Ancient secrets of love and happiness — set in stone across Arabian Peninsula

Across the Arabian Peninsula, written inscriptions offer clues to the Arab communities that lived in various areas. (Shutterstock)
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Updated 04 January 2022
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Ancient secrets of love and happiness — set in stone across Arabian Peninsula

  • Rock engravings are offering surprising clues about the Arabian Peninsula’s earliest cultures

MAKKAH: Ancient inscriptions on rocks throughout the Arabian Peninsula are helping to paint a picture of the earliest Arabic cultures, including economic and social conditions — and even people’s thoughts on love, marriage and happiness.

The engravings provide evidence of early religious belief and ritual performances, as well as details of professions, crafts and currencies, and also highlight the professionalism and skill of the engravers, according to Dr. Salma Hawsawi, professor of ancient history at King Saud University in Riyadh.
“Writing is an invention of man,” Hawsawi told Arab News. “It is a means of exchanging ideas and knowledge, as well as discussing it within societies, regardless of class, beliefs and sects.”
She added that historical information gleaned from these inscriptions can reflect the feelings of love, fear, longing, sadness and happiness felt by people at the time.
“That is why inscriptions are seen as a true witness of what the people of that era experienced, which highlights the region’s cultural depth.”
Hawsawi said that writing and engraving were regarded as professions. “Writing, in general, illustrates the level of civilization and education that Arab society reached, and also demonstrates writing’s role in the progress of humanity.”

The existence of writing in civilizations of all kinds is proof of their importance in codification, communication and relations between societies.

Dr. Salma Hawsawi

She said that writing developed through two stages — “the pre-alphabet stage, which is figurative writing, or depicting material things in the human environment to denote moral aspects through rock drawings. Then, after that, symbolic with syllabic sounds.”




Engravings also provided details of tribal names and locations, as well as professions and crafts, trade provisions, currencies, and exports and imports.

According to Hawsawi, cuneiform script spread throughout Mesopotamia from about 3,200 B.C. and was used until A.D.100.
Hieroglyphic script was in use in Egypt by 4,000 B.C., while Ugaritic script was used in northern Syria. Sinaitic script dates back to 1,400 B.C. and was invented by a group of Canaanites working in turquoise and copper mines in the Sinai desert.
Meanwhile, Phoenician script, which dates back to 1,000 B.C., and Punic script spread throughout North Africa from 300 B.C. until A.D. 300.
“The existence of writing in civilizations of all kinds is proof of their importance in codification, communication and relations between societies,” Hawsawi said.
Across the Arabian Peninsula, written inscriptions offer clues to the Arab communities that lived in various areas. Some of the inscriptions had a religious aspect, focusing on the names of gods and religious rituals, while others were more social, discussing personal status, marriage, divorce, and people’s names.
Engravings also provided details of tribal names and locations, as well as professions and crafts, trade provisions, currencies, and exports and imports.




The engravings provide evidence of early religious belief and ritual performances.

“On the political level, inscriptions included the names of kings and rulers, wars and the rise and fall of states,” she said.
“These inscriptions are an important source of historical and cultural knowledge of the region. The spread of these inscriptions and their large number give us an idea of the level of knowledge and culture reached by the societies and the attention they paid to writing and documentation.”
Hawsawi said that inscriptions can be found on rocks in an arranged or random manner, depending on the writer’s skill, as well as on the facades of temples, houses and even gravestones. Some depicted society through famous events or the aphorisms of its rulers.
In southern Arabia, Ancient South Arabian script was used from about 800 B.C. the A.D 600. Inscriptions are widespread, and can be found on stones, timber, and bones in eastern Arabia, Al-Faw, Najran and as far north as AlUla.
“The Zabur script also appeared in the south and dates back to about 500 B.C. Some say that the ancient South Arabian script and Zabur script emerged at about the same time,” Hawsawi said.
In the north of the Arabian Peninsula, Thamudic script was in use from 800 B.C. and consisted of 29 characters. Inscriptions have been found on rock facades along the trade route from the far south of the Arab world to the far north.
The Safaitic script is similar to the Thamudic script and dates back to the first century B.C. Dating back to the ninth century, the Aramaic script contains 22 letters, taken from Phoenician writing, and spread widely in the ancient world, especially in Mesopotamia, Iran, India, Egypt and the northern Arabian Peninsula.
Hawsawi pointed out that “the Dadanite and Lihyanite scripts date back to the sixth or fifth centuries B.C. and contain 28 letters, some of which resemble the Thamudic and ancient South Arabian scripts. It is written from right to left and the words are separated by a vertical line. The Palmyrene and Syriac scripts derived from Aramaic date back to the first century B.C. The Nabati script is derived from the Aramaic, however some of its letters have changed in terms of form and adding a dot, giving way to the Arabic script in which we write today.”
She said that writing in Arabian Peninsula societies differed from that of other cultures due to its distinctive scripts and range of topics.
“Life and related events were recorded, unlike other civilizations that focused on codifying political events,” she said.


