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Diriyah Gate Development Authority, Saudi Society for Culture Partner to Preserve Traditional Crafts

The MoU was signed by Advisor to the CEO of DGDA Eng. Abdullah Al Ghanim and SASCA General Manager Khalid Al Baz. (SPA)
The MoU was signed by Advisor to the CEO of DGDA Eng. Abdullah Al Ghanim and SASCA General Manager Khalid Al Baz. (SPA)
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Diriyah Gate Development Authority, Saudi Society for Culture Partner to Preserve Traditional Crafts

The MoU was signed by Advisor to the CEO of DGDA Eng. Abdullah Al Ghanim and SASCA General Manager Khalid Al Baz. (SPA)
The MoU was signed by Advisor to the CEO of DGDA Eng. Abdullah Al Ghanim and SASCA General Manager Khalid Al Baz. (SPA)

The Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA) and the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts (SASCA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost collaboration on various projects, initiatives, and events, leveraging SASCA's rich publications to support DGDA's mission.

The MoU, signed by Advisor to the CEO of DGDA Eng. Abdullah Al Ghanim and SASCA General Manager Khalid Al Baz, entails empowering Saudi artists and implementing art acquisition programs that will elevate the aesthetic appeal of significant locations within Diriyah and the historic At-Turaif district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The memorandum encompasses a wide range of collaborative efforts, including the organization of national events and holidays, the revival of musical performances, and the use of DGDA’s facilities, theaters, and cultural assets for the SASCA's programs and projects.

Furthermore, the MoU sets the stage for joint initiatives that promote community engagement, providing training and empowerment opportunities for the people of Diriyah, as well as innovative cultural and artistic programs aimed at enriching the local community.

This partnership reflects the shared commitment of both parties to increase appreciation for and participation in the cultural and artistic sectors, empower artists and talented individuals in this field, and document their efforts to revitalize the cultural landscape of Saudi Arabia.

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Thousands Greet the Winter Solstice at the Ancient Stonehenge Monument

A person holds up a smart phone as they wait for sunrise during the winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, England, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Anthony Upton)
A person holds up a smart phone as they wait for sunrise during the winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, England, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Anthony Upton)
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Thousands Greet the Winter Solstice at the Ancient Stonehenge Monument

A person holds up a smart phone as they wait for sunrise during the winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, England, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Anthony Upton)
A person holds up a smart phone as they wait for sunrise during the winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, England, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Anthony Upton)

Thousands of tourists, pagans, druids and people simply yearning for the promise of spring marked the dawn of the shortest day of the year at the ancient Stonehenge monument on Saturday.

Revelers cheered and beat drums as the sun rose at 8:09 a.m. (0809 GMT) over the giant standing stones on the winter solstice — the shortest day and the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. No one could see the sun through the low winter cloud, but that did not deter a flurry of drumming, chanting and singing as dawn broke.

There will be less than eight hours of daylight in England on Saturday — but after that, the days get longer until the summer solstice in June.

The solstices are the only occasions when visitors can go right up to the stones at Stonehenge, and thousands are willing to rise before dawn to soak up the atmosphere.

The stone circle, whose giant pillars each took 1,000 people to move, was erected starting about 5,000 years ago by a sun-worshiping Neolithic culture, according to The AP. Its full purpose is still debated: Was it a temple, a solar calculator, a cemetery, or some combination of all three?

In a paper published in the journal Archaeology International, researchers from University College London and Aberystwyth University said the site on Salisbury Plain, about 128 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of London, may have had political as well as spiritual significance.

That follows from the recent discovery that one of Stonehenge’s stones — the unique stone lying flat at the center of the monument, dubbed the “altar stone” — originated in Scotland, hundreds of miles north of the site. Some of the other stones were brought from the Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, nearly 240 kilometers (150 miles) to the west,

Lead author Mike Parker Pearson from UCL’s Institute of Archaeology said the geographical diversity suggests Stonehenge may have served as a “monument of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos.”