its World Heritage Committee decided, during an extraordinary session, to include seven archaeological sites attesting to the rich Kingdom of Sheba and its architectural, aesthetic and technological achievements from the first millennium BC until the advent of Islam around 630 AD on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The organization stated that it had taken emergency action to include these sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to threats of destruction due to the ongoing conflict.
Inclusion on this list would allow for enhanced international assistance, technically and financially, and help mobilize the entire international community to protect the sites.
The Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Muammar Al-Eryani, said, “This decision was the culmination of the three-year efforts of a working team consisting of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, the local authority in Ma’rib Governorate, and the permanent delegation of our country to UNESCO.”
He added that the committee’s decision included “urging the Yemeni government to invite a group of experts to study the sites and submit technical reports to the tangible heritage committee, and to provide resources for their protection and management.”
These sites are located in a semi-arid region of valleys, mountains, and deserts, and contain the remains of large urban settlements, including monumental temples, ramparts, and other buildings.
UNESCO noted that the irrigation system in ancient Marib reflects technological prowess in hydro-engineering and agriculture on a scale unparalleled in the ancient south of the Arabian Peninsula.
The civilization of Sheba or the Kingdom of Sheba, now Yemen, is one of the most prominent civilizations that arose in the Arabian Peninsula and was named after Queen Sheba.
In the early 1980s and 1990s, UNESCO had already included the ancient walled cities of Shibam, Hadramout, Old Sana’a, and historic Zabid in the World Heritage List, but in the last ten years these historical cities have been included in the Endangered Heritage List, a step that usually precedes the removal of cities from the list. World Heritage if the national authorities do not work to remove the violations.
UNESCO’s approval of the inclusion of the antiquities of the Kingdom of Sheba came after the sale of rare Yemeni artifacts dating back to ancient historical periods of the state of Sheba, Qataban and other ancient Yemeni kingdoms in auctions held in several European countries since the outbreak of the war in Yemen eight years ago.