Myths of Gold Treasures Destroy History [Archives:2001/42/Culture]

From time to time we hear about new discoveries of traces of ancient civilizations in Yemen. Among those glorious civilizations is Sheba whose story was documented in Holy Books. Despite its ancient history, Yemeni soil is still full of treasures of this fading kingdom.
Recently, there has been news on a discovery of foundations of a very old kingdom in Radman province in al-Beidhaa. This kingdom was established on a hill. The road leading from center of al-Beidhaa to this place is very tough and mountainous. The place is surrounded by huge mountains at 2000 feet above sea level. It is said that this kingdom appeared in the 8th century BC after the collapse of the state of Shammar Yuharish.
The recently discovered site is fully fenced. Its location between the kingdoms of Sheba and Himiar indicates that it had been the trading market of both kingdoms. As approaching the area is still not allowed, I could not take any photos from the site. All the traces uncovered indicate establishment of a very strong kingdom there. The archeologists dug out a fence, old cities, palaces, markets, temples, wells. Part of the fence, two gates that are believed to lead to the Himiarian kingdom were found.
Unfortunately, a lot of people are still ignorant of the great value of such sites. Many ancient palaces have been destroyed by people who wanted to make use of their nice ready stones for building. Others, seeking gold treasures, destroyed whatever they found on their way.
The myths of gold treasures still threaten a lot of ancient and historic sites in al-Beidhaa and many ancient governorates. It is therefore necessary to set up strict procedures to protect such ancient sites.

——
[archive-e:42-v:2001-y:2001-d:2001-10-15-p:./2001/iss42/culture.htm]