Knowledge Affairs – Special

The study of human and societal transformations in the Kingdom is entering a research phase that establishes anthropological dimensions in an unprecedented manner, reinforced by Saudi Vision 2030, which has made culture and people a fundamental focus of development. The Kingdom possesses a rich heritage, and prominent national institutions are scientifically documenting it through major projects and programs. Among these is the Encyclopedia of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, published by King Abdulaziz Public Library in 20 volumes. It represents a vast ethnographic and historical reference that serves anthropological dimensions and policies in studying society and its development. Although the encyclopedia is comprehensive and scientific in its documentation, it has devoted extensive space to studying the Saudi people, their surrounding environment, and the indigenous and incoming communities throughout the ages from an anthropological perspective that portrays the condition of societies and cultures, providing an understanding of each time and place.

The encyclopedia contains extremely rich material prepared by hundreds of specialized researchers, scholars, and academics in various fields of knowledge. It provides a wealth of data and rigorous scientific content comparable to international encyclopedias in its scholarly methodology for describing the development and transformations experienced by societies and peoples. It focuses on regions, cities, villages, geography, history, populations, customs, traditions, arts, literature, sciences, professions, crafts, clothing, and other subjects that fall within the comprehensive encyclopedic scope.

While the main branches of anthropology include cultures, customs, traditions, contemporary social systems, physical and linguistic dimensions, archaeology, and the study of human development, the encyclopedia covers all of these areas. It focuses on explaining the interaction of the Saudi people throughout history with their environment, through which they created a rich culture characterized by values and diverse ways of life, within the framework of their unified national and religious identity. It also documents the transformations of Saudi society from one era to another, reaching the modern era and the period in which the encyclopedia was published.

Comprehensive Fields:

The anthropological aspects of the encyclopedia are particularly evident through its documentation of the following elements: social patterns, customs, and traditions, such as marriage customs, hospitality, and family and tribal relationships, as well as their transformation from Bedouin and rural life to urbanization. It also documents oral literature, paying attention to linguistic diversity within the Kingdom by recording local dialects, popular proverbs, traditional tales, and Nabati poetry, considering them a mirror reflecting the society’s thought and moral values. It also documents traditional dances and chants associated with occasions, wars, and work, such as the Ardah, Samri, and Asiri step dance, and analyzes their cultural and social significance. The encyclopedia also examines how the Saudi people adapted to their geographical environment, whether desert, mountainous, or coastal, by documenting traditional occupations. It provides an analysis of traditional dwellings and mud- or stone-based construction and their relationship to social privacy and climatic conditions in each region.

It also focuses on studying social structures, tribes, families, customs practiced during occasions and seasons, and everyday life practices. It documents intangible cultural heritage, clearly recording popular folklore, handicrafts, traditional foods, and historical clothing from the various regions, cities, and villages of the Kingdom.

The encyclopedia also contains documentation of historical sites, archaeological remains, and prehistoric inscriptions. This intersects with archaeological anthropology and the development of human settlement in the Arabian Peninsula, as the encyclopedia provides extensive descriptive documentation of life and society.

The anthropological material in the encyclopedia is distributed across studies of the relationship between the Saudi people and their geographical environment and their adaptation to it; demographic transformations within society; documentation of daily practices; traditional lifestyles; societal values; the study of folklore and documentation of popular arts, chants, and traditional tales from each region; the study of cultural symbols through clothing, garments, jewelry, and everyday tools; documentation of linguistic diversity and local dialects as a means of understanding cultural identity; documentation of the material and cultural remains of humans in the Arabian Peninsula; an overview of the ancient civilizations that inhabited the land of the Kingdom and their development throughout the ages; and the analysis of inscriptions, rock art, and ancient symbols left behind by vanished societies in order to understand their behaviors and beliefs.

Anthropological Spaces

The encyclopedia focused on documenting the anthropological features of the Kingdom over several centuries, presenting them throughout all its volumes. It presents the regions of the Kingdom in terms of geographical area and population density, identifying the oldest Saudi cities, the most urbanized, the largest in size, and those with the greatest diversity in population composition. It also examines the diverse cultural differences necessitated by the environmental and living conditions of each population group in every part of the Kingdom, including housing and architecture; the presence of handicrafts and industries; wells, springs, and lakes; agricultural, desert, and Bedouin areas; commercial and economic areas and ports; and mosques, particularly the Holy Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque. It also covers mineral resources, oil, livestock, and camel and horse breeding, as well as the diversity of ethnic groups, dialects, clothing and dress, plants, and trees.

Among the information documented by the encyclopedia are highlands, mountains, and valleys, as well as archaeological remains and inscriptions, all of which constitute tangible evidence of human activity in the region during the pre-Islamic and subsequent eras. It also highlights the intellectual and cultural dimensions of each region.

The encyclopedia made use of large collections of diverse maps, including geographical, topographical, thematic, and illustrative maps, covering the Kingdom as a whole and each region individually. It also includes a collection of various explanatory figures whose function is to clarify and graphically represent the content. These figures were used to illustrate different types of statistics, including typographical, demographic, economic, service-related, and other statistics. The encyclopedia also contains a large number of detailed tables.

It is worth noting that more than 250 academics and researchers contributed to the encyclopedia. It consists of 20 volumes and extends across more than 20,000 pages. It contains more than 10,000 photographs, serving as illustrated scientific material supporting the scholarly and methodological dimensions of the encyclopedia. Between 500 and 1,000 photographs were allocated to each of the Kingdom’s thirteen regions. It is considered one of the largest and most comprehensive encyclopedias covering the various regions of the Kingdom and represents the primary research reference for anyone wishing to study or gain a comprehensive understanding of Saudi Arabia.