Shams Ahsan

Saudi Gazette

 

FROM outside it looks like any other house. But once you enter this four-story structure located in Makkah’s Al-Khalidia District, you realize that it’s not the usual family home.



Every room has a story to tell. ?From a 200-year-old intricately carved wooden door from the Grand Mosque in Makkah to the door of the first school opened by an Indian lady in the holy city to a Mughal-era bed to a 600-year-old Chinese carpet, the house is a repository of historical artifacts.?



This private museum is the fruit of the endeavor and passion of Talal Khawandanah, a Saudi who has traversed the globe to collect these antiques.



“This has been my passion since I was 10 years old,” he told Saudi Gazette. ?He has kept these priceless antiques, which need proper care and space, crammed into small rooms in his home.?



“Yes, I am looking for a spacious place to shift the museum and open it to the public,” Talal said.



At present, not many people are aware of this unique private museum. “If people learned about this museum, there would be a beeline of visitors to his house,” his close friend Adnan Zagzoog said.



Talal, however, has received visitors from the royal family and dignitaries from abroad. Since the museum is located in Makkah, it houses many rare artifacts associated with the Grand Mosque.



In the corner of one room is a 180-year-old lamp from the Grand Mosque. Then there is a large old glass container used to draw Zamzam water.



Old pieces from the Kiswa (the black cloth that is draped around the Holy Kaaba) as well as pieces of green and red cloth with Qur’anic inscriptions from inside the House of Allah adorn the walls of a room. Also hanging from the wall is a glass frame displaying the oldest license for Ramadan cannon.



You step into another room and the first thing that catches your attention are car number plates of various colors.



“These are car number plates belonging to various ministries from the time when the Kingdom was first founded,” Talal explains.



Then there are rocks dating back as far as 800 years with Qur’anic inscriptions. Another room has its walls covered with carpets.



A Chinese carpet depicting the Mongol history is 600 years old, Talal says, adding that a similar piece was sold in China for $1 million.



Another carpet made of wool traces the victory path of Nadir Shah, the great ruler of Iran. The Talal museum is not only restricted to the history of Makkah and Muslim kings, it also has antique pieces from the West.



There are, for example, what Talal claims to be some of the oldest sewing machines from the United States and Britain.



There are also two kerosene fans perched on a shelf, and in the corner a Turkish-era postbox. The museum also boasts of housing one of the oldest gramophones with music recorded on cylinders instead of discs.



A lift takes you to the fourth floor where you find rare paintings by French paiter. In another room you find two regal armchairs.



“These belonged to the late King Faisal,” Talal explains. The wall of the room has two huge frames which depict the family trees of the Sauds and Muhammad Abd Al-Wahhab.