The ancient capital of Saba stands as a village on its old mound beside the ruins.
The great dam broke for the last time about 570 and was never rebuilt: there is no lake, only the ruined sluices and the farmland of the wadi watered by floods.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not pinned (Murad of Madhhij)
- Title
- Tribal
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
No lord recorded; the Murad tribes of the district.
How things stand that morning
Tribal village outside any state.
Charter
None known: Yemeni towns had no charters; the ruler's governor (wali), the judge (qadi) and the market inspector (muhtasib) answered to the sultan or the imam.
Council
No sworn council; the notables, the qadi and the headman speak for the town. Names for 1199-1200 not pinned.
Communities
Murad (Madhhij).
Fairs and markets
Daily or weekly markets; no fair dates recorded for 1200.
Militia
Not recorded for 1199-1200.
Walls and castle
The village on the tell; ancient ruins.
Trade and crafts
Flood farming; camels.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: General.
Primary sources for The Bedouin
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of the Observant Traveller (A Traveller in Thirteenth-Century Arabia), Ibn al-Mujawir (Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Ya'qub) (about 1226 to 1232). A merchant-traveller's description of western and southern Arabia a generation after 1200: Mecca and the Hijaz ports, the Red Sea crossing, Zabid and the Tihama, Aden with its customs and tariffs, the Hadramawt coast, Dhofar and Oman, Socotra, and the opposite African shore at Zeila and the Dahlak islands. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.