Roads of Arabia

306 Pages·2010·21.18 MB·English

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Roads
of Arabia
ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF
THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
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Catalogue of the exhibition Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Musée du Louvre, Paris
14 July–27 September, 2010
This exhibition was organized by the Musée du Louvre
and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities
Ro a d s
This exhibition benefited from the aid of
Saudi Arabian Airlines, Banque Saudi Fransi,
Tariq Abdel Hadi Al-Qahtani & Bros and Rifaat Medhat Sheikh El-Ard
A r a b i a
of
A RC H A E O LO G Y A N D H I S TO RY O F
T H E K I N G D O M O F S AU D I A R A B I A
edited by
Ali Ibrahim Al-Ghabban, Béatrice André-Salvini
Al-Rubaiyat and the Total Foundation
Françoise Demange, Carine Juvin and Marianne Cotty
Cover : Dedan (al-Ula),
Photograph by Humberto da Silveira
www.louvre.fr In application of the legislation of 11 March, 1957
www.somogy.net
(Art. 41) and the Code of Intellectual Property of 1 July,
1992, partial or total reproduction for collective use of
© Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2010
the present publication is strictly forbidden without the
© Somogy Art Publishers, Paris, 2010
publisher’s specific authorization. The unauthorized and
ISBN Musée du Louvre: 978-2-35031-288-0 collective use of photocopies endangers the economic
ISBN Somogy Art publishers: 978-2-7572-0395-8 equilibrium of book circulation.
ARAB CONSULTANTS 23-06-010
UNIQUEMENT § DE DROITE EN BAS
MODIFIÉ POUR ROI D’ARABIE page protocolaire
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The exhibition Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
is under the patronage of
monsieur nicolas sarkozy custodian of the two holy mosques
president of king abdullah
the french republic bin abdulaziz al saud
king of saudi arabia
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President Nicolas Sarkozy and His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
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foreword by henri loyrette
President-Director of the Musée du Louvre
The Musée du Louvre is delighted and honoured to be hosting the first exhibition devoted
to the ancient and prestigious history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It reveals the rich
cultures which succeeded one another over a vast territory with diverse landscapes and peo-
ples but unified by its role as a crossroads at the heart of great civilizations past and present
and as the cradle of Islam.
The exhibition Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, presented at the Louvre under the patronage of the President of the French Republic,
Monsieur Nicolas Sarkozy, and The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Majesty King
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, is the spectacular culmination of the cultural collaboration
agreementsigned in April 2004 by His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz
Al Saud, President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, and the Musée du
Louvre.
This event is a magnificent response to the exhibition Masterpieces from the Louvre’s
Islamic Arts Collection at the National Museum in Riyadh. The first example of our coopera-
tion, the exhibition was inaugurated by His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
and President Jacques Chirac in the spring of 2006.
The Saudi royal family has shown a constant interest in the Musée du Louvre, and the
generous donations made by His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al
Saud for the construction of the new galleries of Islamic Arts are a dazzling example of this.
The loan of more than three hundred works of immense historic, aesthetic and symbolic
interest, most of them never before shown to the public, giving people an opportunity to see
a world they never knew before, is another example.
I would like to pay tribute to the exemplary institutional and scientific collaboration
which has developed and intensified during the course of this project, creating lasting bonds
between our two countries. Just one example is the joint research that led to the spectacu-
lar restorations at the Louvre which enabled the colossal statues of the ancient kings of
Lihyan, who reigned in the north of the country over two thousand years ago, to recover
their former splendour.
The realization of this ambitious exhibition could not have been successfully achieved
without the strong friendships which developed during almost three years of cooperation,
or without the generous Saudi and French donors to whom we are so grateful.
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foreword by his royal highness prince
sultan bin salman bin abdulaziz al saud
President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, cradle of Islam and land of the Arabian identity, has always
acted as a bridge between the civilizations of several continents. Traversed by ancient trade
roads, it has been successively peopled by diverse civilizations whose enduring remains bear
testimony to a past stretching back several millennia.
