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Egypt holds its first Islamic exhibition in Saudi Arabia

Egypt is trying to attract Saudi tourists by holding an exhibition of Egyptian Islamic antiquities in Saudi Arabia, which includes 84 artifacts from the collections of Islamic art in Cairo.
People visit Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art after it reopened to the public on January 19, 2017, in the egyptian capital.
The Egyptian president reopened the museum on January 18, three years after a car bombing partially destroyed the building. / AFP / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED        (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images)

CAIRO — Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities signed an agreement Nov. 9 with the Saudi Aramco company, to hold the first Egyptian artifacts exhibition in Saudi Arabia. According to the agreement, Egypt will lend 84 artifacts from the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo to the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in the Saudi city of Dhahran for a period of two years, to be displayed at an exhibition titled “Bisector of the Mosque.”

The exhibition will include several archaeological pieces dating back to the ninth century, which will be provided by the National Museum in Riyadh. In addition, the artifacts to be loaned by Egypt include parts of historical mosques such as pulpits, mihrabs and prayer rugs, as well as other pieces that reflect the development of mosques throughout the ages.  

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