NATIONAL MUSEUM

The National Museum of Saudi Arabia is a modern, unobtrusive building built right next to the Murabba Palace. Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama was inspired by the red sand dunes of Thumamah to sketch the design. The museum is part of the King Abdulaziz Historical Center. This center also includes the Murabba Palace, a library and a park. It traces the country's history, from the Neolithic period to the present day, through reconstructions and interactive installations exhibited in eight galleries.

The Hall of Man and the Universe. This section is devoted to the geological formation of the country and the first traces of life on Earth. On display are a fragment of meteorite from the Wabar craters in the Rub' al Khali desert, skeletons of platybelodon, the ancestor of the elephant, and ichthyosaurus, a large fish-bodied reptile.

The Hall of the Arab Kingdoms. Fourteen pre-Islamic civilizations from the^5th century BC to the Hegira (year 622) are studied here, including the Obaids, a Mesopotamian civilization; the Edomites, a kingdom south of the Dead Sea; the Lihyanites, a powerful kingdom in northwestern Saudi Arabia; and the Nabataeans, who bequeathed Hegra. On display are reproductions of petroglyphs in Thamudic, Aramaic and ancient Arabic, jewelry and pottery, and murals from an Assyrian palace.

The pre-Islamic era hall. This section explains how Arabs lived at the time of the advent of Islam.

The hall of the Prophet's mission. This gallery traces the life of the Prophet Mohammed, from his birth in Mecca to his exile in Medina. Beautiful Islamic works are on display, including this large ceramic mural and a 500-year-old Koran.

The Hall of Islam and the Arabian Peninsula. This section reveals the beginnings of Islam in 622 to the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The hall of the First and Second Saudi States. It took several attempts to unify the Arabian Peninsula. The attempts of 1744 and 1824 are explained here, and reconstructions show how people lived in the country.

The Hall of the Unification of the Kingdom. This hall retraces the capture of Riyadh by King Abdulaziz and the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1932.

The Hall of the Hajj and the Two Sacred Mosques. It's impossible to explore the history of Saudi Arabia without taking a look at the cities of Mecca and Medina, and the Al-Haram and Al-Nawabi mosques, which attract millions of pilgrims every year.