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Shahd Alhamdan
Saudi Gazette
Antique television sets, radios, gramophones, pictures of old Balad, banknotes, doors and stones that were used in houses from Historic Jeddah are just some of the artifacts and vintage items that are showcased in the private museum, “Jeddah Our Days of Bliss Magad.”
The museum is considered the first cultural center in Historic Jeddah and has a collection of rare documents about Jeddah’s history.
“Magad” is a Hijazi word used to describe a living room that is typically located on the ground floor of a house. What makes such living rooms special is that they should have an oriel window overlooking the front side of the home.
Although the museum covers a small space, it has two floors full of historical pieces and antiques that tell stories from the past.
The second floor has a window overlooking Naseef House, which King Abdul Aziz had used as his official residence in Jeddah.
One of the museum’s founders, Mazen Al-Saqqaf, said the museum has several unique pictures and rare documents that would help researchers to gather information about Historic Jeddah. “From this place three doctorate researches were carried out about old Jeddah,” he said.
Al-Saqqaf said one of the pictures shows the walled city of Jeddah before the walls were removed.
There are also pictures of old and famous buildings, some of which have now been knocked down.
There is also a picture that shows the past condition of the Arbaeen Lagoon, one of Jeddah’s well-known lakes.
Visitors can also view banknotes in use during the period of King Abdul Aziz.
They will also find the Mangami, one of the vital stones that Jeddah’s residents once used.
“This stone used to be bought from the sea to build houses, since there was no way to cut stones from rocks in the mountains,” he said.
An ice cream machine that was used in the past is also on display, as is old Pepsi cans.
Al-Saqqaf said while presenting a vintage door: “This is one of the Hijazi doors. All doors in Hijaz were engraved and people lowered their back while entering the houses as a way of respecting the house. Women would knock the small rings in the doors so the female members of the house could recognize that the visitor was a woman and would go to open the door. On the other hand, men would knock the big rings so the man in the house would open the door for them.”
In the museum, visitors will also find western artifacts from the mid-20th century.
