Baraqish

Baraqish, also known as Barakish, Yathill, or Athill, is an ancient walled city located in Al Jawf Governorate, north-western Yemen. Founded around 1000 BC, the city reached its height of importance in the 4th century BC, when it became the capital of the Minaean Kingdom, one of the major South Arabian states. The city is renowned for its massive defensive wall, which originally rose to about 14 m in height and was reinforced with 57 towers and two monumental gates, much of which remains visible today. Epigraphic evidence records that the fortifications were rebuilt by the Sabaeans around 450 BC, reflecting Baraqish’s continued strategic and religious significance.

---