Arab Week at UNESCO Strengthens Saudi Arabia's Position in Cultural Dialogue

The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at their headquarters in Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2017. Reuters
The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at their headquarters in Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2017. Reuters
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Arab Week at UNESCO Strengthens Saudi Arabia's Position in Cultural Dialogue

The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at their headquarters in Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2017. Reuters
The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at their headquarters in Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2017. Reuters

The Arab Week will open on Monday at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris.

The event plays a significant role in advancing Arab and international cultural and civilizational efforts, contributing to the progress of education, culture, and science at regional and global levels.

This is the first time in over half a century that Arab countries have organized an Arab Week at UNESCO. The event is spearheaded by the Saudi National Committee for Education, Culture and Science, which reinforces the Kingdom's position in regard to cultural dialogue and coexistence.

The event celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the Arab world through literature and arts. It also provides opportunities for intercultural dialogue, with all Arab countries showcasing the richness and diversity of Arab culture and civilization, promoting intercultural understanding, and contributing to cultural development.
Arab Week at UNESCO features 22 spaces dedicated to Arab countries, each showcasing different aspects of the Arab culture. Seven seminars will focus on topics such as Arabic language, Arabic calligraphy, Arabic literature, AI, education, fine arts, intangible cultural heritage, and world heritage.

The Arab Week will also be an occasion to display activities such as musical performances, handicrafts, Arab fashion, and Arab cuisine. Attendees will also have the chance to explore a cultural exhibition, an Arabic calligraphy exhibition, a photography exhibition of heritage sites in the Arab world, and an exhibition of Arab cultural products.

The committee's work aims to represent the Kingdom in regional and international organizations concerned with education, culture, communication, and information. It focuses on preparing and providing support for cooperation with international and non-profit organizations, building communication bridges, and leveraging all capabilities to foster initiatives that enhance cultural dialogue between Arab countries and the rest of the world. This effort culminates in the significant initiative of Arab Week at UNESCO, which has received the support and endorsement of the Arab countries, and which will highlight their historical diversity and cultural pluralism, as well as their values rooted in a rich cultural and civilizational heritage.



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.”