The Roads of Arabia: Saudi Archeological Masterpieces through the Ages exhibition was inaugurated recently at the Pergamon Museum, Berlin by His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz President of SCTA, along with Klaus Wowereit, Mayor of Berlin.
The exhibition of "Saudi Archeological Masterpieces through the Ages", is one of a series of exhibitions held in the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, with the Royal Consent to visit a number of European and American cities in order to highlight the culture of the Kingdom. The exhibition during its past three legs was able to draw more than a million visitors. Its first stop was the Louvre, Paris, France, La Caixa Foundation, Barcelona in Spain and the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg in Russia
HRH President of SCTA, in in his keynote speech during the opening ceremony stated: "I am speaking today here about a country which is largely known as the home to Islam. We are very proud of this great religion, Islam, and the Kingdom prides itself as the cradle of the message of Islam and the home of the Two Holy Mosques. We are also proud of our archeological and heritage treasures, which reflect the important contribution of man of Arabian Peninsula to the entire human civilization," added HRH.
"Our land was the meeting point of cultures as well as a crossroad of ancient trade routes. Through these exhibitions we want the world to know the religion of Islam, which emerged from the land of Saudi Arabia. It is a great religion that respected past civilizations, absorbed from previous civilizations, upon which was built the great Islamic civilization. Islamic message provides values of peace and justice to the world," added HRH.
"Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is well-known as the largest oil producer. I don't see it as imperfection, or something that needs to apologize about, rather it is a source of pride, because the Kingdom has employed such divine gift to the welfare of its citizens as well as to the welfare of the human being and for the stability of international oil prices," remarked HRH.
HRH further indicated that, everyone knows the three dimensions that distinguish the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which contribute to the formation of its character in front of the whole world. The three dimensions are: religious dimension, political dimension and the economic dimension, which are well known internationally, but there is another unknown dimension, and known only on a small scale by specialists, scientists and researchers, this is the cultural dimension of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which this exhibition intends to highlight and introduce to the whole world, in order for our rich heritage to take the position it deserves historically and culturally among the nations.
HRH added that, the Kingdom has played important role in religion, politics, economy and culture of the world and it will continue playing it in the future. He said the Kingdom did not exist in a vacuum rather it was based on a great culture derived from successive civilizations, crowned and developed by the Islamic civilization.
"This exhibition comes on line with the efforts of more than 24 international excavation teams that work in the Kingdom. These efforts are carried out in conjunction with the national campaign to enhance the cultural dimension of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in addition to the campaign of the recovery of the Saudi antiquities from within and outside the country. Besides, in the coming month, an exhibition on the recovered national antiquities will be held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. The number of recovered relics so far has reached over 14,000 pieces. In addition there will be an international symposium, national workshop on foreign and nationally recovered relics."
At the end of his speech, HRH President of SCTA expressed his appreciations to the Pergamon Museum for hosting the exhibition, which reflects sincere interest of the two countries to enhance their relations in cultural area as well as experience exchange in the areas of museums and archeology, researches and studies. HRH in his speech also invited the Pergamon Museum to showcase its Islamic relics in the National Museum in Riyadh.
His Excellency, Klaus Wowereit, Berlin Mayor, in his speech in the opening ceremony welcomed the presence of His Royal Highness President of SCTA, expressing his interest for further cooperation between the two countries in this area as well as widening relations between Berlin and Riyadh for the welfare of the two nations.
"The exhibition reflects the real cooperation existing between the two countries besides it was a fruit of their great joint efforts for many years," added Berlin Mayor.
At the end of his speech, Mayor of Berlin thanked the Saudi Ambassador to Germany Dr. Osama Abdul Majeed Al Shabakshi for the great efforts made by the embassy of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Germany in the hosting of this exhibition.
Over the next three months, the Pergamon will display over 400 relics, most of them taken from the National Museum in Riyadh, King Saud University Museum, King Abdul Aziz Dara and from a number of provincial museums in the Kingdom. The exhibition will also showcase some rare relics found in the latest archaeological excavations in the Kingdom. The show will cover a period stretching from the Old Stone Age (a million years BC) until the era of Saudi state
For More information please visit: www.scta.gov.sa/en/Antiquities-Museums/ArcheologicalMasterpieces/Pages/Berlin.aspx
Najla A. Al-Khalifah (MP) Supreme Commission of Tourism Saudi Arabia email: najla@scta.gov.sa
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