“This is taking place as part of a plan to re-establish the museum part of people’s lives in Saudi Arabia,” said Prince Sultan bin Salman, head of the SCTA.

Talking to reporters at the opening of the Mexican Human Heritage photo exhibition at the National Museum in Riyadh, Prince Sultan said the SCTA would sign three agreements pertaining to tourism and antiquities with the Ministry of Education on Saturday.

“The aim of these agreements is to reinstate antiquities and museums and the national architectural heritage in the educational process,” he said.

Prince Sultan also announced that the SCTA would showcase in the near future more than 10,000 Saudi antiquities.

“Saudi Arabia has a heritage of antiquities and artifacts equal to what is possessed by deeply rooted nations in this field, and we have made great strides in restoring a lot of our national antiquities and artifacts. Work is underway to restore more,” he said.

Prince Sultan revealed that the SCTA is currently conducting the first phase of a national survey of its archaeological assets.

“We have already trained many citizens on the excavations and we can proudly say that the Kingdom now has experts in this field,” the prince said.