RIYADH: The Saudi Manuscripts Exhibition is being held in Riyadh until Dec. 7, with a display of human heritage spanning more than 1,200 years.
Blending historical diversity with modernity, the exhibition underscores Saudi Arabia’s commitment to preserving global cultural heritage and promoting intercultural dialogue, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. 10x10ft standard booth
Organized by the Libraries Commission, the exhibition is a global focal point for dialogue and innovation, bringing together visitors and researchers through 22 workshops and 30 panel discussions.
These sessions highlight the latest techniques in manuscript preservation and restoration, fostering collaboration among global experts.
The King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives is also participating in the exhibition to show off Saudi heritage and highlight the Kingdom’s efforts to preserve, maintain, digitize and make manuscripts more accessible.
With more than 2,000 rare manuscripts on display — including records from the cultural and intellectual history of the Arabian Peninsula, ancient copies of the Qur’an, scientific, medical and astronomy texts, and manuscripts from the First Saudi State — the exhibition exemplifies the richness and universality of human heritage.
It aims to highlight the Kingdom’s prominent role in preserving and safeguarding cultural heritage while promoting awareness of its civilizational value.
Moreover, it underlines the commission’s efforts to use technology to preserve manuscripts and establish connections with specialized international institutions.
The exhibition has attracted a large number of visitors, immersing them in a rich cultural and civilizational legacy, SPA reported.
Among the exhibition’s highlights is The Title of Glory in the History of Najd, a manuscript that is more than 100 years old, preserved by the King Abdulaziz Public Library in Riyadh.
Another featured piece, Explanation of the Chapters of Hippocrates, is presented using hologram technology, enabling visitors to explore its chapters interactively and learn about its significant content.
The exhibition underscores Saudi Arabia’s efforts to make its historical and intellectual heritage accessible to the public while using cutting-edge technology to enhance engagement and understanding.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has launched the second phase of an air bridge to Lebanon to help alleviate the suffering of people displaced by deadly Israeli strikes.
Nasser Al-Nafe, a spokesman for the Saudi aid agency KSrelief, told Arab News that this initiative continues the Kingdom’s humanitarian role in alleviating the suffering of those affected around the world.
He said the second phase was launched in accordance with the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to KSrelief, providing humanitarian aid to those affected and displaced in Lebanon.
Al-Nafe said that the initiative includes sending 27 planes carrying essential supplies such as food, shelter materials, medical aid, baby formula, personal care items and winter supplies, including blankets.
The mission, coordinated with relevant Lebanese authorities, will distribute aid to displaced families in shelters in various regions of Lebanon, helping to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Continuing these efforts, KSrelief also announced the second phase of an aid initiative focused on various food, shelter and health projects to meet the needs of Lebanese families.
These efforts will be carried out in collaboration with international and UN humanitarian organizations and local community institutions in Lebanon.
This initiative is expected to provide support to more than 1.6 million people.
KSrelief emphasizes the need to intensify humanitarian efforts in Lebanon, including supporting medical centers for emergency services and covering part of operational costs.
Among the key facilities supported are the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut, the Tripoli Governmental Hospital in northern Lebanon, and primary healthcare centers in the most hard-hit areas of Lebanon.
KSrelief also supports health and child programs across Lebanon in collaboration with local and international institutions, benefiting hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens and refugees.
Additionally, the Saudi aid agency is working to increase the production capacity of bakeries in regions with high numbers of displaced people and to cover winter clothing needs for thousands of Lebanese families.
RIYADH: Taif roses and henna are among the latest traditions to secure a place on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, thanks to the Saudi Arabia’s Heritage Commission.
The recognition comes following collaborative efforts by the commission, the Saudi National Committee for Education, Culture and Science, and Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, with the UAE as the leading country for the initiative.
Henna has great cultural significance in Saudi Arabia, with the art mastered by women and passed down through generations. It represents “joy and optimism” and is a social tradition that strengthens community bonds.
Meanwhile, in the Kingdom’s elevated terrains that span the Al-Hada mountains, Wadi Muharram, Wadi Ghazal, Wadi Qawah, Bilad Tuwairq, and Al-Shifa, the Taif rose has flourished as a cultural and historical symbol. Cultivation techniques, passed down through generations, have contributed to its status.
The Taif rose has been woven into the fabric of Saudi history. Taif’s distinct geography, with its fertile soil and moderate temperatures, provides ideal conditions for the flower to thrive allowing local families to perfect their agricultural expertise over the centuries.
From harvesting and distillation to extracting oil and water, knowledge has been passed down from one generation to the next. Growing along the slopes of Mount Ghazwan, these roses benefit from the area’s cool mountain breezes and spectacular landscape.
Rosewater derived from the blooms serves a sacred purpose in the annual washing of the Holy Kaaba and is favored by various segments of society, particularly royalty and elite Gulf families.
Farmer Raddad bin Radda Al-Talhi spoke to Saudi Press Agency and explained that what began as a small-scale cultivation in the mountain peaks has transformed into a thriving industry.
The sector now represents a significant investment in the Saudi market, valued at over SR64 million ($17 million). The scale of production has increased dramatically, with farms across the Sarawat mountains now harvesting approximately 550 million roses each year.
