The “Roads of Arabia: Archeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” exhibition currently on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris is drawing large numbers of visitors who include French nationals, other Europeans and people from different parts of the world. The exhibition displays 300 artifacts which represent the archaeology and history of Saudi Arabia from prehistoric times to the dawn of the modern world. The exhibition opened by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs will continue till Sept. 27, 2010. “Roads of Arabia” was opened to the public on July 14 and since then hundreds of people have been visiting on a daily basis, according to an official of the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA). The Saudi exhibition received extensive coverage in the French media due to which the number of visitors is expected to increase further, the official said without giving an exact number. The museum's administration has erected large signboards highlighting the event in different areas of the Louvre, which is one of the largest museums in the world. Brochures containing information about the exhibition are distributed to visitors at the museum's entry areas. According to the SCTA website, the Louvre's administration is expecting a large number of visitors from around the world to visit “Roads of Arabia”. The exhibition, which for the first time displays a large number of important antiquities from the Arabian Peninsula, was prepared, planned and publicized by the Louvre and the SCTA. “Roads of Arabia” offers a journey through the heart of the Kingdom, orchestrated by photographs of the region's varied landscape. It takes the form of a series of stopovers in a number of the peninsula's extensive oases, some of which in ancient times were homes of powerful states and, beginning in the 7th century, became Islamic holy sites. The 300 chosen items on display, most of which have never been seen abroad before, provide an original panorama of the different cultures that succeeded each other within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from prehistoric times to the modern era. Prince Sultan Bin Salman, SCTA President, said the artifacts displayed at the “Roads of Arabia” exhibition represent only a small portion of the historically important relics excavated in the Kingdom in recent years. Beatrice Andre-Salvini, Director of the Oriental Antiquities Department at the Louvre and coordinator of the “Roads of Arabia” exhibition, expressed her pleasure that the Louvre was the first international museum to host the event. In a press statement, she said that the Arabian Peninsula has played an important role in world history, noting that it was a major crossroads of historical trade routes. She described the exhibition as extremely important in that it is the first ever to display such a large number of Saudi antiquities, adding that the items on display had all been carefully selected.
