DIRIYAH — The Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA) recently unveiled the 'Oral History of Women in Diriyah' project as part of its efforts to document elderly people's firsthand accounts and stories of historical events. The project follows an initiative launched last year to collect and preserve personal recollections and testimonies about key aspects of the history and heritage of Diriyah Gate, the 'Jewel of the Kingdom.' The DGDA stated that the effort to document women's social lives in Diriyah and highlight their contributions to the local community by recording and transcribing video interviews is one of its most significant achievements. The Authority's research and historical studies team has managed to collect and develop a large number of important narratives after tens of hours of video interviews with the women of Diriyah over the past several months. The topics of the interviews have varied, including education, hospitality, handicrafts, social relationships, oriental foods, and traditional dress. According to the Authority, the project involves conducting video interviews with the elderly women of Diriyah and recording the original, historically interesting narratives and stories that have not previously been documented in history books. In addition to recording, producing, and documenting firsthand accounts, the massive project encompasses setting specific criteria for selecting narrators and verifying the accuracy and coherence of the narrative or event with the help of Diriyah specialists, experts, and workers. In this project, the Authority relied on a scientific methodology based on the chronological sequence of events and their interrelatedness, noting that it continues to collect, examine and document testimonies and video narratives about important events linked to the area's history. The first batch of interviews has been recorded, and the Authority is working on increasing the number of programs under this year's oral history project. Diriyah Gate has recorded more than 200 audiovisual hours of historical events and stories about Diriyah, which is the first Saudi capital and described as the land of heroes and kings, in order to preserve its heritage and tell its most moving stories.
