This exhibition of over 300 works, offers the visitor a journey through the heart of Arabia, orchestrated by photographs of the region’s landscapes. It takes the form of a series of stop overs in some of the peninsula’s extensive oases, which in ancient times were home to powerful states or which, beginning in the 7th century, became Islamic holy places. The 300 items chosen, most of which have never left their country of origin before, provide an original panorama of the different cultures that succeeded each other within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia from prehistoric times through the dawn of the modern world.
They reveal, in particular, the little-known past of a dazzling, prosperous Arabic world now being gradually discovered byarchaeologists. Moving Neolithic funerary stelae, colossal statues of the kings of Lihyan (6th-4th century BC), and silver tableware and precious jewellery placed in tombs testify to the dynamism of this civilisation. Despite a hostile natural environment, the inhabitants succeeded in taking advantage of their country’s geographical situation as a crossing point for the roads linking the shores of the Indian Ocean and the horn of Africa to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Mediterranean world. Early in the first millennium BC this trans-Arabian trade flourished, bringing prosperity to the caravan cities and permeating the local culture with new fashions and ideas from the great neighbouring empires.
The second section of the exhibition highlights therole of Arabia as the cradle of Islam. The roads became crowded with pilgrimsas well as traders; a first group of exhibits evokes the pilgrim paths and Al-Rabadha, one of the principal stopping-places. Following this road as far as Mecca, a second group comprises a selection of funerary stelae illustrating the evolution of writing and ornamentation between the 10th and 16th century and providing precious information on Meccan society at the time. Muslim sovereigns vied with each other in their generosity towards holy places, with buildings and such ventures into embellishment as a monumental door from the Ka’ba,the gift of an Ottoman sultan.
A symposium (Arabic Routes: The Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaCulture and Civilisation) on 25 September from 10 am to 6.30 pm in theauditorium of the Louvre (free admission).
Exhibition until 27 September at Musee du Louvre, 75058 Paris, tel +33 1 40 20 53 17, www.louvre.fr. Hours: Mon,Thur, Sat, Sun 9-6; Wed 9-10. Closed Tuesdays. Admission to the exhibition Euro 11. Combined ticked Euro 14. A catalogue accompanies the exhibition, a collection of essaysco-published by Musee du Louvre and Somogy. Limited edition in English and Arabic, only available through the Louvre bookshop, Euro 45.