The industry encompasses more than 910 Taif rose farms across the province, supported by 70 factories and laboratories. These facilities produce over 80 different rose-derived products.
Al-Talhi said the time-honored distillation process of the Taif rose followed precise, traditional methods, beginning with carefully cultivated roses harvested from local farms.
Distillation relies on specially copper vessels, chosen for their superior heat conductivity compared to other metals. The higher temperatures optimize both efficiency and yield.
The process results in three distinct products — standard rosewater, concentrated rosewater (traditionally known as bride’s water) and the globally coveted rose oil.
RIYADH: Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, sponsored a ceremony on Wednesday for signing agreements tied to the mass wedding initiative.
Set for January, the wedding of 300 couples is part of Riyadh Season’s social responsibility efforts and will be held on the two largest stages of Boulevard City.
The Abu Bakr Salem Stage will host the men’s hall, while the Mohammed Abdu Arena will host the women’s hall.
Al-Sheikh and Majid Al-Hogail, minister of municipal, rural affairs and housing, and chairman of Sakkan Foundation, signed an agreement to secure donations from benefactors, partners and supporters.
The contributions aim to support the mass wedding initiative and provide housing for newlyweds through the Jood Eskan platform under Sakani program conditions.
Faisal Bafarat, CEO of the authority, also signed an agreement with Saudi Telecommunications Co. CEO Olayan Al-Wetaid to provide wedding beneficiaries with free internet for one year.
Banque Saudi Fransi, represented by CEO Badr Al-Salloum, pledged SR1 million ($266,000) in financial support.
Ajlan & Brothers, led by CEO Ajlan Al-Ajlan, committed to providing gifts worth more than SR2 million.
Abu Al-Hassan Trading and Investment Group, represented by business development manager Fahad Al-Manea, committed SR1 million in financial support.
The ceremony also saw several companies pledging to offer services to couples during the major charitable event.
Services include hospitality, dining, hall decorations, bridal and groom attire, perfumes, grooming, premarital tests, coffee and tea, and family counseling sessions.
MANAMA: Leading particle physics research center CERN is looking to deepen its collaboration with Saudi Arabia by opening a data center at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a staff member has told Arab News.
Martin Gastal, CERN adviser to the Middle East and North African region, told Arab News that “the ambition of the Kingdom is to try and integrate CERN into one of its drivers for research,” adding that there are plans to launch the center at the Saudi university to analyze CERN data.
KAUST already collaborates with the Swiss center, with four KAUST students taking part in internships at CERN.
According to Gastal, the Research, Development and Innovation Authority in Saudi Arabia aims to bring together more particle physicists in the Kingdom to improve research efficiency.
Also working with NEOM University, Gastal said he hopes to find synergies between the technology developed at CERN and the research conducted at Saudi universities.
“Scientific cooperation is a way of bringing together lots of brains with different ways of thinking that bring different ideas to the table and maybe also different techniques for testing those ideas,” CERN physicist John Ellis told Arab News.
Ellis, who holds the Clerk Maxwell Professorship of theoretical physics at King’s College London, and is known for his work in helping discover the Higgs-Boson particle, spoke to Arab News at a recent event on promising work in nuclear research and particle physics.
“Most countries in the Gulf region now have some sort of collaboration with CERN … Bahrain is perhaps the most advanced,” he said.
Ellis added that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman have also forged significant partnerships with CERN, with Saudi Arabia taking part in one of its experiments.
He said that CERN’s biggest focus is on “the smallest constituents of matters,” or the particles that make up the universe.
The research center aims to understand the behavior of these particles and decipher how they once behaved in the early history of the universe to answer the fundamental questions of who we are, why we are here and where we are going.
One focus is on the particles that make up dark matter, which, astrophysicists believe, constitute most of the matter in the universe, Ellis said.
CERN is home to the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s biggest and most powerful particle accelerator. It works by colliding hadrons to create new particles and it is responsible for discovering the Higgs-Boson in 2012, a breakthrough that Ellis said was the “holy grail that we physicists have been looking for, for almost 50 years.”
Now, the focus is on carrying out more particle collisions and upgrading the experiments.
“The technological output from CERN is not just from the particles that we discover, but also from the techniques we develop to discover those particles.”
Ellis spoke to Arab News at a CERN event held jointly with the American University of Bahrain and the Sheikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa Center for Culture and Research in Manama on Tuesday.
The event hosted officials from CERN and Bahrain universities to discuss scientific collaboration between Gulf and international countries in particle physics.
RIYADH: Arabic Language Month activities in Thailand by the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language have concluded, reported the Saudi Press Agency.
The initiative, in cooperation with Krirk University in Bangkok and Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai, aimed to enhance Arabic curricula, improve teacher performance and promote the language.
Activities included a scientific symposium on teaching Arabic to non-native speakers which focused on Saudi contributions to Arabic education, challenges faced by educators and students, and the development of dual-language curricula.
Workshops, training sessions and panel discussions further enriched teaching methodologies and improved learning outcomes for Arabic language students.
Abdullah Al-Washmi, the academy’s secretary-general, expressed gratitude for support from Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan.
6 x 3 exhibition stand As part of the academy’s global Arabic teaching program, the initiative has been implemented in countries such as Indonesia, China, India, Uzbekistan, Brazil and France, expanding its international reach and fostering global partnerships.