The Antiquities Museum is home to one of Saudi’s most important collections of ancient artifacts, a treasure trove of items unearthed from key archaeological sites across the kingdom and a direct link to the country’s past.

Tucked in the sandstone buildings of King Saud University - the oldest university in Saudi Arabia – its exhibits are the product of excavations carried out by the institute in the 1970s and 2004. The digs combed Qaryat Al Faw, a key archaeological site 700 km southwest of Riyadh that was once the heartland of the Kindah tribe and a major centre of trade, in addition to the Al Rabadhah site 200km southeast of Medina, a former stopping point for pilgrims and travelers. A third excavation took place in Al Khuraybah in AlUla, once the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan kingdoms and considered one of the most sophisticated first-millennium cities of the Arabian Peninsular.

The relics they uncovered paint an evocative portrait of pre-Islamic and early Islamic civilizations in the kingdom, and to wander among them is to embark on a journey back in time.