Cultural heritage is considered to be the memory and identity of people, their history and their authenticity. Preserving cultural heritage is a way of safeguarding our production and human creativity in terms of culture and art. It is the global language that fosters rapprochement and coexistence and contributes to world peace. The world connects within itself in order to learn about its human history's roots through the contributions of those who preceded it throughout the ages and times; it is therefore a common human heritage that must be preserved.
There are various types of cultural heritage, such as tangible heritage: religious and historical monuments, buildings and places; intangible heritage: oral traditions, performing arts, social practices and rituals; and nations' documentary heritage: a fundamental inheritance of peoples’ culture and historical memory, such as manuscripts, museums and artworks of all kinds. All of these types are extremely important and valuable. They are a crucial source of identity formation, through which peoples are defined.
People differ based on their culture and the breadth of their ideas. Because of this distinction, they are eager to preserve their heritage and legacy as a window for global communication to view and explore relics from different eras. Governments devoting their efforts to the preservation of human heritage is, in fact, to preserve the values and humanity of peoples, their history and civilization. As a result, attempting to undermine cultural heritage is a crime against humanity because it obscures the history of global cultural identity.
Because cultural property was of paramount importance to all peoples, international bodies had to ensure that it was preserved in order to limit abuses. As a result, the international community bended together to take every possible measure to preserve cultural heritage in both peace and war. The Treaty of Paris (1815 ) contained articles stipulating "The need to preserve museums and libraries," which was followed by the Lieber Code, a customary law defined in the year (1863) in Northern United States of America, including principles and rules that prohibited armies from seizing any targets located within schools, universities, academies, and museums. The articles emphasized the importance of preserving such places.
As for Islam, there are many principles that preserve places of worship (but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them).
In furtherance of these efforts and principles, the international community organized the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (14 May 1954), in recognition of the serious damage to property caused by advanced war technologies.
The Convention defines cultural property as:
It was also necessary to regulate issues concerning the return of looted cultural property. States believed that a special convention for the preservation of cultural property was required. Thus, the convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, more commonly known as the World Heritage Convention, was established on the initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is headquartered at the World Heritage Centre in Paris and has 193 members, including (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), and 11 associate members. some of the main functions of UNESCO are to designate the list of world heritage sites; a natural or man-made site, area, or structure recognized as being of outstanding international importance and therefore as deserving special protection. And UNESCO decided that "anyone who steals, sells or buys a looted work of art is involved in the looting of peoples and memory."
The Kingdom has contributed to the preservation of its cultural property through (the Antiquities Law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1392 AH), (the Law of Protection of Heritage Manuscript in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1422 AH) and (the Law of Antiquities, Museums and Urban Heritage in 1436 AH).
For decades, the cultural heritage of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been absent from the world, despite the fact that it is a geographical region rich in heritage and human history. It suffices to be the birthplace of revelation, the land of the Two Holy Mosques and the heart of the Islamic world. However, there were only minimal practices of the world's common language of culture, arts and heritage and were therefore unknown. As a consequence, any hostile campaigns of defamation were internationally accepted and ratified, as there was no confirmation of contradictory serious national cultural practices, nor did we invest the strength we had to counter these rumors. "For too long Saudi Arabia’s rich cultural offering has been closed to the world. Vision 2030 is opening Saudi Arabia to the world, and access to new cultural and creative opportunities is unleashing a newfound appetite for collaboration and investment in the Kingdom". The above statement was published on the official website of the Saudi Vision 2030.
By announcing the vision of His Highness, the Crown Prince for the future of Saudi Arabia 2030, with the support and care of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Kingdom sets out to shake hands with the world through culture, art, and heritage. The Kingdom seeks to invest the power that God has bestowed upon us of distinct strategic locations, leading investment power, Arab and Islamic depth and historical and cultural wealth. This is confirmed by the dialogue of His Highness, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the American magazine, the Atlantic, when he said: "We want to be part of the global culture, by integrating our culture with the global identity." This is the authenticity, all the authenticity, which we cherish and take pride in our identity and through which we shake hands with the world.
The Saudi Heritage Commission has announced the Kingdom's success in registering the 6th Saudi UNESCO World Heritage Site, "Rock Art in Hima Cultural Area, Najran" and has already succeeded in registering:
Thus, the Kingdom is making historical strides by launching a number of pioneering and competitive projects that prove the uniqueness of the cultural heritage and its role in building the future. Therefore, it was incumbent upon each generation to do its utmost to preserve, invest and develop the heritage of its predecessors.
