'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎189] (298/496)

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The Aden aqueduct was built during the reign of El Malck Mansur
Taj-e-Deen Abdul Wahab-ibu-Taher, Imam of Sana and Yemen, in the
year of Christ 1470. This Prince appears to have spent large sums in
beautifying the different towns of Yemen, having constructed many re
servoirs, mosques, and aqueducts, in other parts also ; but the Arao ma
nuscripts give no account of the Imams of Yemen ever having assumed
authority over, or extended their conquests to, the Somali coast: and
though Aden was, at that time, one of the chief halting-places in the
then great commercial highway of the world, had the Arabs taken pos
session of Berbera, there would have been some traces of them to this
day. With the exception of a brief period, A.D. 1173, when Aden
was taken by the brother of Saleh-ADeen of Egypt, we have no mention
of its having been governed by other than Arab Eulers until it submit
ted to Sulliman Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. in A. D. 1538 ; and, as Arabs are not in the habit
of expending money for the benefit of other countries, and we have no
mention of their ever having resided at Berbera, the credit of the Ber
bera aqueduct would appear to be due to the Turks during the hundred
years that they held Yemen.
But we are informed that A. D. 522 the Persian troops in the
reign of Amishirwan drove the Abyssinian invaders of Yemen out of
the country, and re-established a Hirnyari Prince on the throne of his
father as a vassal of the Persian monarch; and Gibbon supposes that
two years were consumed in this invasion of Yemen. Amishirwan was
distinguished for his generous and wise government,—for the splendour
of his public buildings, and especially for his aqueducts. The Persian
troops on their arrival at Aden found a nation equalling themselves in
civilization, and, as the ruins of Mareb Nukab-el-Hajar, and the unex
plored cities of Hadramant, testify, skilled in architecture. To this date
should I attribute the construction of the Berbera aqueduct. The trade
carried on by the Bed Sea was in those days great; the ancient emporia
of Hisu Gherab and Aden prosperous and wealthy ; and Berbera then,
doubtless, carried on the same trade in ivory, gums, and ostrich feathers,
that it does now. Lastly, I may observe that the chunam or lime used
in the reservoir and aqueduct at Berbera is stated to be similar to the
“ Kutch or Gutch” of Persia.
During a short journey in 1847 I found the country inland from the
hill of Dthubar consisting of low and undulating limestone ranges, thickly
covered with tamarisk and acacia trees, and on the sides of the hills with
the gum arabic. At the distance of two hours from Dthubar, I reached