Speaking to Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper, a number of citizens said they are proud they have returned these historical pieces to the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) in order to ensure their safe custody as well as to showcase them in front of citizens and foreign tourists.
The citizens said that they consider it a national duty to respond positively to the initiative taken by tourism authorities with an objective of highlighting the Kingdom’s rich heritage and its pivotal role in shaping human civilization.
Their statements follow a call made by Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of SCTA, to return the historical pieces to the commission. While launching the campaign to retrieve artifacts belonging to the Kingdom last month, the prince said the campaign reflects the importance of recovering national antique and heritage pieces as they represent an essential part of the Kingdom’s history.
Ali Al-Ghabban, vice president of the antiquities and museums sector at SCTA, said antiques and heritage pieces retrieved from citizens within the Kingdom and abroad would be showcased at the National Exhibition for Retrieved Artifacts, to be held at the National Museum in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Janadriyah National Heritage and Cultural Festival.
“The exhibition, which will display all antiques retrieved in the past, will convey a strong message to all people who smuggled artifacts out of the Kingdom to return them. It is also aimed at persuading all Saudis and foreigners keeping artifacts illegally to come forward to hand them over to the SCTA,” he said.
Al-Ghabban received a heritage piece that dates back to the early period of Islam from Daifallah Al-Ghofaili, owner of Dar Al-Ajdad museum in Al-Rass. The handover was made at an awareness program organized by SCTA for museum owners at King Abdul Aziz Historic Center in Riyadh. Speaking on the occasion, Al-Ghabban said the increased interest shown by citizens to return artifacts to SCTA reflects their growing awareness to preserve this precious national wealth.
Al-Ghofaili said this historical piece contains inscriptions such as Islamic invocation beginning with “Bismillah” and Surah Al-Ikhlas. “I was prompted to hand over the antique in recognition of the top priority and concern given by SCTA authorities to preserve these treasures. This move would contribute substantially to highlighting the Kingdom’s heritage and its sublime position in the human civilization,” he said, while calling on other citizens to follow suit.
Speaking to the newspaper, Abdul Aziz bin Khaled Al-Sudairy, who handed over 15 pieces of antiques to the SCTA, described his initiative as part of fulfilling his national obligation. “These were the best among the historical pieces that I have kept at my office. None of the people except me, my children and those visiting us, ever saw them,” he said, adding that this move would lead to the pieces being displayed at the Kingdom’s museums and giving them a wider audience.
Al-Sudairy said the heritage pieces that he presented to SCTA included an inscription on marble and a bronze piece excavated from the site of Al-Ukhdud in Najran, which was in his custody for more than 30 years. “Experts from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History discovered earlier that this antique, which dates back to 600-300 BC, belonged to a king who ruled during that period,” Al-Sudairy said.
Ali Zayed Al-Qarni, another citizen who handed over a heritage piece that dates back to pre-Islamic period, said this gesture was in response to a recent campaign launched to return relics to SCTA. “It is our national duty to render our contributions in highlighting the Kingdom’s rich cultural heritage. SCTA is the most competent authority to preserve these historical pieces,” he said while noting that he came across the antique, a stone carving, accidentally during a trip to Bisha desert in early December 2011.
Al-Qarni said experts from SCTA offices in Asir and Bisha made an inspection tour of the site following the discovery of the antique. “They discovered a similar stone with inscriptions from the region. They also took samples of several pieces of marble and earthenware from the mountainous region,” he said.
Prince Sultan bin Salman recently said SCTA had retrieved around 14,000 artifacts from abroad. He also indicated the commission is working closely with the Ministry of Interior to monitor outgoing and incoming historical pieces. Prince Sultan pointed out that smuggling antiques is an offense committed by citizens and expatriates sometimes out of ignorance.
