Iraq participates in Hima Cultural Area inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Governor of Najran Region Prince Jalawi bin Abdulaziz and Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage Laith Majid Hussein and other officials. Al-Arabiya image.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities represented by the Director of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, Laith Majid Hussein, participated on Monday in a ceremony to inscribe Saudi Arabia’s Hima Cultural Area on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
The ceremony held under the auspices of Governor of Najran Region, Prince Jalawi bin Abdulaziz, was attended by Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to UNESCO, Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, and other officials.
According to al-Arabiya news, Hima Cultural Area was once a major route for traders, armies, and pilgrims who traveled from different parts of Arabia, Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Egypt.
The travelers left behind thousands of inscriptions depicting hunting, wildlife, plants, symbols, and tools in dozens of ancient scripts including Musnad, Aramaic-Nabatean, South-Arabian, Thamudic, Greek, and Arabic, according to al-Arabiya news.
Al-Arabiya news also reported that the location is also home to several wells that date back at least 3,000 years and still produce fresh water.
Both Iraq and Saudi Arabia are working together on the inscription of the ancient pilgrimage route, known as ‘Darb Zubaydah’ (Zubaydah route) on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List, and it was accepted on the organization’s tentative list.