Riyadh: A Saudi Arabian man in Qatif recently opened a museum showcasing 250,000 artefacts dating back thousands of years.
The museum contains the first TV set introduced to Saudi Arabia in the 1950s by Aramco, the oil giant, as well as radio equipment from the 1930s that required licenses to own.
The museum houses an extensive collection of ancient weapons, including cannons and blades along with pottery and precious stones.
It also houses an 8-meter-long Quran copy, a miniature of the sacred text, Two Holy Mosques’ possessions, including Kaaba keys and a 1425 AH Kaaba covering piece (Kiswah).
The museum also showcases Gulf War artifacts like shells, bullets, soldiers’ dried food, and World War I and II helmets.
Speaking to an Arabic channel Al-Ikhbariya, museum founder Maher Al Ghanem said it has been 55 years since he started collecting the artefacts. “It took us seven years to prepare the museum and meet the conditions and standards of museums in the Kingdom,” he said.
The Cultural Calligraphy Museum, spanning 13,000 square meters, is the city’s first licensed museum by the Ministry of Culture.
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Al-Ghanem stated that the museum’s primary objective is to preserve Qatif’s historical and cultural heritage, while also introducing visitors to the region’s culture and history.
