A fascinating insight in Saudi Arabia's rich History
Discovering Saudi Arabia's rich past is an amazing journey that would bring you along thousands of kilometers around the whole Kingdom. An easier way to have an insight of Saudi Arabia's rich History is to visit the King Abdulaziz Historical Center in Riyadh where artifacts from all periods are exhibited and with explanations about their historical significance.
Main hall of the King Abdulaziz (photo: Florent Egal)
The visit of the Museum is organized through halls that treat of a specific period and that are laid in chronological order. This comprehensive presentation makes it clearly understandable by both adults and children.
The first hall is about a general presentation of "Man and the Universe" where are exhibited a meteorite found in the Rub' Al-Khali (Empty Quarter), some of the oldest stone tools dating back to hundreds of thousands of years in the past. The hall also hosts a complete skeleton of a mastodon that used to live on the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula some 15 million years ago.
Hall "Man and the Universe" (photo: Florent Egal)
The next hall present some examples of the vibrant rock art that thrived in Saudi Arabia for more than 10 000 year of the Arabian Peninsula
Rock art of Saudi Arabia (photo: Florent Egal)
Stelae with ancient South Arabian script (photo: Florent Egal)
This is where ends the prehistory and when we enter the historical times with the appearance of writing at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, a time when different alphabets that mostly originate from the Levant (today's Lebanon, Jordan, and Western Syria) spread from the north to the south of the Arabian Peninsula.
The first millennium BC saw also the birth of the first Arabian Kingdoms such as Dedan and Tayma. A replica of the 15 kilometers of wall of Tayma is displayed and it hosts artifacts of this brilliant period.
The most famous ancient Arabian Kingdom is the Nabatean one who spread until Madain Saleh (Hegra) during the 1st century BC where the skilled Nabatean people sculpted monumental tombs whose majestious style is celebrated at the National Museum with a replica.
Replica of a Nabatean tomb (photo: Florent Egal)
Upstairs is the next hall dedicated to the advent of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. There are exhibited old Holy Qorans and a mural retraces the life of the Prophet Mohammed. The exhibition tells also about the history of the pilgrimage roads and describe how the art of Arabic calligraphy developed with a collection of stelaes with Kufic and other early elegant calligraphic styles.
Old Holy Qoran (photo: Florent Egal)
The next hall relates the rise of the Saudi Kingdoms from the 18th century when Mohammed Ibn Saud instaured the first Saudi kingdom and the preacher Mohammed Ibn Abdulwahab spread the wahabism, until the conquests of King Abdulaziz Al-Saud at the beginning of the 20th century that paved the way to the foundation of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is the third one.
It also celebrates the Bedouin culture, way of living, and also architecture with replicas of Al-Balad in Jeddah, Emarah Palace in Najran, and Rijal Al-Ma' in Aseer Province.
Hall of the National Museum (photo: Florent Egal)
The last hall emphasises the importance of the two holy sites hosted in the Kingdom that are Makkah and Madinah. Two models of their majestic mosques that every year welcome millions of Muslim pilgrims from all around the world.
The Holy Mosque in Makkah at the National Museum (photo: Florent Egal)