World History: “Roads of Arabia” exhibit displays archaeological treasures from Saudi Arabia in Berlin

On January 26th 2012 the Pergamon Museum (Berlin) launched “Roads of Arabia. Archaeological Treasures from Saudi Arabia” exhibition, which shows archaeological heritage of Saudi Arabia.

The exhibition showcases more than 400 artefacts from the National Museum in Riyadh, King Saud University Museum and other museums of Saudi Arabia. In addition to the exhibits loaned by Saudi Arabia, there are numerous objects from the National Museums in Berlin, the Berlin State Library, the Tübingen University Library and private lenders. The exhibition presents spectacular artefacts from prehistory and early history, as well as from ancient Saudi Arabia: finds of earliest bifaces, 6000 year-old anthropomorphic stela, monumental sculptures probably representing kings and members of the elite, enchanting works in glass and metal dating from Roman antiquity, and ceramics. The exhibition will see spectacular objects from the Kaaba itself and the city of Mecca go on display in Germany for the first time ever.

Trade and pilgrimage routes are topics that permeate the exhibition. Chronologically arranged and presented to form an indoor archaeological landscape covering a terrain of 1300 square metres, the show makes archaeology an immediate experience and offers visitors a unique panorama of the cultural history of the Arabian Peninsula.

“Roads of Arabia” exhibition in the Pergamon Museum of Berlin has been organized by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, in partnership with the National Museums' own Museum of Islamic Art. The show will close on April 9th 2012. Earlier the exhibition was staged in the Louvre of Paris, Caixa Forum in Barcelona and The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.