Saudi Arabia. Urban Heritage Treasures

Treasures of a Kingdom O f all the countries I have had the fortune to visit, Saudi Arabia is by far the most intriguing because of its ancient history that links it to the major empires of antiquity. As the land of the Holy Cities, the Arabian Peninsula has been the destination of pilgrimages. Nonetheless, despite the fact that ideas, tastes, styles and traditions also traveled with the faithful, art and architecture have remained loyal to local tradition. This ancient tradition was forged in a time of great wealth, which today remains undiminished. At the time of the Roman Empire, here transited the caravans which transported incense from Yemen to the ports of the Mediterranean. The Roman writer and senator, Pliny the Younger, in his Epistles of the Ist century A.D., referring to the consumption of incense in the Empire wrote: “It is the luxury of men, exhibited even in the ornaments of death, which has made Arabia so happy” - “happy” enough, hence, to permit themselves funeral monuments like the ones we can still admire today in Mada’in Saleh. The fact that some parts of the Arabian Peninsula were long closed to non- Muslims has nourished legends, and many travelers, above all in the eighteen hundreds, have tried to go there. Among these is the Englishman Charles M. Doughty who did succeed in doing so. Upon returning, he wrote Arabia Deserta, published in 1888. “Tell me, since you are here once again in the peace and security of Allah, while we stroll as in years past toward new gardens in flower, rich with the sweet spring like the garden of God, what urges you and how were you able to undertake such a trip in this fanatic Arabia?” This was the question posed to the writer by a Syrian friend upon his return from Arabia. After almost two centuries, I have often been asked the same question. Personally, the curiosity for the region has exercised a strong call, as has my interest for architecture and history, united with the fascination for a land which has been for centuries a crossroads of important cultural and commercial exchanges. The portrait of the Kingdom that results from these pages is the result of innumerable trips made in search of vestiges of the past in this land long and - not by chance - called “Arabia Felix”. It has not been an easy search, primarily due to the lack of sources. In some cases, the architecture we were searching for had disappeared long before. In other cases, it was known by other names. And in still other cases, it had been incorporated into new constructions. It is nonetheless surprising how much has been realized in this arid peninsula, in places often inaccessible or distant. This volume is, at themoment, themost up-to-date presentationof the urban heritage of Saudi Arabia. Butmuchwork remains so that eachpalace, fort or ancient settlement gains recognition. Itishopedthatthisworkwillbecarriedoutassoonaspossiblesothatthevestiges that are slowlydisappearingcanbedocumented, at least photographically. O.G. 27