This exhibition, presenting the archaeological masterpieces of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia and exploring its history down the ages, is being shown at the Musée du Louvre
under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques His Majesty King Abdul-
lah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Excellency the President of the French Republic, Mon-
sieur Nicolas Sarkozy. In fact, it is merely the concretization of the special relationships
established between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the French Republic and the practical
application of a cooperation agreement between the Musée du Louvre and the Saudi Com-
mission for Tourism and Antiquities signed in April 2004.
The exhibition provides the first opportunity outside Saudi Arabia to see more than
three hundred of the kingdom’s most precious archaeological treasures. They are the fruit of
archaeological explorations and excavations carried out in all regions over the last forty years
and a sample of the kingdom’s riches in this field. For the Saudi Commission for Tourism
and Antiquities, the presentation of this exhibition at the Musée du Louvre, one of the
world’s most eminent museums, visited yearly by millions, is an opportunity to encourage
cultural exchanges. Visitors to the Louvre will have the possibility of discovering the king-
dom’s artistic achievements and the contribution of its ancient and more recent inhabitants
to our world heritage.
I would like to express my gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His
Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Excellency the President of the
French Republic, Monsieur Nicolas Sarkozy, for bestowing their patronage and supporting this
exhibition. I would also like to thank the staff of the Musée du Louvre, especially its
President-Director, Monsieur Henri Loyrette, who have actively worked to develop relations
between our two countries in the museum field, one of the fruits of which is this exhibition. I
would also like to thank all the institutions and companies who provided support for the
realization of this exhibition, and the teams in Saudi Arabia and France who participated
in its organization.
May God favour its success…
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exhibition publication saudi commission musee du louvre
for tourism
and antiquities
Musée du Louvre Musée du Louvre Somogy Art Publishers
Direction of Cultural Production Direction of Cultural Production His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Henri Loyrette
Exhibitions Service bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud President-Director
President
Soraya Karkache Violaine Bouvet-Lanselle Nicolas Neumann Hervé Barbaret
Head ofExhibitions Service Head of Publication Service Director Chief Executive Director
Ali Ibrahim Al-Ghabban
Claire Chalvet Christine Fuzeau Clémentine Petit Vice-President of Antiquities and Museums Catherine Sueur
Exhibition manager Editorial coordination Editorial coordinator Deputy Executive Director
Pascal Périnel Ariane Guéroult-Freyder Nelly Riedel Béatrice André-Salvini
Registrar Iconographic coordinator, Image and Graphic design Director of the Department of
Documentation Service Ancient Near East
Architectural, Museographic and Brownyn Mahoney and
Technical Service Fabrice Douar andTimothy Stroud Helen Downey, Kathleen Gray, Sandra Sophie Makariou
Index Freland, Christine Schultz-Touge Director of the Department of Islamic Arts
Alain Boissonnet Copy editing
Director Translators Juliette Armand
German Julia Bouyeure, Christine Dodos-Ungerer, Director of Cultural Production
Michel Antonpietri Irène Imart Valentina Gardet, Céline Moulard and
Deputy director French Tiffanie De Gregorio
Lydie Échasseriaud andAnne-Marie Terel Proofreading
Clio Karageorghis Arabic
Head of Architectural, Museographic Rita Haddadand Faysa El Qasem Michel Brousset, Béatrice Bourgerie
and Technical Service and Mathias Prudent
Production
Victoria Gertenbach and
Jean-Julien Simonot David Jaggard, Jennifer Kaku, Nancy Li,
Exhibition design Timothy Stroud, David Wharry and
Susan Wise
Donato Di Nunno Translators into English
Graphics
Carol Manzano and Cécile Guillermin
Coordination, Architectural,
Museography and Exhibition Texts Service
Hervé Jarousseau
Head of Museographic Works Service
Xavier Guillot and Philippe Leclercq
Coordination, Museographic Works
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exhibition curators
Saudi Arabia
Ali Ibrahim Al-Ghabban
Vice-President of Antiquities and Museums,
Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, Riyadh
France
Béatrice André-Salvini
General curator, director of the Department of Ancient Near East,
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Françoise Demange
Curator in chief at the Department
of Ancient Near East, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Carine Juvin
Scientific advisor at the Department of Islamic Arts,
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Assisted by Marianne Cotty,
Exhibition coordinator at the Department of Ancient Near East,
Musée du Louvre, Paris
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His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities
Wishes to thank
and
For their generous support that made this English Edition possible
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acknowledgments
