An historical frame for an incredibly rich history
Tabuk Province has some of the richest history of the whole Arabian Peninsula, and deserves a museum to highlight its heritage. Since 2019 visitors have been able to admire some fascinating artifacts exhibited in the old Hijaz Railway Station in Tabuk city that was refurbished for this purpose. The elegant building has the architecture of the early twentieth and twenty-first centuries mixing together to offer a journey from prehistory to modern times and even into the future, with the city of Neom that will soon rise in Tabuk Province.
Tabuk under Saudi rule (photo: Florent Egal)
The first room is dedicated to the founding of the Saudi Kingdom in 1932 and the achievements of King Abdulaziz in Tabuk Province. Saudi traditional objects, a movie, and a wall designs illustrate the epic saga that led to the country we know today.
There is a very old tradition of rock art and carving of inscriptions in Saudi Arabia and Tabuk Province hosts some of the most brilliant and diverse examples of this tradition.
In the next room is a collection of Islamic inscriptions that cover right from the early Islamic era (with Kufic inscriptions) into the Ottoman period (with inscriptions that were carved on forts built along the Red Sea) between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Inscription from the Zareeb Citadel in Al-Wajh (photo: F. Egal)
There is also a room dedicated to the Nabatean period with an imposing representation of the Nabatean tombs at Mugha'ir Shu'ayb. The Nabatean people, who built Petra in today's Jordan and Hegra/Madain Saleh in the 2st century BCE, also settled in the ancient oasis of Maydan in the northwest of Tabuk Province where they built a large city and sculpted typical tombs. There are artifacts of this glorious time of the ancient Arab Kingdoms, notably stones with inscriptions in Nabatean script.
Room dedicated to the Nabatean period (photo: Florent Egal)
The visit carries on through a gallery displaying artifacts dating back the Stone Age. It includes exceptional human-shaped sculptures found on the prehistorical site of Kuriyat that show the incredible richness of the ancient history of Tabuk Province.
Prehistoric sculpture (photo: Florent Egal)
In the final hall interactive information about Tabuk Province today is displayed on screens and walls, showing the geography, population, water management and other aspects of development projects in this region which will host the futurist city of Neom.
Animation illustrating the management of water in Tabuk Province (photo: F. Egal)
How to visit Tabuk Museum
The location of the Hijaz Railway Station in Tabuk is inside the modern city of Tabuk and is available on GoogleMaps.
The regional museum is open only at weekdays for the timebeing.