Japan’s Kaneko Masakazu explores memory, myth and nature in intimate Saudi Film Festival talk

Updated 22 April 2025
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Japan’s Kaneko Masakazu explores memory, myth and nature in intimate Saudi Film Festival talk

DHAHRAN: Japanese filmmaker Kaneko Masakazu — known for his cinematic exploration of nature, memory, and myth — captivated audiences at the 11th Saudi Film Festival (SFF) with an intimate and insightful conversation about the deep connections between culture and storytelling.

Masakazu was joined on stage by Abdulrahman Al-Qarzaee, a fluent Japanese speaker from Saudi Arabia who served as translator with cultural commentator Showg AlBarjas acting as moderator.

The conversation delved into how landscapes, folklore and cultural identity shape cinematic storytelling, facilitating a thoughtful exchange of ideas that spanned cultural boundaries.

During this session, Masakazu shared his approach to filmmaking, particularly in “River Returns” (2024), his third feature film. It was shown just days earlier at the SFF, which is set to wrap up on April 23.

The film, a stunning blend of fantasy and drama, takes place in a rural Japanese village and tells the story of a young boy’s perilous journey to a seemingly haunted body of water. There, he hopes to calm the grief-stricken spirit responsible for devastating floods that have plagued the village. The story is set during the 1958 typhoon, which serves as a backdrop to the boy’s journey.

Masakazu revealed how his work has always been centered on the relationship between humans and nature.

“My work deals with the relationship between nature and humans as its central theme. It tells these stories in a poetic, almost mythical style,” he said.

In “River Returns,” the boy’s journey to the mountain pool is not just a physical one, but a spiritual and emotional quest, too.

The film captures how natural disasters can be viewed as manifestations of spiritual unrest, a concept in Japanese folklore that seemed to resonate with Saudi audiences.

The film’s breathtaking cinematography beautifully contrasts the serene landscapes with the looming, furiously violent storm, underscoring the dynamic between the gentle and the destructive forces of nature.

“The meaning of the narrative is ultimately left to the viewer — whether they experience sadness, love or the echo of an ancient tale,” Masakazu shared. “In the end, it becomes a transmission of culture, a passing down of folklore, all leading back to a shared emotional core. At the same time, I’m interested in how people respond — how a non-Japanese audience might engage with it.”


Japan’s Koji Yamamura brings expertise to Saudi Film Festival masterclass

Updated 20 April 2025
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Japan’s Koji Yamamura brings expertise to Saudi Film Festival masterclass

DHAHRAN: Animation lovers attending the 11th Saudi Film Festival this week were treated to a masterclass by Oscar-nominated Japanese director Koji Yamamura.

Yamamura gave a masterclass titled “Giving Shape to Invisible Light” on Saturday.

While the Saudi Film Festival typically focuses on local and regional cinema, it also offers audiences a chance to engage with global voices. This year, Japan holds a special place in the lineup, with the festival running until April 23.

Masterclass attendees watched as Yamamura explained his process and shared several of his shorts, which he dissected, offering guidance and insight into his creative approach.

Yamamura, regarded as one of Japan’s most successful animation filmmakers, began creating films at just 13 years old. After six painstaking years and thousands of drawings, his 10-minute 2002 film “Mt. Head” earned him an Oscar nomination in the Best Short Film category.

The story follows a man who eats cherry pits to avoid waste, only to have a cherry tree sprout from his head. What begins as a nuisance quickly escalates into chaos as strangers flock to picnic and swim atop his head.

