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Saudi Culture Minister Honours Winners of Third Edition of National Cultural Awards

Last year's event was organized under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. SPA
Last year's event was organized under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. SPA
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Saudi Culture Minister Honours Winners of Third Edition of National Cultural Awards

Last year's event was organized under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. SPA
Last year's event was organized under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. SPA

Under the patronage of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, the Minister of Culture, honored on Saturday evening the winners of the 2023 National Cultural Awards initiative in its third edition.
This ceremony was held in Riyadh in the presence of Minister of Education Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Benyan and Minister of Media Salman bin Yousef Al-Dosari along with several dignitaries, intellectuals, writers, and media professionals.
At the beginning of the event, the culture minister delivered a speech in which he described the ceremony as a cultural celebration. "We are delighted to honor the creative minds in the heart of our beloved capital, under the gracious patronage of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister,” he said.
Prince Badr added that the National Cultural Awards initiative aims to spotlight talents, celebrate achievements, appreciate creators, and encourage cultural production.
The minister noted that the newly launched Businessmen and Businesswomen Award for this year reflects the cultural sector's appreciation for the contributions of supporters of cultural activities across various cultural domains and acknowledges their vital role as an integral part of the efforts made by entities within the cultural sector.
Furthermore, the International Cultural Excellence Award aims to celebrate international cultural figures and institutions that have enriched the contemporary international cultural landscape, in addition to recognizing outstanding efforts in the field of global cultural exchange.

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Egypt Parliament Acts to Confront Online Sale of Antiquities

An artifact that was displayed at foreign auctions. (Dr. Abdul Rahim Rayhan)
An artifact that was displayed at foreign auctions. (Dr. Abdul Rahim Rayhan)
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Egypt Parliament Acts to Confront Online Sale of Antiquities

An artifact that was displayed at foreign auctions. (Dr. Abdul Rahim Rayhan)
An artifact that was displayed at foreign auctions. (Dr. Abdul Rahim Rayhan)

The Egyptian parliament has taken new measures to confront the online sale of antiquities through social networking sites, based on a request submitted by a deputy who called for “decisive steps” to confront this phenomenon.

In his request, MP Hisham Hussein renewed warnings about the spread of websites selling antiquities on the Internet, saying that while some of these accounts offered fake items, others displayed genuine artifacts, including royal tombstones and coins.

Antiquities expert Dr. Abdel Rahim Rayhan, member of the Supreme Council of Culture, History and Antiquities Committee and head of the Campaign to Defend Egyptian Civilization, confirmed that the pieces offered for sale in public auctions or online sites have spread greatly since the January 2011 uprising, as a result of illegal excavation.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said: “Due to the huge amount of antiquities that have been secretly removed from excavations, websites that openly sell antiquities have spread.”

Rayhan stressed the need for an immediate intervention by the security authorities to monitor and track down the suspicious networks, who he said were linked to external gangs run by archaeologists, legal experts and marketing specialists and promote the sale and smuggling of antiquities.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior announced the seizure of several artifacts from individuals, as well as the arrest of a number of people selling archeological items through online platforms.

Antiquities Protection Law No. 117 of 1983 and its amendments regulate the work of archaeological excavations above ground, underground, and in Egyptian internal and territorial waters, under the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Rayhan stressed the need to take decisive measures to tighten control over online sales and track down the illegal merchants, including individuals collaborating with foreign networks, and to amend the Antiquities Protection Law to consider the crime of secret excavation as high treason.

UNESCO issued a report in 2020 saying that the antiquities trade is valued at about USD 10 billion every year, while art and antiquities are the third largest black market in the world after drugs and weapons.