The SCTA President stated: “These antiquities proved that [the] Al-Maqar site, in the heart of Saudi Arabia, was the oldest place in the world so far with people domesticated in horses, in addition these artifacts also manifested the cultural activities of people in the region during the Stone Age.”

Prince Sultan highlighted SCTA’s efforts to excavate antiquities in various parts of the country, in addition to protecting them in a scientific manner. He also revealed plans to establish new museums in various parts of KSA: “The results of the excavation show that taking care of horses has been an old tradition inherited by Muslims from their forefathers. There is no wonder that during the time of Prophet Mohammed and the Caliphs, special areas had been allocated for breeding and rearing horses.”

Professor Ali Al-Ghabban, Vice President of SCTA for antiquities and museums, said the SCTA began excavations in Al-Maqar after receiving information about the area from a Saudi last year, adding Saudi and international experts took part in the excavation.

Professor Ghabban added that DNA and C-14 tests proved that the artifacts found during the excavation were 9,000 years old. He said the team had found 80 valuable artifacts from the area. Previous excavations showed people in Central Asia took care of horses 5,000 years ago.

Dr. Ali Al Ghabban, Vice President of SCTA for Antiquities and Museums Affairs, explained that the commission intends to transform the two locations into open museums for the public. His assertions came during a field trip to the sites organized by the SCTA branch of the eastern province in collaboration with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY).

Dr. Ghabban stated: “The first site is near Al Dafi within the Jubail Industrial College near the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu building about 14 kilometers from the city of Jubail. The site area, which is about 60 thousand square off the sea coast, is surrounded by a wall on an archaeological hill that rises to 5 to 6 meters above sea level.

“This site is believed to be the location of [the] ancient Thaj seaport in Al Jahra kingdom, which had taken control of [the] east of the Arabian Peninsula before Islam. Third century BC could be the possible date of the site, however, accurate dating could be given only after finalizing the layer tests.”

Excavations on the site made by Saudi archeologists resulted in the discovery of interconnected residential buildings featured with unique architectural style and high technology in the pruning of masonry and the use of mortar with severe stiffness; using lime has also been detected.

Also a broad road in the middle of a building extending east to west was unearthed by the team. The majority of the buildings have circular basins in the center, about 1.5 meters in diameter, built with stones, with trimmed mud floors, perhaps used for storing foodstuffs. The site is surrounded by a wall built with large stones, a part of which is revealed in the northern part of the site, while a number of archeological finds were picked up during the excavation works, such as pottery and incense burners, clay figures, and bones of fish and marine organisms that have been collected for the study.

Noteworthy, SCTA supported by Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY), is carrying out survey and excavation works on the two archeological sites around this area.

Professor Al Ghabban stated that the discovered item is a hieroglyphic inscription, which is the Pharaonic. The inscription was discovered on a rock near the oasis of Taima, carrying the royal signature (double cartridge) of King Ramses III, who ruled Egypt between (1192-1160 BC), adding that Saudi archeologists have discovered this inscription near the famous historic oasis Taima – one of the largest archaeological sites in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula where the remains of its archeological walls reaches 13 kilometers in length.

Professor Al Ghaban added that, the relic which was found four months ago beside Taima in Tabouk Province, has raised the big question about its existence in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula.

Archaeologists from Saudi Arabia have conducted field surveys and studies. According to which they found out that there was an ancient trade route, which linked the Nile Valley directly to Taima. The ancient trade route was used during the reign of Ramses III in the 12th century BC over which Egyptian trading caravans carried precious and luxury goods, like incense, gold, silver, and copper from Taima.

Najla A. Al-Khalifah

The fireworks will be launched from six sites: King Fahd International Stadium, Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Prince Sultan University, the vicinity of a suspension bridge west of Riyadh, South of Salam Mall, and East of King Abdulaziz Manakh Garden. The fireworks will be launched simultaneously at 2200 hours.

Prince Faisal Stadium will host a number of interesting sporting events, including folklore shows and expatriate community’s events, fire games, and modified cars shows with high-diving skills. The Eastern Riyadh Park (Al Qadisya Quarter) will host different events such as the fifth championship of motorcycle and cars, remote control aviation, and modified cars show.

The pavilion near the “East Ring Road” will provide a vast array of activities for families such as the Chinese and Kenyan shows, children’s theater, puppet animation, and motorcycles show and events that are designed specifically to meet the aspirations of different ages. North Riyadh Yard will be set up for a celebration of programs and will also host a number of events, games, folk shows, sports skills mimicry, game shows, animation, entertainment, and competitions, in addition to the daily raffle prizes.

