• Highlights include curtain of the Holy Kaaba

Dhai Al-Mutairi and Haifa AlShammari

RIYADH: The King Abdulaziz Complex for Endowment Libraries is showcasing a range of historical artifacts at the Riyadh International Book Fair.

Visitors can see textiles, manuscripts, antiques and paintings that represent past eras, including the embroidered Kaaba curtain that dates from the reign of King Abdulaziz.

Aiman Fqehe, who works at the complex in Madinah, said: “This year we included the curtain of the Holy Kaaba in our display. The curtain dates back 98 years and bears the phrase ‘the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud.’”

Also on display is a text by Bin Kathir that is the most renowned and widely used explanation of the Qur’an, as well as several candlesticks and lanterns from the Prophet’s Mosque.

Other items include earlier manuscripts of the Qur’an and documents from the fields of jurisprudence, monotheism, geography, mathematics and the Arabic language.

Fqehe said some of the manuscripts were donated by Imam Abdulaziz bin Muhammad bin Saud.

“Also on display are manuscripts of the Sunnah of Abu Dawud, which date back a thousand years. We also have the book ‘Mention Distances and Pictures of Regions’ by Ahmed bin Sahl Al-Balkhi, which is also over a thousand years old,” he said.

The Riyadh International Book Fair at King Saud University is one of the most prominent exhibitions in Saudi Arabia. About 1 million people attended last year and organizers expect a similar number to visit this year.

Aiman Harith, a Malaysian who visited the fair as part of his first trip to the Kingdom, said: “It is an enjoyable experience. I saw a lot of books that relate to literature, language, economics, business, and other subjects.”

The event runs until Oct. 7.