عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Culture

RCU Launches 2025-26 Archaeology Season to Advance Research in AlUla, Khaybar 

The initiative brings together Saudi and international research teams conducting extensive fieldwork across AlUla and Khaybar. (SPA)
The initiative brings together Saudi and international research teams conducting extensive fieldwork across AlUla and Khaybar. (SPA)
TT
TT

RCU Launches 2025-26 Archaeology Season to Advance Research in AlUla, Khaybar 

The initiative brings together Saudi and international research teams conducting extensive fieldwork across AlUla and Khaybar. (SPA)
The initiative brings together Saudi and international research teams conducting extensive fieldwork across AlUla and Khaybar. (SPA)

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) announced the launch of the 2025-26 Archaeology Season, reinforcing AlUla’s growing prominence on the global stage as a leading hub for archaeological research and cultural heritage preservation, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Tuesday.

The initiative brings together Saudi and international research teams conducting extensive fieldwork across AlUla and Khaybar.

Part of a broader vision positioning AlUla at the heart of scientific and cultural inquiry, the new season convenes leading Saudi and international institutions, underlining AlUla’s role as a world-class platform for uncovering the history of the Arabian Peninsula and reshaping understanding of its past.

More than 100 researchers and specialists will participate, representing renowned institutions such as King Saud University, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Ghent University, Spain’s Institute of Heritage Sciences (INCIPIT-CSIC), and the Italian conservation group ESTIA. They will work alongside Saudi experts in archaeology, environment, and digital heritage to study sites ranging from the Neolithic era to the Islamic period in both AlUla and Khaybar.

The program spans a wide scope of projects, including excavations, field surveys, digital documentation, and sustainable conservation solutions, in addition to advanced research in environmental studies, climate science, earth sciences, and anthropology.

Fieldwork will focus on major heritage sites, notably Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, where excavations continue to reveal fresh insights into Nabataean life and Roman presence.

Research will also progress at the site of Dadan, the capital of the ancient kingdoms of Dadan and Lihyan, where recent analysis of environmental material, including more than 167,000 animal remains, has provided rare detail on daily life in the oasis over 2,000 years ago.

Projects also include the documentation of ancient rock inscriptions, among the largest concentrations in Arabia; studies of historic pilgrimage routes and their cultural and religious significance; and investigations into early Islamic urban development in Khaybar oasis. Specialist teams are returning to AlUla to advance pioneering research into scientific conservation and restoration using the latest global technologies.

The new season builds on a series of landmark discoveries in recent years. These include stone mustatils — rectangular structures dating back some 7,000 years and recognized as among the world’s earliest monumental ritual architecture — and circular stone enclosures pointing to semi-permanent settlement and shifts in land use.

In Khaybar, excavations uncovered a Bronze Age town and a vast rampart wall encircling the oasis, revealing complex political and urban development. Drone and LiDAR surveys have further illuminated and recorded intricate urban systems from the Islamic period.

At the historic city of Qurh, surveys and excavations have exposed an integrated network of markets, streets, a mosque, grand houses, and underground water channels, underscoring the site’s regional significance and role as a vital node on trade and pilgrimage routes.

In AlUla’s Old Town and cultural oasis, large-scale analytical studies — the most comprehensive of their kind in Saudi Arabia — have highlighted the evolution of water and agricultural management systems, while uncovering deeper settlement layers that may trace the city’s origins back to the era of the ancient kingdoms.

Beyond research and discovery, the season includes field training programs for archaeology students from Saudi and international universities. Using advanced tools such as 3D documentation and drone surveys, these initiatives are designed to equip a new generation of Saudi researchers with the expertise to lead future exploration and conservation efforts.

Through this season, RCU underscores its commitment to investing in knowledge and developing national capabilities, while strengthening cultural tourism and preparing for international exhibitions and the Ancient Kingdoms Festival. RCU is also progressing towards establishing a dedicated research institute specializing in cultural heritage studies.

Most Viewed

 
 
Culture

Saudi Arabia: Ship of Tolerance Initiative Promotes Cultural Dialogue in Jeddah

The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts (Wrth) will offer traditional craft workshops throughout Ramadan. SPA
The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts (Wrth) will offer traditional craft workshops throughout Ramadan. SPA
TT
TT

Saudi Arabia: Ship of Tolerance Initiative Promotes Cultural Dialogue in Jeddah

The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts (Wrth) will offer traditional craft workshops throughout Ramadan. SPA
The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts (Wrth) will offer traditional craft workshops throughout Ramadan. SPA

The Saudi Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the "Lenobadir" volunteer and community partnership program and the Athr Foundation, has launched the Ship of Tolerance initiative in Historic Jeddah during Ramadan.

The initiative aims to enhance shared human values through arts, and promote tolerance and coexistence among children and families. It provides an educational and cultural experience aligned with the area’s unique character as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

As part of this global art project, children will create artworks that represent acceptance and dialogue.

The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts (Wrth) will offer traditional craft workshops throughout Ramadan, linking the initiative's values with local heritage and enriching visitors' connection to the region's identity.

This effort supports cultural programs with educational and social dimensions in Historic Jeddah, activating local sites for experiences that combine art, crafts, and community participation. It aligns with the National Strategy for Culture under Saudi Vision 2030, focusing on heritage preservation and expanding culture's impact on daily life.

