Saudi Arabia

By: Alaa Z. Alduhaiby

Map of Saudi Arabia

Architecture

The Holly Mosque

The Holly Mosque is a sacred landmark and destination that is located in Makkah city, the capital of the western region.

Makkah is the oldest pilgrimage and tourism destination in the world since Pre-Islamic times. The center of Makkah and its holiness is stemming from Ka’aba, God’s house that was built by Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail. Today, 12 million Muslims from all around the world visit Makkah annually. The Mosque has drastically evolved and has been rigorously expanded throughout the years to increase its capacity. Currently, its going through major expansion plans to increase its spacious capacity to include 10 million Muslims.

The Old City of Jeddah

Jeddah, known for, the Red Sea Mermaid, is one of the oldest urbanized cities in the Kingdom.

The old city that exist today was built during the Ottoman Empire, its known for its Islamic designs and Windows.

The old city composed of three main districts: the sea district, the Yemen district, the Sham and finally the Oppressed District. Each District is named after the destination it leads to, i.e., the sea, Yemen…etc. However, the Oppressed is named after Abdulkarim Burzanji, a man who was murdered under oppression in this district. Interestingly enough, my mother’s great grandfather.

Islamic Architect

Aseer

Aseer region is located south of the kingdom. Aseer is famously rich with its architectural heritage that is spread through various eras and generations. The region has over 5000 historical villages .

Some of the famous cities and villages that are rich with historical architecture in Aseer are: Rijaal Almaa, Sawdah village, AlMiftah village, Al-Nams governorate, to name a few.

Aseer is most famous for its forts and houses built on Tihama mountains. Moreover, its famous for the semi-pyramid shape houses and buildings where the base is wider in space than the top of the building (Fig 1) in the post-Islamic times. It’s been noted by Historians that Aseer inhabitants in the early 1800s knew the benefits of such an architectural shape. Most of those buildings are over 260 years old.

Fig 1

Craftsmanship

Manufacturing “Kiswa”

Throughout the centuries, the cover of the ‘Ka’ba’, called, Kiswa, has been a heritage.

The first time the cover of Ka’ba, Kiswa, was changed was in Prophet Mohammad’s time, may peace be upon him. Since then, it’s been a ritual throughout all Islamic governments that governed Makkah.

The craftsmanship behind the weaving , design and the hand-stitched embroidery is compared to no other in the world. Today, changing Ka’ba’s Kiswa annually is a celebration that the whole Muslim World view. Personal invitations to the event are extremely exclusive.

The replaced Kiswa is invaluable. It’s cut and displayed in museums or sold selectively at extremely expensive prices.

Fig 2

Fig 1

Building Wooden Boats

Saudi Arabia is surrounded by two seas, the Persian gulf east and the Red Sea west.

The inhabitants of the western and eastern regions are famous for their craftsmanship in building wooden boats for different purposes as harvesting pearls and fishing. Till now, the Persian Gulf is famous for its rich waters with rare and exquisite pearls.

There are still famous families in Saudi that inherited this craftsmanship that is celebrated every year in Janadria Annual Culture & Heritage Festival.

Some of the well-known boats in the western region is the Sanbook, (Fig1), whereas in the eastern region, the most famous and reliable boat is the “Boom” (Fig 2)

Roses festival

Producing Rose Water and Perfume

Taif, a city located in the western region of the kingdom has been forever famous for its pink aromatic rose: The Taifi roses.

There are over 700 gardens of roses in Taif, the city celebrates the harvest season in May every year in the Roses Festival

Taif rose water is classified one of the top best in the world. It’s known for the production of it’s roses essence and perfumes as well.

Cultural Interests

Raising Arabic Horses

Raising Camels

Literature

Raja Alem (1963-

A novelist, short-story writer and play-writer. Earned her Bacelors of Art degree from the Univeristy of King AbdulAziz.

Won the Poker Prize for the Arabian Novel in 2011, to be the first female novelist to win the prize since its establishment in 2008. Her winning Novel, The Dove’s Necklace, discusses the social fabric of Mekkah’s society.

Her novels, The Silk Road and The Dove’s Necklace, were translated to Spanish & English languages.

Ghazi Al-Gosaibi (1940- 2010)

A diplomat, a poet and a novelist. He filled a number of diplomatic and technocratic positions, where he held the positions of an Ambassador and a Minister of various countries and ministries respectively.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree of liberal arts in Law from the University of Cairo, and pursued his postgraduate degrees in International Relations and International Law for his Masters and Doctoral degrees respectively.

An Apartment Called Freedom and Seven are his most famous novels that were translated in English. Al-Gosaibi was a great role-model and a true leader, who left a profound impact and a great legacy.

References:• British Petroleum (bp), (2006) Annual Review [Online]. Available from:

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/annual_review/annual_review_2006/STAGING/local_assets/downloads_pdfs/a/ara_2006_annual_review.pdf (Accessed at: Nov 17, 2008)

• Janadria Cultural Heritage Festival (2014) Janadria Cultural Heritage Festival [Online] Available from: http://www.janadria.org.sa/sites/main/ar/Pages/default.aspx (Accessed: May 4, 014)

• Rose Perfume (2014) Rose Perfume (Arabic) [Online] Available from: http://www.rosetaif.com/index.php?page=show_page&id=1 (Accessed: May 4, 014)

• Saudi Tourism (2013) Saudi Regions [Online] Available from: http://sauditourism.sa/en/Explore/Regions/Asir/Pages/default.aspx (Accessed: May 14, 014)

• Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiques (2014) The Heritage [Online] Available from: http://www.scta.gov.sa/en/Heritage/Pages/default.aspx (Accessed: May 14, 014)

• The Kiswa Factory (2011) Throughout the ages [Online] Available from: http://factory.alharamain.gov.sa/en/index.html (Accessed: May 4, 014)

• The World Factbook (2013) Central Intelligence Agency [Online] Available from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html (Accessed: May 3, 014)