the dam that fed 50,000 people and 'rats chewed through it' — Yemen, repost from an old engineering BBS

Pulling this off a near-dead engineering forum because it's a great story and the thread'll vanish. Marib Dam, Yemen — capital of Saba, the Queen of Sheba kingdom. Half a km long, 18m high, sluice gates, the whole thing. Watered ~100 sq miles, the biggest man-made oasis in old Arabia, fed about 50,0……