The Eid Followers Festival, which will be held at the site of Riyadh Spring festival, will witness a number of interesting activities and events, such as Arab Gulf children’s theater, acrobatics, mock traffic park, synthetic drawings, mobile toys, and walls for drawing and creativity.

King Abdul Aziz Manakh Park will host a variety of events specifically targeting the families and children and will include folk theater and Bazaar, wedding events giving details of the wedding ceremonies from different Saudi provinces, in addition to operetta shows on the homeland will be provided by the children from the People’s Association.

Najla A. Al-Khalifahj Email: najla@scta.gov.sa

Dr. Ali Ghabban, vice president of SCTA for Antiquities and Museums, following his visit to Darain stated: “The site represents a residential area, which three civilizations were settled dating back to 2500 years. The first period represents the pre-Islamic era, second period immediately before Islam, and third period represents the early Islamic era.” Dr. Ghabban had inspected the site and briefed on the discovered antiquities in order to specify possible time for handing over the land to its owner after the identifications of the archaeological finds on the site.

In a press statement, Dr. Ghabban stated that the Eastern Province PTO will announce the initial findings, based on the gathered material and discoveries on the site and said, “The research team which unearthed the site got amazing results during a brief period. It was designated as a residential area. They found human skeletons trapped near the palace of Abdul-Wahhab Faihani. Next was the discovery of coins of early Islamic ages, which are yet to be addressed and when done, might give a greater dimension of the region. Well-preserved kitchen sets with complete cooking paraphernalia of the early Islamic times were found with as much as doused-out cinders and fire ashes.

“The kingdom’s eastern province has the most important archaeological sites, which are full of monuments and historic buildings wherever you go and throughout the ages. We hope to take advantage of these findings for tourism and economic development with positive implications on the region.”

The project will be carried out as a joint venture – eight ministries and cooperative societies owned by the residents of the village will cooperate on this project, which will benefit the locals in particular and the nation in general.

During the launch, Prince Sultan stated: “Rijal Alma is one of the SCTA’s projects for developing heritage villages and towns projects. It aims at rehabilitating these sites after being on the verge of destruction and transforming them into economical projects that attract investments and generates employment opportunities for locals.”

Rijal Alma village won the Prince Sultan bin Salman Prize for Preservation of Urban Heritage in 2006. Commenting on this, SCTA’s president stated: “Rijal Alma village has introduced itself independently. The residents initiated the rehabilitation works a long time ago to attract tourists to the area and benefit from its economic potentials. We learned a lot from the Rijal Alma experience; we ought to help and support them through this project. What you have seen now is an example of public and private sectors and local community solidarity and cooperation; moreover, an example of an integrated economic, architectural, renovation, and training project aimed at providing various benefits to the residents of the village, such as creating jobs, economic and investment opportunities, marketing local products, as well as fighting poverty.”

Other heritage development projects include Al-Muthnib village in Qassim, Jubbah in Hail, Al-Ola in Madinah, Al-Ghat in Ghat, and Thee Ain in Al-Baha.

Najla A. Al-Khalifah Email: najla@scta.gov.sa

The space of this area does not exceed 200 square meters, and its western side ends in a steep cliff. Near the cliff, standing erect, is a young man surrounded by busy specialists who measure temperature and wind speed.

A group of parachute pilots prepare for flying over the steep 3,000 meters. A crowd of amateur people sit on the nearby seats. There are seats for families also, and the seats for youths are laid across in the opposite direction. The clock is ticking, pointing to 4:45. The watch controller is calling out, 29, 18, 16, 20, 25. All competitors have stopped opening their parachutes, as competition rules prohibit flying before getting the start signal.

Competitor skydivers are only allowed to fly when wind speeds do not exceed 20 to 25 km. The skydivers are required to rush, gliding towards the mountain’s base, where a judging committee sits near the landing spot, which measures “a 10-meter diameter circle.” Countdown begins, the parachute spreads open, and the pilot is lifted up swiftly towards the cliff amidst the applause of those present, along with prayers from his friends who wish him safe flying.

Pilot Mohammed Saleh Al Hezaili said that the support of HRH Amir of Aseer Faisal Bin Al Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz for such events is providing excellent input for tourism across the province. At the same time, pilot Al Abdulla emphasized that Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal was the first Saudi to fly over Al Soda.

MAS statistics stress that sport activities are the most attractive events for tourists, especially those that include adventure and excitement.

