"There was indeed a sign for Sheba in their dwelling place: Two gardens on the right hand and the left (as who should say): Eat of the provision of your Lord and renders thanks to Him. A fair land and an indulgent Lord!"

The Bible talks about a visit made by the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon in Jerusalem, where she took with her camels bearing spices, gold and precious stones. "Never again did spices come in such quantity as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon," according to the Biblical story.

Old Marib is deserted under 1960s mud-brick buildings on top of a tiny hill. A few kilometers away are the remnants of the throne and Mahram Bilqis (Temple of Bilqis) - and Bilqis is the name given to the Queen of Saba in the later stories in the Islamic tradition. Not far away lies what remains of the famous old dam of Bilqis, which was built in the 8th century B.C. and stood for well over 1,000 years. (END)

*(Mohamed Al-Azaki is a Yemeni independent journalist and researcher on Islamic militants at the Saba Center for Political and Strategic Studies based in Sana'a, Yemen.)

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