\nRIYADH: Najlah Salman Al-Saeer, one of Saudi Arabia\u2019s top emerging \nfemale archaeologists, talks about her journey into the past and her \ncareer ambitions for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nA Saudi archaeologist is fast-becoming a leading light in the field for her work delving into the Kingdom\u2019s cultural past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThrough her fascination for all things old, Najla Salman Al-Saeer has \nbeen digging back millions of years into the history of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAnd she is hoping to expand her knowledge by continuing her education \nabroad to help unearth even more of the Kingdom\u2019s treasures of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After gaining a bachelor\u2019s degree in arts (libraries and information) from Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Al-Saeer began studying for a master\u2019s degree in tourism and archaeology, graduating this year from King Saud University (KSU).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe KSU archaeology department was established in 1977 to be the Saudi \ncenter for graduated qualified national professionals in the subject and\n its diverse sciences, and to provide excellent scientific knowledge to \nserve the job market and provide homegrown experts in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAl-Saeer specializes in material heritage, archaeological sites and \neverything related to documents and manuscripts. \u201cI write in newspapers \nabout my field visits to archaeological and heritage sites,\u201d she told \nArab News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cStudying archaeology was based on my love of exploration in the first \nplace, and consequent entry into the work field on archaeological \nsurveys and excavations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cThe study of material findings gives the researcher a concrete \nconception of the first human settlements, successive civilizations, and\n the culture prevailing in communities up until the period they belong \nto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy studies in libraries and information also played a role in choosing archaeology. My interest in manuscripts, which I call cultural heritage, meant I studied them in an archaeological way so that I could be within the scope of professional archaeological work,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAl-Saeer completed her master\u2019s research project on \u201cThe Archaeological \nStudy of the Manuscripts in West Africa (such as Timbuktu),\u201d and she is \ncurrently working on writing a scientific report related to her surveys \nand excavations of the Wadi Shami and Wadi Matar sites in the Farasan \nisland of Jazan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWhile working on a temple at Wadi Matar, she discovered objects dating \nback thousands of years. \u201cI found a fragment of Nabati pottery, beads, \npottery wares and other artifacts such as bones and shells.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAl-Saeer is not alone in the Kingdom as a female archaeologist. In 1989,\n KSU established the first women\u2019s department of archaeology to promote \nthe roles of female students and researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Samer Sahla, head of the university\u2019s archaeology section, said the department offered a postgraduate program exclusively for female students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cThe number of female students currently in the graduate program is \napproximately 75. We accept annually 15 to 20 female students in our \nmasters and Ph.D. programs, and applications are generally increasing,\u201d \nhe added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAl-Saeer\u2019s main aims at present are to work on her Ph.D. project in \narchaeology and participate in surveys and explorations of other key \nheritage sites in the Kingdom, and she is also hoping for the \nopportunity to work abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nShe said that archaeologists usually located excavation sites by foot surveys or using aerial photography and metal detectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the oldest Saudi sites is in the village of Al-Shwaihtia, about 45 km from the city of Sakaka in Al-Jawf, where human settlements dating back to the Paleolithic era have been found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAl-Saeer pointed to the important role played by the Saudi Commission \nfor Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH). \u201cThe commission took the \ncoverage on its behalf by holding lectures and symposia after each task \nin the archaeological sites of the Kingdom to discuss the most important\n results, in addition to holding conferences including the first Saudi \nArchaeological Conference in Riyadh, in 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nShe added that the SCTH was able to develop global interest in Saudi \narchaeological finds through its longstanding partnerships with foreign \nteams including those from France, Germany and Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has benefitted from \u201cworking on different methodologies of archaeological research and practicing them in archaeological sites, in addition to benefiting from the diverse experiences within the work team, which includes individuals holding various specializations other than archaeology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
from: arabnews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH: Najlah Salman Al-Saeer, one of Saudi Arabia\u2019s top emerging female archaeologists, talks about her journey into the past and her career ambitions for the future. A Saudi archaeologist is fast-becoming a leading light in the field for her work delving into the Kingdom\u2019s cultural past. Through her fascination for all things old, Najla Salman Al-Saeer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1799"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1801,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1799\/revisions\/1801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}