ART ROCKS
From the time when rock arts were first discovered to now, the views on these arts imprinted on rocks have changed dramatically. It was first believed to irrelevant and nonessential compared to the inscriptions done on the rocks by 19th century westerners. However, this viewpoint changed and rock arts are now viewed to be evidence of the past and a way to visualize what life was like during those time periods.There are two places in Saudi Arabia that catches our attention: Jubbah and Shuwaymas. Some of the art depicted on the rocks in Jubbah indicated "...domesticated dogs and long-horned cattle, and others that suggest a transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural communities. The abundant images of camels raise the intriguing possibility that the camel was first domesticated in northern Arabia, not southern..." (27) Talking about camels, the camel figures inscribed in Jubbah are most likely the oldest among the Arabian Peninsula. Compared to Jubbah on the other hand, Shuwaymas is not as well known due to its late discovery but it most certainly have its own merits especially when it comes to telling us more about early domestication of animals. So in a way, it adds onto the findings in Jubbah.
In Jubbah:
In Shuwaymas:
Images are from: http://saudi-archaeology.com/
Walking through the exhibition with Amber was great especially since she added a bit of humor into the explanation on the history of each piece of art work to us. For example, she said that the early human form stone statues all had the look of being very nauseated. I though that was quite funny. On top of that, I loved how we ended our walk through at the golden door. I did not know anything about that door before the walk through, well I didn't know much about Saudi Arabia in general, and it's history of "people only being able to see it once in their lifetime". Overall, it was great having Amber talking about each piece of art work as we walked through the exhibition because the experience weren't be the same if I were to walk through the exhibition myself and I most definitely learned a lot more about Saudi Arabia.
-Dayna