Nada Qahtani and the seven women with her gathered expectantly in the atrium of the National Museum. Draped in black abayas, their faces shielded by masks that left only their eyes exposed, the group had not seen the building before and knew little about what was inside.
A giant new poster of one of Saudi Arabia’s ancient sites covered most of a wall ahead. And a collection of artefacts, predating the Islamic era, took pride of place inside the entrance. “There are two idols there,” said a museum attendant, pointing to an exhibition that would have been unthinkable in recent decades, when the country’s archaeological past was at best ignored, and often disavowed. “The rest are now being displayed in Japan.”
Once gatekeepers of a culture that regarded anything before the life of the Muslim prophet as a time of ignorance, the attendants were ushering in a new era that embraced – not eschewed – the region’s long history.
Source : theguardian
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