Narrated in the traditional rakugo style — with a single voice and sparse instrumentation — the work blends classical storytelling with modern themes. Beneath the dark humor lies a critique of isolationism, environmental degradation, and the illusion of control. The more the man tries to resist change, the more disorder he invites, leading to a haunting end.

Yamamura explained that many of his works were inspired by traditional tales that are over 150 years-old—stories where the beginning and end are already known — so the creative challenge lies in how he fills the space.

His work moves fluidly between absurdity and clarity, often occupying a Kafkaesque space that encourages the viewer to dive in until the narrative fully takes hold.

After the masterclass, he sat down to answer questions by moderator Naoures Rouissi of the Arab Film Festival Zurich, and the audience was invited to take part in a Q&A portion.

Abdulrahman Al-Qarzaee, a fluent Japanese speaker who is Saudi, translated.

“I’m very interested in Arabic culture. It is my first time in Saudi Arabia — I would like to sketch it. I think the landscape is very different from Japan,” Yamamura told Arab News after the session.

When Arab News asked if he might create a new work inspired by his visit to the Kingdom, he didn’t hesitate.

“Probably, yeah. This is a very special and different experience for me,” he concluded with a smile.


Saudi comedy film ‘Ambulance’ to get sequel

Updated 19 April 2025
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Saudi comedy film ‘Ambulance’ to get sequel

DUBAI: A sequel is already in the works for “Esaaf” (“Ambulance”), the new comedy starring Saudi actor and stand-up comedian Ibrahim Al-Hajjaj and directed by British filmmaker Colin Teague.

The film premiered on Tuesday, making history as the first Arabic-language movie to be released by Imax. 

The plot revolves around two Saudi paramedics who discover a briefcase containing holding SR2 million (around $533,300) and find themselves caught up in a dangerous kidnapping scheme.

The movie is written by Alberto Lopez and produced by Al-Hajjaj’s House of Comedy, Saudi producer Talal Anazi’s Black Light Operations and former MBC Studios chief Peter Smith in tandem with Saudi Media Company. 

The film marks Al-Hajjaj’s first major release since “Sattar,” the 2023 wrestling film which grossed over $30 million, primarily from Saudi audiences.


Princess Rajwa, Prince Hussein visit historic site in Jordan

Updated 19 April 2025
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Princess Rajwa, Prince Hussein visit historic site in Jordan

DUBAI: Princess Rajwa Al-Hussein of Jordan opted for a relaxed look this week when she visited the archaeological site of Umm Qais with her husband, Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah.

Rajwa, who is of Saudi origin, wore beige Atelier canvas straight-leg cargo pants by Jacquemus, paired with a black fitted top and matching Prada re-edition 2005 nylon bag. She completed her look with Gentle Monster’s Musee 01 sunglasses.

The crown prince also kept it casual in a plain white T-shirt, olive green cargo shorts and sunglasses.

Bin Abdullah took to Instagram to share a heartwarming photo with his wife taken during their visit.

“There is nothing like spring in the north of Jordan,” read the caption.

The couple also made headlines this week as their eight-month-old daughter, Princess Iman bint Al-Hussein, marked a significant milestone when she accompanied them to the Kingdom of Bahrain on her first official overseas visit.

The young princess was received by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa at Al-Sakhir Palace. (Instagram)

The young princess was received by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa at Al-Sakhir Palace.

Princess Rajwa opted for a white-and-blue ensemble from London-based fashion label Erdem for the occasion. This included a floral midi pencil skirt and a draped short-sleeved top. She completed the look with white lace slingback pumps from Manolo Blahnik and a Jacquemus shoulder bag.

Last month, Crown Prince Hussein took to Instagram to mark Mother’s Day with a heartfelt tribute to his mother, Queen Rania, and Princess Rajwa.

In the first of two images, Queen Rania is holding her granddaughter, Princess Iman, as the crown prince watches on.

In the second image, Princess Rajwa, dressed in a plain white t-shirt, is seen holding her daughter.

“To my beloved mother and my loving wife, your presence fills our lives with joy, and your love is the true meaning of giving. Happy Mother’s Day,” he wrote.

The royal couple welcomed Iman in August last year.

They are also active in their humanitarian efforts. During Ramadan, they visited the Children’s Museum Jordan to attend an iftar event with orphans.

