National Museum of Saudi Arabia

The National Museum of Saudi Arabia stands in the al-Murabba district of central Riyadh as part of the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre, a park and heritage complex that also includes the Murabba Palace. It was built for the centenary celebrations of the Saudi state and opened in 1999.

The museum was designed by the Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama, who took inspiration from the curved shape and red colour of the sand dunes outside Riyadh. The long sweeping wall of the main facade follows that idea, while gardens and parks surround the building.

Inside, the collections are arranged in eight halls that follow a chronological path. They begin with the formation of the earth and the Arabian landscape, move through prehistoric life and the ancient Arabian kingdoms, and continue with the pre-Islamic period, the life of the Prophet Muhammad and the spread of Islam. Later halls cover the first and second Saudi states, the unification of the kingdom under King Abdulaziz, and the history of Hajj and the Two Holy Mosques. Exhibits include rock art, inscriptions, archaeological finds, manuscripts, models and full-size reconstructions.

Temporary exhibitions, a theatre and educational programmes are also part of the museum.

A visit takes about two to three hours. Ticket and hour details are set by the Saudi Museums Commission.

The building went up fast. Planners had only 26 months to design and build it for the centenary celebrations in early 1999, as part of a wider renewal of the Murabba Palace district. The curved west facade along Murabba Square traces the outline of a dune and forms a crescent that points towards Makkah. Al-Wadi Park to the north and Al-Madi Park to the east complete the National Museum Park around it.

The route through the halls starts with a large fragment of a meteorite found at the Wabar craters in the Rub al Khali, followed by displays on the solar system, plate tectonics and the geology of Arabia, and the skeletons of a Platybelodon and an ichthyosaur. The Arabian Kingdoms hall covers Dilmun, Midian, Qaryat al-Faw and Tayma, then later cities such as Dumat al-Jandal and Najran. A bridge leads visitors from the pre-Islamic gallery into the hall on the Prophet's mission, a deliberate symbol of passing from one era to the next.

Several displays stand out for their scale. The First and Second Saudi States hall has a large model of Diriyah set under a glass floor that visitors walk over, and the Unification hall, known as the Unification Drum, tells how King Abdulaziz retook Riyadh and built the kingdom. The final hall holds a big model of Makkah and its surroundings. Many exhibits are replicas and life-size dioramas built to explain a period, so labels are worth reading to tell originals from copies. Two further galleries host special exhibitions.