We are grateful to The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques His We would also like to express our gratitude to the Communica- and mounting of the monumental statues, and M. Patrick Delauche, We were warmly welcomed by all, particularly by His Excel-
Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and to the President tion Department, especially to Aggy Lerolle and Sophie Grange; in director of the Chenue company, which transported the art works. lency Faysal A. Al-Muammar, vice-minister of Education, director of
of the French Republic, Monsieur Nicolas Sarkozy, for their patron- the Auditorium, Jean-Marc Terrasse organized the programme the King Abdullaziz Public Library in Riyadh, Abdullah S. Al-Saud,
age of this exhibition. accompanying the exhibition in exceptional conditions with his This exhibition benefited from the generous support of the director of the National Museum in Riyadh; Abdul Kareem A. Al-
usual courtesy; we thank him and the entire Auditorium team, par- French Embassy in Riyadh. We would like to express our gratitude Zaid, deputy director of the King Abdulaziz Public Library in
Without the determination and generosity of His Royal High- ticularly Monica Preti-Hamard and Sophie Beckouche. Agnès Alfan- to M. Bertrand Besancenot, French Ambassador to the Kingdom of Riyadh and Fahad A. Al Abdulkareem, director of Cultural Affairs;
ness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, President of dari and Marie-Claire Guillard-Le Bourdellès in the Multimedia Saudi Arabia, and his predecessor, M. Charles-Henri d’Aragon, who Mohammad H. Al-Njem, director of the Tayma Museum; Mutlaq
the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, this ambitious Department and Catherine Guillou in the Public Services Depart- encouraged the project during the initial negotiations. Al-Mutlaq, deputy director of the al-Ula Museum.
project would not have been possible. ment participated in the project. Particular thanks go to the Visitors M. Daniel Ollivier, cultural cooperation and action conseiller in Majed Al Sheddi, director of communication at the Saudi
and Surveillance Department, to Serge Leduc and Christine Riyadh, deserves special thanks for his unfailing commitment in Commission for Tourism and Antiquities deserves special thanks
Nor could this exhibition have been organized without the sup- Finance; and to Captain Jean-François Duarte-Paixao in the SPSI. providing advice and responding to the many demands made on and we would particularly like to mention Khalid Al-Dakhil, assis-
port of the President-Director of the Musée du Louvre, Monsieur In the Development and Sponsorship Department, Christophe him. tant to the vice-President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and
Henri Loyrette. Monin showed great commitment, aided particularly by Nicole Our thanks also to M. Michel Nieto, former French cultural Antiquities, and Abdulaziz Al-Ashekh for their support; Hussein
Salinger, Gaële Abécassis, Sophie Kammerer and Élise Maillard. conseiller in Jedda, M. Christian Coutureau, general secretary, and Abualhassan, advisor to the vice-President of the Saudi Commission
At the Musée du Louvre, we would like to express our gratitude Mme Zena Geday, translator. We are also very grateful for their hos- for Antiquities and Museums; Faroug Al-Khuzaim; Faisal Alfadhel;
to the members of the museum’s board, M. Didier Selles then The museum’s publications service, Éditions du Louvre, in part- pitality during the various preparatory trips. Abdulmohsan Abanami; Ghaleb Al-Shareef; Ali S. Alanbar; Zaid Al-
M. Hervé Barbaret, Chief Executive Directors, Mme Catherine nership with Somogy Art Publishers, worked extremely efficiently to Zaid; Fahad Al-Ammar; Abdulaziz Al-Ghorayeb; Nayef Al-Motiri;
Sueur, Deputy Executive Director, the directors of the Louvre’s ensure the completion of this catalogue’s French, English and Arabic We would like to warmly thank the ambassador of the King- Khalifa A. Al-Khalifa; Abdullah Al-Hadlug; Sultan H. Al-Jabrin;
departments and services and their colleagues, indispensable for editions for the exhibition’s opening. dom of Saudi Arabia in France, Mr Muhammad bin Ismaïl Al- Abdulroouf Al-Siddiky; Faisal Al-Zahrani; Mousa Al-Garni; Sultan
their organization, promotion, the installation of the works and Special thanks to Violaine Bouvet-Lanselle, and to Christine Ashekh, for his kind support, and also M. Abdullah Alkhateeb, Al-Rasheed; Mohammed Al-Ahmari; Riyad Asiri; Adel A. Al-Obid;
their surveillance. Fuzeau for her constant support, friendly presence, aid, availability, cultural advisor, his assistant, Mme Mona Fegali, for their generous Ali Al-Hammad; Mardi Al-Khamaly; Abdullah Butairi. We would
Our special thanks to: calm, efficiency and competence. Fabrice Douar accepted the task of consideration. especially like to mention Said F. Al-Said, Dean of the Faculty of
Juliette Armand, director of Cultural Production; in the direc- compiling an index. In the Documentary Resources service, Ariane Tourism and Archaeology at King Saud University in Riyadh;
tor’s office: Benoît de Saint-Chamas for his friendly support and Guéroult-Freyder gathered the illustrations. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we would like to express our Saoud Dhiyab, director of the Archaeology Department; Foad Al-
advice, Sabine de La Rochefoucauld and Caroline Damay; We would also like to thank the catalogue’s translators for work- gratitude first to His Royal Highness Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Amir; Naif Al-Utaybi; Abdulaziz Al-Ghazzi; Hamid Al-Mazroua.