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) has launched its summer vacation campaign, which aims at increasing the awareness of the tourism options in Saudi Arabia as a summer tourism destination, enhancing tourist’s perception of the kingdom as a tourism destination, downsizing the number of foreign trips by Saudi holiday makers, and attracting GCC nationals to visit the kingdom during the summer season.

Dr. Fahad Al Jarbou, assistant vice president for marketing affairs, stated that, SCTA is seeking to promote and enhance tourism activity across the kingdom and throughout the year, especially during summer holidays in which various summer activities and events are organized and a large number of visitors are attracted. He added that the timing of the campaign was carefully chosen to encourage Saudi families to pre-plan their trips.

The first phase of the program was launched last May and is entitled “Saudi summer… brings us together.”

Mr. Abdul-Rahman Al-Jassas, the executive manager of Riyadh PTO, revealed that these tours are free of charge for Riyadh visitors and residents. The sightseeing tours will start from Prince Salman Science Oasis on King Abdullah road; two tours per day. The tours will be conducted by using comfortable buses, provided by SAPTCO Co., inside the city starting next Saturday until the end of the week. Mr. Al-Jassas stated that the first tour will start at 4:30 pm and the second will start at 6:30 pm every day.

Mr. Al-Jassas mentioned that these tours aim at introducing Riyadh’s tourism landmarks during spring vacation, to stimulate the tourism movement in the Province, increase the number of visitors, and encourage tour operators to implement such tours. Also, the Riyadh landmark tours aim at creating a positive image of Riyadh city as a tourism city and participating in the spring festivals with a new idea. Mr. Al-Jassas confirmed that each bus will be accompanied by a tour guide to explain and answer any questions about these landmarks.

The sightseeing tours will include many landmarks such as shopping centers (Riyadh Gallery/ Al-Aziziyah Mall/ Garnada), Old Dir’iyah, the Kingdom and Al-Faisaliah towers, King Abdul-Aziz Historical Center, Al-Masmak Palace, and Zal traditional market. Moreover, tourism publications and maps will be distributed to the visitors during their tours.

Mr. Al-Jassas stated that Riyadh PTO will pay for the costs of tour guides and advertisFree sightseeing in the Saudi capital during spring break
February 16, 2009 in Destinations
(Forimmediaterelease.net) The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) launched sightseeing tours around the most prominent landmarks in the Riyadh city during the spring break in cooperation with the Saudi Arabian Public Transport Company (SAPTCO).

Mr. Abdul-Rahman Al-Jassas, the executive manager of Riyadh PTO, revealed that these tours are free of charge for Riyadh visitors and residents. The sightseeing tours will start from Prince Salman Science Oasis on King Abdullah road; two tours per day. The tours will be conducted by using comfortable buses, provided by SAPTCO Co., inside the city starting next Saturday until the end of the week. Mr. Al-Jassas stated that the first tour will start at 4:30 pm and the second will start at 6:30 pm every day.

Mr. Al-Jassas mentioned that these tours aim at introducing Riyadh’s tourism landmarks during spring vacation, to stimulate the tourism movement in the Province, increase the number of visitors, and encourage tour operators to implement such tours. Also, the Riyadh landmark tours aim at creating a positive image of Riyadh city as a tourism city and participating in the spring festivals with a new idea. Mr. Al-Jassas confirmed that each bus will be accompanied by a tour guide to explain and answer any questions about these landmarks.

The sightseeing tours will include many landmarks such as shopping centers (Riyadh Gallery/ Al-Aziziyah Mall/ Garnada), Old Dir’iyah, the Kingdom and Al-Faisaliah towers, King Abdul-Aziz Historical Center, Al-Masmak Palace, and Zal traditional market. Moreover, tourism publications and maps will be distributed to the visitors during their tours.

Mr. Al-Jassas stated that Riyadh PTO will pay for the costs of tour guides and advertising campaigns, and SAPTCO Co. will provide free transport.

Najla Al-Khalifa Ladies Section Supervisor/Senior Mass Communication Researcher The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities Tel. +96618808910 Fax. +96618808930ing campaigns, and SAPTCO Co. will provide free transport.
Najla Al-Khalifa Ladies Section Supervisor/Senior Mass Communication Researcher The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities Tel. +96618808910 Fax. +96618808930

Al-Jurbou stated that family tourism is one of SCTA’s foremost priorities, based on its direct impact in supporting the development of national tourism; since the domestic tourist is the main target at this stage. Dr. Al-Jurbou called on tourism and recreational companies to present their products and events in coordination with TCC to facilitate information to the tourists, which will help them to pre-plan their vacations, in addition to support SCTA’s efforts to raise tourism awareness around the Kingdom and developing tourism programs and products.