Masnaat Mariya

Simple plan of Maṣnaˈat Māriya

Vulture relief from Maṣna'at Māriya

Maṣna'at Māriya (14°30’N; 44°15’E), Dhamar Governorate, Yemen.

This pre-Islamic Himyarite archaeological site is one of the largest in the Yemen. In the local language the name means the fortress of a word the meaning of which is disputed. The site lies 11 km west of the town of Dhamar. It is important as a large escarpment site partly of late pre-Islamic date. Inside one of the four city gates a text written Sabaic describes the roads in the area.

See also

• Zafar, Yemen
• Himyarite Kingdom
• Rulers of Sheba and Himyar
• Ancient history of Yemen

References

• Krista Lewis, Space and the Spice of Life: Food, Landscape, and Politics in Ancient Yemen, unpub. Dissertation, Univ. Chicago 2005.
• Paul Yule, Late Ḥimyarite Vulture Reliefs, in: eds. W. Arnold, M. Jursa, W. Müller, S. Procházka, Philologisches und Historisches zwischen Anatolien und Sokotra, Analecta Semitica In Memorium Alexander Sima (Wiesbaden 2009), 447–455, ISBN 978-3-447-06104-9