22/09/2023
A total of more than 70 historic dams were built on Taif's boundaries and valleys, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited and richest urban civilizations on the Arabian Peninsula.
They were constructed at various times, beginning before the advent of Islam and continuing during the Caliphate and the reigns of the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid states.
More than 20 of these historic dams are still in existence, they are all distinct technical feats with various architectural styles.
The "Muawiya Dam," also known as the "Saiysad Dam," is located 12 kilometers southeast of Taif, in the midst of a mountainous region where water flows down during the rainy season in the Saiysad Valley where the dam was constructed.
Abdullah ibn Sakhr constructed the Saiysad Dam in the 58th Hijri year, during the reign of Muawiyah bin Abi-Sufyan, the Umayyad Caliph. On a sizable rock at the base of the mountain where the right front of the dam was erected, the construction year of this dam is inscribed.
Text in six lines
The text is composed of six lines and is written in the following Arabic Magazi handwriting style without dots:
The opening phrase reads:
"This dam belongs to Muawiya the God-worshipper,"
The second sentence reads:
Amir Al Mo’menein (Muslims’ Caliph), built by Abdullah bin Sakhr;
The third line:
By God's favor in the fifty-eighth year
The fourth verse reads:
"O Allah, pardon your worshipper Muawiyah,"
The fifth line:
The Muslims’ Caliph, his sin and support him and benefit
The sixth line:
The believers by him, written by Amr ibn Habab, is the sixth line.
