National Museum of Saudi Arabia
The National Museum of Saudi Arabia ( Arabic المتحف الوطني السعودي, DMG al-matḥaf al-waṭanī as-saʿūdī ) is a cultural-historical museum and part of the King Abd al-Aziz Center for History , which, in addition to the museum, also includes the King Abd al-Aziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah) who have favourited King Abd al-Aziz Library and Murabba Palace . The National Museum is located in Riyadh , the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia .
history
In 1963, a separate department was created in the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to look after the country's prehistoric heritage. From this, the Supreme Council for Antiquities was formed in 1972 (since 1975: Office for Antiquities and Museums ), which developed a long-term plan for dealing with the land monuments of the country. This included the inclusion of all known archaeological sites in the country in a register, which today includes around 40,000 sites, the publication of the country's first archaeological journal , Atlal - The Journal of Saudi Arabian Archeology , which has been published regularly since 1977, and the establishment of the National Museum. Since 1996 it was built according to a plan by the architect Raymond Moriyama . For this he chose shapes and colors that are reminiscent of the desert landscape around Riyadh. The building ends and culminates in a crescent-shaped, ascending wall, the top of which is reminiscent of a minaret as well as pointing to Mecca .
The museum was opened in 1999.
presentation
Eight departments with permanent exhibitions have been set up for visitors, which are designed according to time periods. The eighth deals with the Hajj and the holy mosques in Mecca and Medina . In addition, there are two areas in which special exhibitions can be shown. The museum also houses service facilities for operations. The museum has a total built-up area of 28,000 square meters. The permanent exhibition is divided into the following departments:
- Origin of the universe and man. Here the creation of the world by Allah is explained, geology , mineralogy and paleontology are presented.
- Environment (mountains, deserts and oases as well as the sea surrounding the Arabian Peninsula ), prehistory and archeology , especially the Paleolithic .
- Prehistoric civilizations. Here the time is from about 6000 BC. Shown to AD 400. The archaeological sites of Medyan , Qaryat al-Fau , Ain Zubaida and al-Aflai are presented here as examples . The gallery includes a section on the development of writing on the Arabian Peninsula.
- Jahiliyyah Gallery: Prot-Islamic Period (AD 400–650). Here the civilization of the Arab tribes in the period immediately before the appearance of the Prophet Mohammed and the early Arabic calligraphy are presented.
- Time of the Prophet Mohammed. This is about the life and work of the Prophet, especially the Hijra . The focus of the exhibition is the Koran .
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Islam and the Arabian Peninsula. This department looks at the time from Mohamed until after the First World War . It is divided into sections:
- The time of the Prophet Mohamed
- The time of the caliphs to the Ottoman Empire
- Saudi states until the youth of King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud .
- Union Gallery. Here the emergence of modern Saudi Arabia is shown.
- Hajj and the holy mosques. Here the development of the mosques in Mecca and Medina , the Kaaba and the Prophet's Mosque , as well as documents on the development of the Hajj are shown.
useful information
From January 26 to April 9, 2012, a special exhibition entitled Roads of Arabia - Archaeological Treasures from Saudi Arabia was on view in the Museum of Islamic Art of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in the Pergamon Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Exhibited collections of the National Museum of Saudi Arabia.
literature
- Ali Al-Ghabban: The Cultural Heritage of Saudi Arabia. In: Roads of Arabia - Archaeological Treasures from Saudi Arabia. [Exhibition catalog]. Ed .: Museum for Islamic Art - State Museums in Berlin. Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-88609-721-0 , pp. 31-35.
- National Museum of Saudi Arabia (Ed.): The National Museum. undated, undated (approx. 2011). (engl.)
Web links
- Homepage
- New website of the museum in the English version
Individual evidence
- ↑ Al-Ghabban, p. 31.
- ^ Trevor Boddy: History's New Home in Riyadh. ( Memento of the original from May 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Saudi Aramco World. 5/50. September / October 1999.
- ^ Moriyama & Teshima Architects: The National Museum, Saudi Arabia: Case Study. ( Memento of the original from December 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Moriyama & Teshima Planners Limited - Designer of the outdoor facilities. ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lord Cultural Resources - designer of the exhibition concept. ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Roads of Arabia - Archaeological Treasures from Saudi Arabia ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 24 ° 38 ′ 50.5 " N , 46 ° 42 ′ 38.6" E