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New Ruins Found in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Faw

A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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New Ruins Found in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Faw

A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area, the capital of the ancient Arab Kindah Kingdom, the Heritage Commission announced on Tuesday.

The Commission confirmed that it has recently discovered more secrets about the capital of the Kindah Kingdom, the Archaeological Area in ​​Al-Faw, which is located 700 kilometers southwest of Riyadh.

The Commission added that strenuous efforts would be exerted to organize new site visits to discover and better understand the Archaeological Area in ​​Al-Faw.

The team found evidence of human settlements that date back to the Neolithic period, including over 2,800 tombs, several agricultural fields, religious inscriptions engraved on rocks, and other ruins that help us better understand the religious rituals of the era, including the remains of a stone temple and an altar.

The researchers also uncovered irrigation systems and hundreds of underground reservoirs.

The Commission explained that the team used topographic surveying, lasers, probe distribution, ground-penetrating radar and other techniques to make those discoveries.

The Kindah Kingdom is an ancient Arab kingdom that arose in Najd in the pre-Islamic era and was a vassal state with the village of Dhat al-Khal as its capital, Al-Faw in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today.

Fieldwork at Al-Faw began in the 1970s through initiatives by the King Saud University. Since then, many significant artifacts and ruins have been found, most notably ancient residential and market areas, temples, and tombs.

Meanwhile, the new findings come as the Commission and Saudi Arabia step up their efforts to uncover the secrets of the country’s heritage.

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Jill Biden Gets Priciest Gift from a Foreign Leader in 2023 — a $20,000 Diamond

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House as they return to Washington, DC, from Camp David, on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP)
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House as they return to Washington, DC, from Camp David, on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP)
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Jill Biden Gets Priciest Gift from a Foreign Leader in 2023 — a $20,000 Diamond

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House as they return to Washington, DC, from Camp David, on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP)
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House as they return to Washington, DC, from Camp David, on January 2, 2025. (Photo by Chris Kleponis / AFP)

President Joe Biden and his family were given tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from foreign leaders in 2023, according to an annual accounting published by the State Department on Thursday, with first lady Jill Biden receiving the single most expensive present: a $20,000 diamond from India’s leader.
The 7.5-carat diamond from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was easily the most costly gift presented to any member of the first family in 2023, although she also received a brooch valued at $14,063 from the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States and a bracelet, brooch and photograph album worth $4,510 from the president and first lady of Egypt.
The US president himself received a number of expensive presents, including a commemorative photo album valued at $7,100 from South Korea’s recently impeached President Suk Yeol Yoon, a $3,495 statue of Mongolian warriors from the Mongolian prime minister, a $3,300 silver bowl from the sultan of Brunei, a $3,160 sterling silver tray from the president of Israel, and a collage worth $2,400 from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Federal law requires executive branch officials to declare gifts they receive from foreign leaders and counterparts that have an estimated value of more than $480. Many of the gifts that meet that threshold are relatively modest, and the more expensive ones are typically — but not always — transferred to the National Archives or put on official displays.
The $20,000 diamond was retained for official use in the White House East Wing, according to a State Department document, while the other gifts to the president and first lady were sent to the archives.
Vanessa Valdivia, a spokesperson for Jill Biden, said the diamond will be turned over to the archives after they leave office. According to The Associated Press, she did not say what it was being used for.
Ukraine's ambassador, Oksana Markarova, said Friday on Facebook that a Ukrainian designer fashioned the brooch from the remains of a Russian rocket and that the piece was made from inexpensive materials, so its “true value ... lies in its symbolism." The embassy's spokesperson, Halyna Yusypiuk, said US officials provided the assessed value.
Recipients have the option to purchase the gift from the US government at its market value, although that is rare, particularly with high-end items.
According to the State Department’s Office of Protocol, which compiles the list that will be published in Friday’s edition of the Federal Register, several employees of the CIA reported receiving lavish gifts of watches, perfume and jewelry, nearly all of which were destroyed. Of the gifts destroyed, they were worth more than $132,000 combined.
CIA Director William Burns received a $18,000 astrograph, which is a telescope and astrological camera, from an foreign source whose identity is classified. That is being transferred to the General Services Administration. But Burns reported receiving and destroying an $11,000 Omega watch, while numerous others did the same with luxury timepieces.
Below the rank of director, the CIA employees who reported gifts are not identified, but one of them logged an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra watch, a ladies Omega Constellation watch, a diamond necklace, earring bracelet, and a ring that were valued together at $65,100.