American Bedu

Maida’n Salah – The Dig & Meeting the KSU Team

 

 

Thanks to a very friendly fellow American in our group we were able to get a very special tour not typically open to tourists.  This friendly American from the South displayed his natural Southern charm and hospitality and over dinner the night before befriended some Saudis who were also guests at the Al Arac hotel.  These Saudis were part of a team conducting an archeological dig of an ancient civilization.  They so enjoyed their discussions with our American group member that they extended an invitation for our entire group to come and visit them at their site.  This was such a rare honor and special gift for all of us.

 

 

Before I describe the site it is worth mentioning about the archeological team itself.  Most of them are Saudi nationals.  They also had some Egyptian team members with experience at archeological digs as well.  Lastly there were some laborers primarily from Pakistan who had been trained to assist at the dig site.  A large composition of this archeological team were Saudi students from King Saud University.  All  of the students spoke very good English and although initially shy, they quickly warmed up and answered our questions about their work and their interest in pursuing archeology.  They are all excellent representatives of the Kingdom and their love of their field of study shown through as their faces become animated and eyes sparkled when they discussed their finds.

 

                              

 

 

 

 

                  

 

The site itself is immense and spans over a very very large area.  The team has begun excavation of a large village from an ancient civilization.  Because of the types of artifacts uncovered, including idols which were obviously worshiped, it is evident that these ancient residents had not discovered Islam.  The team leaders allowed us to enter their tents and look at their findings but we were requested not to take any photos of items within the tent itself.

 

                          

 

       

 

 

In addition to the archeological dig in process, tombs of various sizes were also excavated from within the sides of the surrounding mountains.  These tombs were referred to as the Lion’s Tombs due to the markings of lions outside the entrances.

 

                 

 

 

     

 

 

The excavation team are working tediously to carefully uncover, plot and record the history of the ancient civilization which in turn will give the Kingdom and the world a better understanding of these early people, their history and heritage.

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