They spent time with the children, playing games, sharing a meal and engaging in conversation. The couple also posed for photos with the young attendees.


Art Dubai’s 18th edition marks UAE’s rise as key market for contemporary art 

Updated 20 April 2025
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Art Dubai’s 18th edition marks UAE’s rise as key market for contemporary art 

  • Latest edition of the region’s leading contemporary art fair presented high-quality works from around the world, cementing the Gulf metropolis as a key market player 

DUBAI: The Madinat Jumeirah is alive once again with the invigorating buzz of collectors, artists, gallerists and art lovers all gathered for the 18th edition of Art Dubai, which runs until April 20. There is the familiar sound of a multitude of languages and accents, reflecting Dubai’s ever-growing international population as gallerists from around the world, including North America, China, South and Central Asia, Africa and from across the Middle East, showcase works that reflect the artistic breadth and culture of their respective countries.

Of note are the 30 new exhibitors at Art Dubai, hailing from around the world, forming part of the 120 galleries taking part this year. The quality of works on display, underlined artistic director Pablo del Val, are particularly noteworthy this year and, he says, evoke a sense of escapism and surrealism as if to provide refuge from the uncertainty of today’s times.

Abdullah Al Othman, Manifesto: the Language & the City II, 2025 for Art Dubai. Courtesy Artist and Iris Projects. (Photo credit Mustafa Aboobacker for Seeing Things)

The quality of works and international range of galleries also reflect the changing nature of Dubai.

Rather than take up residence in Dubai for a short-term period of a few years, new residents are coming to the city with plans, it seems, to stay for longer. At the same time, there has been notable investment in cultural infrastructure within the UAE that is now paying off, resulting in a plethora of new museums, galleries, institutions and initiatives offering visitors to Art Dubai a wealth of cultural activities outside the fair.

A view of Efie Gallery’s booth at Art Dubai. (Courtesy of Efie Gallery)

“Today there is a change in the architecture (of Dubai), with residents desiring more state-of-the-art homes with more space,” del Val told Arab News. “When these people move to Dubai they are doing so with a long-term version. This gives a sense of stability to the city and necessitates a different kind of art collecting.”

Among the newcomers to the fair was Richard Saltoun Gallery, which has branches in Rome, London and New York.

“This will be our first participation at Art Dubai and we are thrilled to be participating. Dubai, and the UAE in general, is one of the most interesting and growing markets that we work with,” Niamh Coglan, sales director at Richard Saltoun Gallery, told Arab News. “The institutional collections, foundations and private collections are curious, active and engaging to work with. Having worked with several major museums and foundations over the past few years in the region, we knew we had to take a more active role and be more present.”

Abdullah Al Othman, Manifesto: the Language & the City II, 2025 for Art Dubai. Courtesy Artist and Iris Projects. (Photo credit Mustafa Aboobacker for Seeing Things)

Among the artists the gallery will show at the fair is Mozambican modernist Bertina Lopes, whose work is on display in the exhibition Kings and Queens of Africa at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Among the notable works at the fair was a large 196 x 363 cm painting by the late Iranian artist Bahman Mohassess and New York-based Leila Heller Gallery’s booth portraying two abstract figures locked in a passionate embrace, one colored red and the other off-white next to a group of stones and an abstract black bird flying overhead. The work, which has garnered great interest among collectors, is being sold for $2,650,000.

In the Bawwaba section of specially commissioned works for the fair, Saudi artist Abdullah Al-Othman is showcasing a solo project in the form of a large installation work of signs, symbols and photography from around Riyadh as part of his series Manifesto: the Language & the City (2011). The work is being displayed through Iris Art Projects, the only GCC gallery exhibiting in the section.

Showcasing works from the African continent and diaspora is Efie Gallery, a Dubai-based gallery that recently moved to Alserkal Avenue. The gallery’s booth presented a mixed media presentation that is thoughtfully and serenely curated featuring works by Abdoulaye Konate, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Hugh Findletar and J.K. Bruce Vanderpuije.

A view of Efie Gallery’s booth at Art Dubai. (Courtesy of Efie Gallery)

“We love being in the Middle East and Dubai because it has offered us a clean slate as opposed to the West, where we need to deconstruct narratives,” said co-founder of the gallery Kwame Mintah. “Here we are offered the space to construct the narratives.”