Culture

Oscar Contender ‘Hamnet’ Boosts Tourism at Shakespeare Heritage Sites 

A view of Shakespeare’s Birthplace, William Shakespeare's childhood home, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Britain, February 9, 2026. (Reuters)
A view of Shakespeare’s Birthplace, William Shakespeare's childhood home, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Britain, February 9, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Oscar Contender ‘Hamnet’ Boosts Tourism at Shakespeare Heritage Sites 

A view of Shakespeare’s Birthplace, William Shakespeare's childhood home, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Britain, February 9, 2026. (Reuters)
A view of Shakespeare’s Birthplace, William Shakespeare's childhood home, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Britain, February 9, 2026. (Reuters)

On a cloudy winter's day, visitors stream into what was once William Shakespeare's childhood home in Stratford-upon-Avon and the nearby Anne Hathaway's cottage, family residence of the bard's wife.

Hathaway's cottage is one of the settings for the BAFTA and Oscar best film contender "Hamnet", and the movie's success is drawing a new wave of tourists to Shakespeare sites in the town in central England.

Shakespeare's Birthplace is the house the young William once lived in and where his father worked as a glove maker, while Hathaway's cottage is where he would have visited his future wife early in their relationship.

Typically, around 250,000 visitors, from the UK, Europe, the United States, China and elsewhere, walk through the locations each year, according to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. ‌The charity looks after ‌Shakespeare heritage sites, which also include Shakespeare's New Place, the site of ‌the ⁠Stratford home where the ⁠bard died in 1616.

Visitors are flocking in this year thanks to "Hamnet", the film based on Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel, which gives a fictional account of the relationship between Shakespeare and Hathaway, also known as Agnes, and the death of their 11-year-old son Hamnet in 1596.

"Visitor numbers have increased by about 15 to 20% across all sites since the film was released back in January. I think that will only continue as we go throughout the year," Richard Patterson, chief operating officer for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said.

"They particularly want ⁠to look (at) Anne Hathaway's cottage and the specifics around how the family ‌engaged in the spaces and the landscape in and around ‌the cottage... you can see why he would have been inspired."

NEW ACCESS TO SHAKESPEARE

"Hamnet" has 11 nominations at ‌Sunday's British BAFTA awards, including best film and leading actress for Jessie Buckley, who plays Agnes. It ‌also has eight Oscar nominations, with Buckley seen as the frontrunner to win best actress.

"Hamnet" is set in Stratford-upon-Avon and London although it was not filmed in Stratford.

It sees Paul Mescal's young Shakespeare fall for Agnes while teaching Latin to pay off his father's debts. The drama, seen mainly through Agnes' eyes, focuses on their ‌life together and grief over Hamnet's death, leading Shakespeare to write "Hamlet".

"Shakespeare... is notoriously enigmatic. He writes about humanity, about feeling, about emotion, about conflict, ⁠but where do we understand ⁠who he is in that story?" said Charlotte Scott, a professor of Shakespeare studies and interim director of collections, learning and research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

"And that's driven people creative and otherwise for hundreds and hundreds of years. Where is Shakespeare's heart? And this is what the film I think has so beautifully opened up."

Little is known about how the couple met. Shakespeare was 18 and Hathaway 26 when they married in 1582. Daughter Susanna arrived in 1583 and twins Judith and Hamnet in 1585.

The film acknowledges the names Hamnet and Hamlet were interchangeable back then. While grief is a dominant theme, audiences also see Shakespeare in love and as a father.

"A lot of people will see this film not necessarily having... had any kind of relationship with Shakespeare," Scott said.

"So people will come to this film, I hope, and find a new way of accessing Shakespeare that is about creativity, that is about understanding storytelling as a constant process of regeneration, but also crucially, looking at it from that kind of emotive angle."

Culture

Culture Ministry Continues Preparations in Historic Jeddah to Welcome Visitors during Ramadan 

Historic Jeddah has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination during Ramadan. (SPA)
Historic Jeddah has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination during Ramadan. (SPA)
TT
TT

Culture Ministry Continues Preparations in Historic Jeddah to Welcome Visitors during Ramadan 

Historic Jeddah has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination during Ramadan. (SPA)
Historic Jeddah has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination during Ramadan. (SPA)

The Saudi Ministry of Culture is continuing its efforts to revitalize Historic Jeddah in preparation for welcoming visitors during the holy month of Ramadan, offering cultural programs, events, and heritage experiences that reflect the authenticity of the past.

The district has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination at this time of year as part of the “The Heart of Ramadan” campaign launched by the Saudi Tourism Authority.

Visitors are provided the opportunity to explore the district’s attractions, including archaeological sites located within the geographical boundaries of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed area, which represent a central component of the Kingdom’s urban and cultural heritage.

The area also features museums that serve as gateways to understanding the city’s rich heritage and cultural development, in addition to traditional markets that narrate historical stories through locally made products and Ramadan specialties that reflect authentic traditions.

These initiatives are part of the ministry’s ongoing efforts to revitalize Historic Jeddah in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and aiming to transform it into a vibrant hub for arts, culture, and the creative economy, while preserving its tangible and intangible heritage.