RIYADH: Saudi Arabia this week mourned the death of respected archeologist and historian Prof. Abdulrahman Al-Ansary, who died at the age of 87.
Al-Ansary was known for his contributions and dedicated leadership in the field of the Kingdom’s archeological discoveries, and was credited for the discovery of Al-Faw, one of the most famous sites in the Arabian Peninsula.
He dedicated his life’s work to history and the archeological sectors across the Kingdom. Through his leadership, many historical areas were uncovered in Al-Faw, including residential sites, markets, temples, and tombs. This work was detailed in seven published volumes.
Led by Al-Ansary, the past 40 years have seen many discoveries at the Al-Faw site through excavations and fieldwork.
His work has also paved the way for future generations to continue their studies in the field following the establishment of the first archeology major at King Saud University.
The College of Arts at KSU was established in 1957. Al-Ansary was dean of the college and became chair of the Department of History and the Department of Archeology, teaching there from 1966 to 1999.
He encouraged students to advance their studies through field trips and lectures.
Al-Ansary was a member of the Saudi Shoura Council. He later went on to chair the editorial board of the Adumatu Journal, which specializes and publishes archeological studies in both Arabic and English, with focused research on Saudi Arabia and the Arab world.
He received multiple awards, including the King Khalid First Class Medal in 2020, the Prince Salman Prize in Arabian Peninsula history studies in 2005, the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences Award in 1984, and Saudi Arabia’s First Class Order of Merit in 1982.
Al-Ansary was born in 1935 in Madinah and studied there until moving on to pursue Arabic language and literature at Cairo University in 1960.
He then traveled to the UK, acquiring a doctorate in philosophy from the Department of Semitic Studies at the University of Leeds.
Al-Ansary specialized in the comparative study of the proper names of the Lihyanites while studying for his doctorate, and took part in training excavations at Durham University and in Sicily. He also conducted excavations in Jerusalem in 1966.
Many public officials, colleagues, and friends took to social media to extend their condolences to Al-Ansary’s family and reflect on his numerous accomplishments.
Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al-Saud, the Kingdom’s minister of culture, tweeted: “May God have mercy upon the soul of Abdulrahman Al-Ansary, the historian, discoverer, and scientist whose name will forever remain in the Saudi history books. We offer our sincere condolences to his family and to the Saudi culture.”
The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture tweeted: “We offer our sincere condolences to the family of historian and archeologist Abdulrahman Al-Ansary, who passed away on Monday, following a long career in archeology.
“Al-Ansary rediscovered the archeological site of Qaryat Al-Faw in the south of the Arabian Peninsula and oversaw the excavations for two decades.”
