RIYADH - The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) has retrieved recently more than 1,000 heritage artifacts from the United States in coordination with the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The number of retrieved artifacts from within and outside the Kingdom has so far reached more than 53,000, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Director General of Archiving and Protecting Antiquities at SCTH Dr. Naif Al-Qannour said that the commission in cooperation with its partners is intensifying its efforts to recover artifacts of national significance from inside and outside Saudi Arabia. He said a total of 1,127 artifacts had been retrieved in 1960s with voluntarily handing over to the authorities from the relatives of American citizens who were working in the Kingdom. These included 247 artifacts handed over by the American citizen Mark Gold Smith and another 880 pieces of antiques from the American woman Carol Mussman, which is a variety of artifacts dating back to different periods of time. Abdul Aziz Al-Dayel, head of the Department of Archived Antiques at SCTH, said that the retrieved artifacts are subject to sorting, photographing and documentation by specialists at the commission, followed by the preparation of a report thereon and then recorded in the National Registry of Antiquities at SCTH. He stressed the keenness of the commission to promote awareness on preserving artifacts as an important source of cultural heritage of the Kingdom. Al-Dayel said he will honor those who are instrumental in retrieving the antiques both inside and outside the Kingdom at one of the events of the commission, in addition to providing rewards for those who associated with the commission to report on archaeological sites or retrieve the antiquities.
