Prince Sultan orders girl rewarded for surrendering antiquities

Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), has ordered double compensation and a letter of thanks to Zabyah Al-Shaharani, aged 15. She handed over a number of priceless archaeological stone tools dating back to the Stone Age to the Asir branch of the SCTA.
The prince wants to show his appreciation of the Saudi girl’s strong desire to preserve the archaeological wealth of the Kingdom for posterity and also for her trust in the SCTA as the entity to preserve the country’s historical heritage, to conduct research studies and support its museums.
Zabyah, a shepherd girl, came across the valuable antiques while looking for grass for her sheep on the Al-Hafayer mountain. She collected 705 of the beautiful artifacts in a large sack. She later heard about the SCTA’s drive for the return of antiques on a radio broadcast and contacted the SCTA on a tourist telephone in January 2013.
Then she took her finds to the office in Asir and let experts examine them. They selected 19 of the stones, including eight circular ones, six perforated stones used for spinning, seven stones used as multipurpose blades, an awl and some stones that were probably arrow heads.
Muhammad Al-Umrah, director general of SCTA’s Asir branch, said the prince was deeply impressed by the girl’s service to the Kingdom’s heritage. He also called on all citizens who possess antiquities to call the nearest SCTA office.