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Holding back storm water. Taif lives from its orchards and vines. Its valleys only flow after rain, often in violent floods. To keep this water, the inhabitants built some seventy stone dams over the centuries; about twenty remain.
A remarkable structure. As-Samallaghi blocks Wadi Thamala at its narrowest point, between two mountains, in a valley of jujube and acacia trees. It is about 212 m long, 25 m high and 10 m wide at the top, with an estimated capacity of 500,000 m³. It is made of two walls of large stones, with the space between them filled with rubble; the downstream face descends in steps, and the red lime mortar covering the façade gives it a smooth surface. Its name is said to come from the word samlaq, “flat, bare ground”. An opening leads to a well behind the structure, and an outlet channel, some forty metres downstream, was used to irrigate the land. It is also called the Thamala dam or the “Banu Hilal dam”.
Who built it? What is really known. The sources do not agree.
- According to local tradition, it goes back to the ʿAmaliqa, a legendary people of antiquity, or to the Banu Hilal. These are popular stories, with no historical value.
- Saudipedia, in its page on the dam, writes that it was “probably” built in the time of Muʿawiya. It reports two nearby inscriptions. The first is partly illegible; according to Haykal's reading, it mentions the time of Muʿawiya. The second, of three lines in Kufic, begins with « أنا دينار » (“I am Dinar…”); the rest is uncertain.
- The Saudipedia list of dams goes further and quotes a sentence: « أَمَرَ بِبِنَائِهِ عَمْرُو بْنُ الْعَاصِ بِأَمْرِ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنِ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ » (“ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs ordered it to be built, by order of the Commander of the Believers Muʿawiya ibn Abi Sufyan”).
- But the newspaper al-Madina (2013) states that the stone bearing this inscription has not been found.
- Ad-Darwish (سد الدرويش), in Wadi ʿArda: one of the largest; 50 m of it remain, 9.8 m high, with two stone facings and a gravel fill; it has partly collapsed.
- Thaʿlaba (سد ثعلبة), in a narrow valley about 7 km from Taif: squared stone blocks and walls filled with gravel.
- Dughbaj (سد دغبج), on Wadi Musayl, north of al-Hada: only a few traces remain.
- Saysad, the only one dated with certainty, by an inscription of 58 AH in the name of Muʿawiya (see no. 09).
- Certain: the dam exists, it is ancient, and its dimensions and technique are described by the Heritage Commission.
- Probable: construction in the early Islamic period, perhaps under Muʿawiya.
- Not proven: the inscription in the name of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs and Muʿawiya; the stone has not been found and its text is only known through quotation.
- Legend: the attribution to the ʿAmaliqa or the Banu Hilal.
- Conflicting: the distance from Taif (about 30 km south-west according to Saudipedia; al-Madina gives both 18 km and 30 km; about 19 km as the crow flies based on the coordinates above).
- Undated: the other ancient dams; only Saysad (no. 09) bears a date.
It is true that ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs owned a famous estate in Taif, al-Waht, whose vineyard is said to have had a million vines (Yaqut). The link is therefore understandable, but it proves nothing. As things stand, honesty requires saying: an ancient dam, probably from the early Islamic period, perhaps Umayyad; the attribution to Muʿawiya and ʿAmr has yet to be proven.
Today. The dam is still standing, but a breach caused by flood erosion has damaged it, and thick sediment has built up in front of its face. To the west remain the ruins of the village of Munifa and two watchtowers. The site is visited in a farming setting.
The other ancient dams of Taif. The Heritage Commission lists several, all undated:
What is certain and what is not
Sources
1. Saudipedia, « سد السملقي الأثري » (dimensions, technique, two inscriptions, condition, Munifa): https://saudipedia.com/سد-السملقي-الأثري
2. Saudipedia, « قائمة السدود الأثرية في الطائف » (about 70 dams, quotation of the inscription, ad-Darwish, Thaʿlaba, Dughbaj, Saysad): https://saudipedia.com/قائمة-السدود-الأثرية-في-الطائف
3. Al-Madina, article on the as-Samallaghi dam (8 February 2013; stone not found, traditions of the ʿAmaliqa and the Banu Hilal): https://www.al-madina.com/article/208156
4. Yaqut al-Hamawi, Muʿjam al-buldan, vol. 5, p. 385, entry « وهط » (estate of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs in Taif).