Digging up the Saudi past: some would rather not

Newsday ^ | August 26, 2009 | Donna Abu-Nasr (contribution by Lee Keath)

[SunkenCiv]

[this is an AP-sourced story which begins by comparing the well-known UN Heritage site Petra, which is in Jordan and a huge tourist attraction, with Madain Saleh, another lost city of the Nabateans, but basically unknown because it's in Saudi Arabia. It continues by discussing the hostility and vandalism directed at pre-Islamic artifacts and sites in the Kingdom, and a virtual ban on publications regarding them.]

[SunkenCiv]

On the Archaeology mag news page, editor Mark Rose writes: "Here's a good article about Saudi ambivalence toward pre-Islamic remains."

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[SunkenCiv]

Solving the Enigma of Petra and the Nabataeans
by Joey Corbett
Biblical Archaeology Review
http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/petra.asp

[SunkenCiv]

Madain Saleh image searches:

Dogpile

Google

[theBuckwheat]

Been to Petra. A stunning place. The Jordanians are friendly and English is a second language. Amman is a modern city. Another site to see is Jerash in the north. Depending upon political and security considerations, it may be possible to visit Israel on the same trip. Sadly, it depends on which direction you want to go.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!

[colorado tanker]

That’s a fascinating site. I’d never heard of it.

[wideminded]

Here's a good article about Saudi ambivalence toward pre-Islamic remains."

It is not only pre-Islamic remains. Saudi religious conservatives are even destroying the archaeological remains of the early days of Islam, even sites associated with Muhammad himself. - link

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks wideminded. For that matter, they’ve turned the Grand Mosque into a tourist travesty. A lot of the concrete work was done by the bin Ladens.

[SunkenCiv]

Me either.

[colorado tanker]

This site has a lot of nice pictures of the city. Pay no attention to the cracked intro which tries to make it sound like some kind of Muslim holy site. http://www.pbase.com/adnan_masood/madain_saleh

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks colorado tanker!

[SunkenCiv]

Wow, reminds me of that line in Orwell’s ‘1984’, “whoever controls the present, controls the past.”