Imagine, if we could take a trip back in time to more than one million years ago, what we would see in our past that would tell us more about who we are and how our ancestors lived.
Starting this month, an exhibition of more than 200 recently discovered artifacts excavated from sites through the Arabian Peninsula is being held at the world-famous Smithsonian Institute in Washington.
The institutes’ Sackler Gallery will host “Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” through to Feb. 24, 2013. The exhibition will focus on the ancient trade roads of the peninsula and look at the development of pilgrimage roads that converged on Makkah with the rise of Islam.
The lands of Saudi Arabia sit at the crossroads of the dawn of civilization. “Roads of Arabia” examines the ancient trade routes of the peninsula and a time when merchants carried precious frankincense and myrrh to the Mesopotamia and Greco-Roman world.
Their interactions connected the Arabian lands with the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece and Rome.
Not many know about the pre-Islamic history of this area. The common perception is of a land of oil and the origin of Islam, but little is known about the civilizations that lived there.
Julian Raby, the Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art, said the exhibition is “a new window onto a country whose pre-Islamic past is little known to anyone other than a handful of scholars today, and whose Islamic history is often misunderstood.”
The “Roads of Arabia” exhibit is organized by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and the Smithsonian Institute. On tour since 2010, it has intrigued audiences in the museums of Paris, Barcelona, St. Petersburg and Berlin. The exhibit makes its American debut in Washington and will travel on to the museums of Houston, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston.
Travel the roads online and learn more about the history of the roads of Arabia at www.roadsofarabia.com The website explores Arab culture and features photo slideshows, video and interactive maps.
Established in 1846, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington is the world’s largest museum complex, home to 19 museums and galleries, nine research facilities and the National Zoological Park.
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”
— Marcus Garvey.
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