In the Exhibitions Service: Soraya Karkache, Claire Chalvet and ing to such tight deadlines. We are extremely grateful to Somogy Art Abdulaziz Al Saud, governer of Tabuk, for his support.
Pascal Périnel for their patience, efficiency and constant availability; Publishers, its director, Nicolas Neumann, Florence Jakubowicz, and Our special thanks to Abdullah Nasser Abdulaziz Al-Zidan,
for the museography: Alain Boissonnet, Michel Antonpietri, Clio particularly Clémentine Petit and Nelly Riedel, who carried out We would also like to thank the curators of the public collec- from the office of the vice-President of the Saudi Commission for
Karageorghis for her reassuring competence and friendship, Hervé their difficult task with great devotion. We would finally like to tions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, without whose generous Antiquities and Museums, and to Muntaz Al-Hulaithi.
Jarousseau, Xavier Guillot and Philippe Leclercq, and also thank the museum’s book production department, Michel Brousset, loans this exhibition would not have been possible: the directors of
Christophe Personne, Stéphanie de Vomécourt-Houille, Carol Man- Béatrice Bourgerie and Mathias Prudent, Bronwyn Mahoney for her the National Museum in Riyadh, the King Abdulaziz Foundation For their aid in the iconographic research, we would particularly
zano, Cécile Guillermin and Donato Di Nunno for the efficiency vigilant copy editing, and Arab’Consultants. for Research and Archives in Riyadh, the King Abdulaziz Public like to thank M. Jean Leclant, permanent secretary of the Académie
and kindness with which they carried out the difficult task of Library in Riyadh, the Museum of Archeology at King Saud Univer- des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, who gave us access to the collection
preparing the exhibition texts and graphics; and all the Louvre’s The exhibition’s curators would also like to express their grati- sity in Riyadh, the King Fahd National Library in Riyadh, the King in the library of the Institut de France, and Mireille Pastoureau,
craftsmen(mounting of the artworks, marble, metalwork, carpentry, tude to all those who aided them in its realization, including the Faysal Center in Riyadh, the Tayma Museum of Archaeology and curator of the library; and also R. Neil Hewison at the American
installation, framing and stands) for their magnificent work. Finally, restorers who worked on the pieces presented, particularly the Cen- Ethnography, the al-Ula Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, University in Cairo Press, and Farid Kioumgi, Robert Graham,
we would like to express our gratitude to Jean-Julien Simonot and tre d’études des peintures murales in Soissons and Béatrice Amadei. the Regional Museum in Najran, the Regional Museum in James Nicholson and Vincenzo Strika; and Dominique Vondrus-
Victoria Gertenbach for the exhibition design. Special thanks to Daniel Ibled, Nathalie Bruhière, Patricia Dal Pra, Dammam, the Qasr Khizam Museum in Jedda, and the Museum of Reissner at the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris.
Claude Guémard, Anne Liégey, Christine Pariselle, Cécile Argenton, Heritage and Antiquities in Mecca.
and to Emmanuel Bougeneau and Laurent Laly for the installation