The control of water in the kingdom of Qatabān (Yemen): from local to central management of the irrigation systems during antiquity

Wādī Bayḥān is located on the edge of the Ramlat as Sab’atayn desert (Yemen) and constituted the core of the preislamic kingdom of Qatabān. During the 1st millennium B.C., floodwaters caused by summer rainfall were diverted into the fields. Several irrigation systems of this kind were spread all along the valley. The aim of the present paper is to show the tension between political body and local populations for the control of water in Wādī Bayḥān. I will argue that water was generally managed at a local scale but the kings of Qatabān have tried to take the reins of the irrigation system when their power strengthened. They issued decrees regulating the use of water and space or the maintenance of hydraulic structures and fields. The kings also got involved in the construction of irrigation structures. To support my arguments, I have used antique inscriptions, engraved on rocks or stone blocks, which make reference to water management.