The Louvre unveiled a new exhibition today to showcase the ancient and medieval history of Saudi Arabia. ‘Arabian Routes: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’, will showcase over 350 artifacts dating back to the Islamic and pre-Islamic periods, many of which have never left the country before.
The exhibition is the result of efforts by the French and Saudi governments to foster better ties. In 2006, the prestigious Paris museum allowed its masterpieces of Islamic art to go on display at the National Museum in Riyadh, and this event is considered the return visit.
The exhibition depicts the myriad of cultures and civilizations that were part of the Arabian Peninsula during its ancient and medieval periods. Some of the objects are several thousand years old, and include statues, vases, inscriptions, and architectural pieces.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, told the Arab News, ”It brings Saudi Arabia to the rest of the world. This way people will get to know the Kingdom better than they do now.”
This exhibition invites visitors on a journey into the heart of Arabia, accompanied by a photographic exploration of the region’s sumptuous landscapes. It is conceived as a series of waypoints along the roads or trails criss-crossing the peninsula, including several of its major oases that were home in ancient times to powerful kingdoms. The exhibition then follows the pilgrims who traveled these same routes beginning in the seventh century, converging upon Islam’s holiest sites. Through a selection of 300 works, most of which have never been seen before outside their country of origin, visitors are offered an unprecedented glimpse into the various cultures that inhabited the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from prehistoric times to the dawn of the modern era.
The works shown reveal little-known aspects of a prosperous and flourishing pre-Islamic Arab world, which has been unveiled gradually over the years thanks to archaeological excavations. Awe-inspiring Neolithic funerary steles, colossal statues representing Lihyanite kings (6th–4th century B.C.), silver tableware or precious jewels found in tombs, among other artifacts, bear witness to the scale and reach of this civilization without equal. Despite difficult environmental conditions, the peoples of this region made the most of its unique geographical position along trade routes linking the ports of the Indian Ocean or the lands of the Horn of Africa to Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world. Early in the first millennium B.C., as exchanges intensified, the region’s caravan cities prospered, imbuing the local culture with new trends and ideas arriving from the many prominent empires traversed by these routes.
The second section of the exhibition highlights the role of Arabia as the cradle of Islam, as these routes began to be traveled by pilgrims as well as merchants. A first set of archaeological finds reflects these pilgrimages and al-Rabadha, one of the main resting places for caravans. Next, a selection of funerary steles illustrates the development of calligraphy and other decorative arts between the tenth and sixteenth centuries, providing insights into the characteristics of Meccan society during this period. Muslim rulers sought to outdo each other as benefactors of their religion’s holy sites, commissioning various edifices and embellishments, as evidenced by the monumental portal from the Ka’ba, crafted in the name of the Ottoman sultan Murad IV (1623–40). The exhibition closes with a section devoted to the foundation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Carine Juvin, scientific consultant in the Louvre’s department of Islamic art, said in an interview with the National, “We expect it to appeal to visitors generally, but it should be especially interesting to Muslims, whether from France or anywhere else, since Saudi Arabia, despite being the birthplace of Islam, has a history that is not so well known.”
She added, “I hope others, too, will gain fresh information, different ideas and a different picture of the early period of Islam and its development. And for Saudi Arabia itself, the two parts of the exhibition represent a country that is ready to look back at its past and its cultural heritage, from even before Islam. I think it will find a very strong echo in the public’s response.”
The exhibition will run from now until September 27th at the museum’s Napoleon Hall. For more details, please visit the Louvre website.
Source: Louvre, Arab News, National
