NATIONAL MUSEUM

The National Museum of Saudi Arabia is a modern, unassuming building built 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, which also includes the Murabba Palace, a library and a park. It traces the history of the country from the Neolithic period to the present day, through reconstructions and interactive installations displayed in 8 galleries.

The Hall of Man and the Universe. This section is dedicated 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 fish-bodied reptile.

The Hall of the Arab Kingdoms. Fourteen pre-Islamic civilizations from the^5th century BC to the Hegira (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 left Hegra. Reproductions of petroglyphs in Thamudic, Aramaic or ancient Arabic, jewelry and pottery or murals from an Assyrian palace are exhibited.

The Pre-Islamic Era Hall. This section explains how the Arabs lived at the time of the advent of Islam.

The Hall of the Prophet's Mission. The gallery traces the life of the Prophet Muhammad from his birth in Mecca to his exile in Medina. Beautiful Islamic works are on display, such as this large ceramic mural or a 500-year-old Quran.

The Hall of Islam and the Arabian Peninsula. From the beginnings of Islam in 622 to World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The Hall of the First and Second Saudi State. It took several attempts to unify the Arabian Peninsula. The one in 1744 and the one in 1824 are explained here and reenactments show how people lived in the country.

The Hall of the Unification of the Kingdom. This hall traces 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 is impossible to look at the history of Saudi Arabia without looking at the cities of Mecca and Medina, the mosques of Al-Haram and Al-Nawabi which see millions of pilgrims passing through every year.