Grand Mosque columns, calligraphy to be inventoried

A committee has been formed to list the columns and calligraphy of the Makkah Grand Mosque prior to their delivery to the Museum of the Two Holy Mosques, said Muhsen Al-Sullami, director general of the museum.
Al-Sullami could not come up with an exact number for the engravings and columns. However, he said that the committee has been listing and enumerating the objects for three months.
“The museum will be expanded in the next phase, and this will increase the number of objects shown and the number of visitors to the museum,” he said.
“The museum receives around 28,000 visitors every month. Ninety percent of the visits are conducted within an approved schedule in order to help visitors, who come from various nationalities and speak different languages, explain the objects to them,” he said.
“A number of the columns show engravings in Arabic calligraphy from the Abbasid and Ottoman era,” said Professor Sa’d Al-Joudi, who teaches modern Islamic history. “The writings include the names of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and they are considered important milestones in the life of the prophet and his companions.”
Professor Al-Joudi said that there are many valuable and priceless holdings in the library division of the museum. “There are rare manuscripts of the Holy Qur’an, in addition to many other rare manuscripts,” he said.
“The collection includes a set of wooden-based columns, together with the crown, which go back to the time of Ibn Zubayr (around the year 684 CE),” he said.