RIYADH: The ongoing “Roads of Arabia” exhibition of the archaeological treasures of Saudi Arabia at the National Museum in Riyadh is witnessing a remarkable turnout, of both residents and tourists from outside the city.
The Roads of Arabia began as part of the accompanied exhibitions of the first Saudi archaeology forum on Nov. 7, and will be opened for visitors for 50 days, until December 26.
Speaking to Arab News, Jamal S. Omar, director general of the National Museum, on Monday said: “We have received the great response from the general public, Saudi locals, international visitors as well as foreign residents of Riyadh … we also received visitors from other cities in the Kingdom, Gulf countries and other parts of the world.”
“The response is great. We found that people are interested to learn about our cultural heritage; those who already had some knowledge increased it and those who had no idea got to know in detail about the cultural heritage by visiting the exhibition,” he said.
He further noted that the visitors were very enthusiastic to learn about the Kingdom’s cultural dimension, the deeply rooted continuation of the heritage, the rise of Islam and the unification of the modern Saudi Arabia by the legendary King Abdul Aziz.
In a reply to Arab News, his office reported that the number of visitors to the exhibition between Nov. 7 to Nov. 19 stands at 32,268.
The exhibition displays 466 rare archaeological objects highlighting the Kingdom’s rich heritage and cultural dimensions, and the successive civilizations that evolved through the ages.
Since its opening on July 13, 2010 at the Louvre Museum, Paris, the Roads of Arabia exhibit has been hosted by 10 international museums in Europe and the US; after that it moved to the Asia with the first stop in Beijing in 2016, and this year, it was held in Seoul.
Riyadh is the second city to host the Roads of Arabia exhibition at the national level. It was hosted before by the King Abdul Aziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran under the patronage of King Salman in December 2016.
