Ancient Arab sites show potential of exchanges

According to Nehme, the exhibited bilingual inscriptions and studies of their calligraphy just offered physical evidence to show how Nabataean evolved into Arabic script. Both have 28 letters.

Following the exhibits, a time journey continued throughout the eras of the following centuries until the modern time.

"Not only Hegra, but also the whole of AlUla showcased meetings of different people and civilizations in history," says Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani, executive director of archaeology, conservation, and collection at the Royal Commission for AlUla and the Saudi curator of the exhibition.

"Generosity of this land inspires us today to engage with other people around the world," he says.