Al Araf Cave in Maqbana-Taiz..  A puzzle or a historical site [Archives:2002/31/Last Page]

BY FAROUQ AL KAMALI
Yemen Times Staff
TAIZ BUREAU
The road leading to Maqbana, 49 km to the west of Taiz, is long and toilsome. While heading for Maqbana area we faced many difficulties. There is no direct vehicle transport services, therefore we had to go first to al Bareh area, 12 km away from the cave, and from there we began the more difficult part of our trip to al-Araf cave that has aroused a large-scale media interest in recent days.
The cave is situated in unpopulated mountainous area where the nearest houses are about 5 or 6 km away, inhabited by few people whom we met to inquire about the cave. They revealed that the cave was neglected and nobody takes care about it. The inhabitants attention was drawn when a strange man came to the region and proposing to buy the piece of land around the cave site. After that he started excavation inside the cave, carrying the soil out of the cave in his car. His action aroused the people curiosity. After the process continued for a year, the sheikh of the area informed the governorate authorities about what was going on in the cave. A team of archeologists visited the cave but after inspecting its contents it has not come out with definite results.
Being inside the cave one would be standing face to face with a beautiful architecture created by only a skillful hand of a sculptor. When we entered a large opening of the cave, it was very dark and there was nothing but snakes and bats and accumulated soil. The golden color of the soil raised the curiosity of the people who thought the cave is a gold mine. So they started telling stories about it like these of myths and legends. They said that when it rains, lightning goes strongly to the cave, an indication that it contains metals or electrical oscillations. Another one of such stories is that if you put a small stone from the cave in your pocket, you feel as if you are electrically shaken.
Sheikh Mahyoob Bagash Senan, the secretary general of the local authority of Maqbana, said the cave was still a puzzle and unraveled secret Only geologists and archaeologists can decide whether its a metal mine or a historical site.
Yemen Times met with sheikh Ali Mohammed Al Maqdashi, deputy assistant of Taiz governorate, who visited the cave, said that the cave soil has been checked in Sanaa and the results showed that it contains a small percentage of gold but l think the cave is antique and probably contains ancient graves, so we have been provided the geologists and the task force with the suitable finance to carry out their exploration.
Mr. Al Azi Mohammed Musleh, head of Taiz antiques office told the YT that Al Araf cave is a very important discovery that will entice tourism so we should pay it more attention. The cave is very marvelous architecture with seven inlets, 4 -5 meters long, and they meet inside the cave in one inlet which may be used to provide the cave with Oxygen and light.
We really suggested many probabilities about what the cave was used for, either it was used as a grave-yard or a center of human gathering, especially we get informed that the region was on trade routes, Mr Musleh said. A bout the cave contents, he added What we found is some human bones, some pottery instruments, and accumulated soil. We will seek help of some scientific labs to define the cave history and we have professional expertise to explore more about the cave
From preliminary statements and information obtained so far, there are some speculations that the origin of man was in Yemen not in Africa, but it seems they are very far from reality.
Till the puzzle of the cave is solved, we hope that it will be given enough attention and interest it deserves to serve knowledge away from individual disputes on who owns the cave.



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