SAUDI ARABIA

National antiquities forum in November

July 16, 2017

Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH – The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) has called upon experts and researchers in antiquities and heritage to take part in the first national forum on antiquities to be opened here by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Nov. 7.

Ajab Al-Otaibi, acting director general of SCTH in Riyadh province, said the three-day international conference would cover all phases of history from the prehistoric period until 20th century with special focus on antiquities in the Arabian Peninsula before the advent of Islam.

“Participating researchers should inform the commission about the title of their papers and their abstracts,” he said.

Research papers by email should reach SCTH before Aug. 30. Archeologists and antique researchers from different countries are expected to attend.

The conference, which is the first of its kind in the Kingdom, is organized by SCTH in cooperation with King Abdulaziz Foundation (Darah), the ministries of Culture and Information, Education, and Municipal and Rural Affairs. It reflects the commission’s deep interest in national heritage.

“The conference will educate young Saudis as well as foreign participants about the Kingdom’s rich heritage and its great contribution toward world civilization,” Al-Otaibi told Al-Hayat daily. It will also underline the Saudi leadership’s efforts to protect the Kingdom’s heritage.

The conference will highlight Saudi Arabia’s position in the world of heritage and pave the way for a meeting of archeologists and researchers to document the history of valuable antiquities in the Kingdom. It will transform the antiquities into a social responsibility issue.

The conference will witness presentations by Saudi organizations and individuals, in addition to a number of workshops.

A number of initiatives to preserve heritage and antiquities including rock engravings will be announced at the forum.

Speaking about other attractions, Al-Otaibi said an exhibition of retrieved antiquities as well as newly discovered relics would be held on the sidelines of the conference. A number of documentaries on Saudi national heritage will also be screened during the event, he added.

Topics to be discussed at the conference include pre-historic antiquities, rock engravings, trade route and Haj, antiquities in the Arabian Peninsula before Islam, antiquities of the Islamic age, art and architecture, ancient Islamic manuscripts and ways to protect the national heritage.


July 16, 2017
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