Exhibition Revealing History of Ancient Arabian Peninsula Trade Routes
Opens at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, December 2013
“Roads of Arabia” marks first U.S. tour of an exhibition that debuted at the Smithsonian’s
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery last fall
Houston—November 2013—On December 19, the Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston (MFAH), will open Roads of Arabia: Archaeology
and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an exhibition
examining the impact of ancient trade routes that traversed the
Arabian Peninsula, carrying precious frankincense and myrrh to
the Mesopotamia and Greco-Roman world and allowing for a
vibrant exchange of both objects and ideas. With the later rise of
Islam, pilgrimage roads converged on Mecca (Makkah) and
gradually replaced the well-traveled incense roads. Organized by
the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C.
in association with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and
Antiquities (SCTA), Roads of Arabia features objects recently
excavated from more than 10 archaeological sites throughout the
peninsula.
Marking the U.S. debut of this unprecedented assembly, Roads of
Arabia opened at the Sackler in November 2012, before traveling to the Carnegie Museum of
Natural History in Pittsburgh in June 2013. The exhibition will be on view at the Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston, December 19, 2013 through March 9, 2014. An earlier version of the exhibition,
developed by the SCTA in collaboration with the Musée du Louvre, was exhibited in Paris,
CaixaForum in Barcelona, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
“The many surprising discoveries on display in Roads of Arabia open a window onto the culture
and economy of this ancient civilization like never before,” said Gary Tinterow, director of the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. “The Sackler Gallery and SCTA organized a truly unparalleled
exhibition that will be thrilling to have in Houston.”
From Trade Routes to Pilgrimage Trails
As early as 1,200 B.C., the camel revolutionized Arabian commerce. Highly valued incense was
transported from the Horn of Africa and the southern shores of the Arabian Peninsula to temples of
the royal courts of the Mediterranean and the Near East. Caravans of merchants moved slowly
across deserts and craggy mountains, stopping at oases for rest. As a network of roads developed,
these oases became cosmopolitan centers of wealth and artistic production, only to be reclaimed by
the desert in subsequent centuries.
1 | P a g e Recently discovered objects along the trade routes include alabaster bowls and fragile glassware,
heavy gold earrings and monumental statues that testify to the lively mercantile and cultural
exchange between the Arabs and their neighbors, including the Egyptians, Syrians, Babylonians
and Greco-Romans.
The exhibition then focuses on the impact of Islam after the seventh century, especially the
development of pilgrimage trails that lead from major cities, such as Damascus, Cairo and
Baghdad, to Mecca, the spiritual heart of the new religion. Highlights in this section include some
20 finely inscribed tombstones from the now-destroyed al-Ma’lat cemetery. These humble yet
noble stones lend a human face to the multitudes of Muslims who either lived in Mecca or traveled
great distances to reach it. A particularly poignant example memorializes a father and daughter who
died on their pilgrimage journey together. Mecca itself is represented by a set of gilded doors that
once graced the entrance to the Ka‘ba, Islam’s holy sanctuary.
A third section introduces the creation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 and explores the
history of archaeology through photographs, travel books, maps and objects.
Exhibition Website
Audiences at home can travel “Roads of Arabia” online through the exhibition’s website,
RoadsofArabia.com, which introduces object highlights and history through photo slideshows,
interactive maps and videos.
Organization and Funding
Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is organized by the
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in association with the Saudi Commission for
Tourism and Antiquities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco are
gratefully acknowledged as principal co-sponsors of the tour of Roads of Arabia in the United States.
Sponsorship is also provided by The Olayan Group and Fluor Corporation. The Boeing Company,
Khalid Al Turki Group and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) granted additional support.
In Houston, generous funding is provided by Mary Lawrence Porter and Oliver Wyman.
About the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, located at 1050 Independence Avenue S.W., and the adjacent Freer
Gallery of Art, located at 12th Street and Independence Avenue S.W., are on the National Mall in
Washington, D.C. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day, except Dec. 25, and admission is free.
The galleries are located near the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines. For
more information about the Freer and Sackler galleries and their exhibitions, programs and other
2 | P a g e public events, visit www.asia.si.edu. For general Smithsonian information, call (202) 633-1000.
About the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Founded in 1900, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is among the 10 largest art museums in the
United States. Located in the heart of Houston’s Museum District, the MFAH comprises two
gallery buildings, a sculpture garden, theater, two art schools and two libraries, with two house
museums, for American and European decorative arts, nearby. The encyclopedic collection of the
MFAH numbers some 65,000 works and spans the art of antiquity to the present.
MFAH Media Contacts
Mary Haus, Director of Marketing and Communications
Amy Lowman, Publicist
Vanessa Ramirez-Sparrow, Marketing and Communications Assistant
[email protected], (713) 639-7554
Illustration
Anthropomorphic Stele, El-Maakir, Qaryat al-Kaafa, near Ha’il, Saudi Arabia, 4th millennium BC,
sandstone, National Museum, Riyadh.
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