Bar'an Temple
عرش بلقيس | |
| File:Barran Temple (cropped).jpg Barran Temple in 2021 | |
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| Location | Marib Governorate, Yemen |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| History | |
| Periods | Ancient Yemen |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1951–2, 1988 |
| Archaeologists | Wendell Phillips |
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| Part of | Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba, Marib |
| Criteria | Cultural: (iii), (iv) |
| Reference | 1700 |
| Inscription | 2023 (45th Session) |
| Endangered | 2023–... |
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The Barran Temple (Arabic: معبد بران) is a Sabaean temple near Marib, Yemen; also known as the "Throne of Bilqis", it dates back to the 10th century BCE[1][better source needed] and was dedicated to the god Almaqah.
In 2023, along with other landmarks of the ancient Kingdom of Saba, the temple was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.[2]
Background
[edit | edit source]The temple is located to the west of the Temple of Awwam, also dedicated to the god Almaqah.[3] The main features of the structure are the six columns and the sacred well in the middle of the courtyard.[4] Until the 1988 excavations only five columns were known to exist, when remains of another were discovered.[1] The temple is considered to be the largest pre-Islamic temple in Yemen.[1]
It was partly excavated by Wendell Phillips' expedition of 1951–1952.[5][6] In addition to its religious functions the complex may have also served as a documentation center, as the inscriptions describing the events surrounding the Sabaean state were found on the walls.[1]
Upright female figurines dating to the first to the third centuries CE have been found with what D’arne O’Neill described as "m a necklace-like neck treatment decorated with small holes".[7]
References
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- ^ O'Neill, D'A. First millennium BC South Arabian terracotta figurines from Marib Oasis and Sirwah, Yemen. Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 7, 2014: 324-366.
