‘Common Ground’ Exhibition Featuring Saudi, Yemeni Cultures to Conclude This Week

SPA
SPA
TT

‘Common Ground’ Exhibition Featuring Saudi, Yemeni Cultures to Conclude This Week

SPA
SPA

The Ministry of Culture continues to take visitors on a cultural journey exploring the similarities and differences between Saudi and Yemeni cultures through the “Common Ground” exhibition held in Riyadh.
The exhibition has only a few days left before it closes its doors on Wednesday, bringing down the curtain on a valuable opportunity for culture and art enthusiasts to experience a comprehensive artistic and cultural journey.
As they roam through the different sections of the exhibition covering all cultural aspects, visitors enjoy an immersive journey featuring the cultures of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, SPA reported.
The exhibition embraces the cultural aspects of the two countries, starting with art. It also features significant artefacts and heritage treasures that embody the history of the most important civilizations hosted by the two countries.
The Common Ground exhibition, which is being held for the first time, aims at building bridges of cultural communication between the Kingdom and various countries worldwide.
Through the exhibition, the ministry sheds light on the similarities and differences between Saudi culture and cultures of other countries.
The exhibition enables citizens and residents on Saudi soil to sense the cultural depth of the civilizations of the Kingdom and the hosted countries.
The ministry highlights through the exhibition its keenness to enhance international cultural exchange as one of its strategic objectives under the umbrella of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.



Mosul’s Renowned Minaret Restored from Ravages of ISIS

A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
TT

Mosul’s Renowned Minaret Restored from Ravages of ISIS

A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo

Mosul’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque, known for its eight-century-old leaning minaret, destroyed by ISIS militants in 2017, has been renovated in a boost for Iraq's second city as it rebuilds after long years of war.

From the pulpit of this medieval mosque on July 4, 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a self-styled ‘caliphate’ spanning parts of Syria and Iraq.

Three years later, the ultra hardline group demolished the mosque in the final weeks of a US-backed Iraqi campaign that ousted the militants from Mosul, their de facto capital in Iraq.

Protracted and fierce urban warfare largely reduced the historic landmarks of Iraq's second city to rubble.

Mahmoud Thannon, 70, a tailor who lives near the mosque and runs a tailor shop overlooking the mosque’s minaret, said his two sons were killed before the al-Hadba minaret was demolished.

"When I saw it collapse, I felt even sadder than when I lost my sons," he said. "Watching the Hadba minaret rise again is a joyous day. I feel our pride soaring high as well.”

“My dear martyred sons would be proud to see the minaret rebuilt if they were alive.” said Thannon, speaking inside his shop with images of his two sons hanging behind him.

He broke into tears as he recalled their deaths by shelling in May and June 2017 in the war against ISIS.

Reconstruction and restoration of the mosque and minaret were carried out in partnership with the UN cultural agency UNESCO, the European Union (EU) and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said over $115 million were mobilized from no less than 15 partners.

“The fact to have it (the minaret) here behind me is like history coming back; is like the identity of this city coming back,” said Azoulay in a speech delivered on February 5 near the mosque to celebrate the completion of the rebuilding work.

The Iraqis called the 150-foot (45-meter) leaning minaret Al-Hadba, or "the hunchback."

The mosque was named after Nuruddin al-Zanki, a noble who fought the early crusaders from a fiefdom that covered territory in modern-day Türkiye, Syria and Iraq. It was built in 1172-73, shortly before his death, and housed an Islamic school.

The Old City's stone buildings, where the mosque is located, date mostly from the medieval period. They include market stalls, a few mosques and churches, and small houses built and rebuilt on top of each other over the ages.