When artifacts from the past are illegally taken out of a country, the loss is irreplaceable. Indeed, even if the item were eventually returned to its original home, it would have some of the significance tied to the circumstances in which it had been discovered and the other archaeological items surrounding it. This information is lost forever the moment that any individual, group or entity secretly digs, uncovers and smuggles archaeological items.
I have already written about one aspect of the efforts being undertaken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to recover looted archeological items, as well as the various ways in which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is working to ensure that its archaeological heritage is safeguarded in the future. These efforts spring from the Kingdom’s conviction that its heritage is part of the identity that defines it on the regional and international stage.
Saudi Arabia has laid the foundations for retrieving thousands of artifacts and archaeological items groups that had been taken out of the country illegally. Saudi Arabia has launched important initiatives and media campaigns aimed at compelling residents, citizens inside and outside the Kingdom, and the institutions and personnel who had worked in Saudi Arabia and returned to their countries with artifacts and archeological items, to hand them back to the relevant authorities in the Kingdom.
The goal is to see these items returned to where they belong, museums or archaeological exhibitions, so they can be added to the country’s national treasures, which provide historical insights that stretch back thousands of years.
To this end, Saudi Arabia has created a list of the artifacts that had been illegally taken out of the country and sold, gifted to foreign museums or private collections, or made their way to the auctions. It has also adopted the appropriate frameworks for recovering these items from bodies and individuals inside and outside the Kingdom, working alongside an array of international institutions and organizations that work on bringing looted heritage back to its original homes.
Indeed, these efforts have already yielded results, as thousands of artifacts once have been retrieved decades after they had been taken outside the Kingdom. In fact, many scholars believed that some of these items had disappeared forever! One testament to the success of the campaigns to retrieve this artifact is that many citizens have voluntarily returned items that had been in their possession and handed them over to the relevant authorities. This affirms the efficacy of awareness campaigns in influencing citizens.
Moreover, these citizens’ actions attest to the importance of explaining the significance of archaeological heritage, the threats posed by losing or squandering it, and the course for recovering these artifacts, as well as encouraging citizens and those who have left the Kingdom to give these items back. Honoring this heritage is a crucial part of the Saudi Heritage Commission’s work.
Many of the items discovered haphazardly and then smuggled were found by companies mining for minerals and digging to find fossil fuels. As a matter of fact, foreign workers and experts in these companies kept hold of the artifacts they had discovered by chance and transported them outside Saudi Arabia. This is how things used to be.
Now, we have constantly updated archaeological and geological maps for identifying and protecting archaeological sites, with new sites added after each of the archaeological excavations being conducted throughout the Kingdom.
