اخبار السعودية – وطن نيوز
عاجل اخبار السعودية – اخبار اليوم السعودية
W6nnews.com ==== وطن === تاريخ النشر – 2026-03-27 00:48:00
While the sociologist, Dr. Saad Al-Suwayyan, was struggling and fighting alone for the project of the anthropological study of popular heritage, inside the university classrooms, there were dozens of enthusiasts for his project, hundreds of sympathizers with him, and thousands of those who opposed and opposed him. However, the confrontation and opposition ignited in him the spirit of challenge, and he set out on his project to extract the oral heritage from oblivion, and document it audio through the mouths of ancient narrators. Especially in the central and northern regions of the Arabian Peninsula. Nabati poetry was the collection of the present and the desert with all its implications and connotations. It took the author of “The Epic of Human Evolution” nearly seven years, since 1983 AD, to respond to the countries and locations and interrogate the memory of the people. To complete his project funded by the Research Center of the College of Arts at King Saud University, he was touring the houses of poetry to document the verses of poetry, and he was keen to open dialogues and hold knowledgeable cultures with those of great stature, status and age, from the narrators of the desert, and he collected audio everything related to the lives of people in the survey area. From poems, stories, genealogies, tags, homes, resources, ethnographic information, and oral history, to come up with a result that did not stop there. Rather, the project extended through the establishment of the Saudi Memory Unit at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, including collecting oral recordings, transcribing them, and converting them to digital formats (MP3), to be part of a living archive of the nation’s memory, based on the importance of listening to history, not just reading it. It is not an “alternative” to official history, but rather complements and corrects it sometimes, and because identity is not created from above, but rather is built from the stories of the local community, and because documentation is a responsibility, requiring integrity, accuracy and respect. While social studies continued to maneuver, negotiate and dialogue between those who believe in its necessity, those who deny its virtue, and the creators and distorters of its approach, for three decades and more, victory came for it, with the Council of Ministers approving the project to establish the Royal Institute. For anthropology and cultural studies, to be a reliable narrator of Saudi culture, and an inspiring beacon that contributes to understanding man, by documenting his legacies, and rooting cultural work by developing academic research and its specialized applications, represented in the study of local societies, patterns of living, symbolic systems, social transformations, and forms of cultural expression, collecting tangible and intangible heritage, across its social and historical contexts, and monitoring the knowledge, practices, and values associated with it, which ensures the provision of an integrated knowledge of cultural elements; As part of the living human experience, and developing academic and applied research specialized in anthropology and cultural studies. Dr. Abeer Al-Qahtani considered the Royal Institute a scientific platform for studying cultural diversity in the Kingdom and monitoring identity transformations in light of accelerating social change. This contributes to documenting the Saudi experience and enriching the scientific debate about it. Stressing that the institute can contribute to facilitating future researchers’ access to archived documents and sources. This enables them to draw a more accurate human, cultural and economic map, supplements projects to understand social transformations, and enhances the provision of scientific visions to deal with future challenges, in light of the development of modern research tools, including artificial intelligence techniques, by opening new horizons for studying cultural and social patterns and analyzing them in a deeper way. Saad Al-Suwayan… the father of Saudi anthropological studies Dr. Saad bin Abdullah Al-Suwayan contributed to strengthening anthropological studies, with scientific publications and articles in Arabic and English, He has risen to the position of fatherhood for anthropological studies in the Kingdom, even if he was preceded by efforts that cannot be overlooked. Among them are those by the scholar of the Arabian Peninsula, Sheikh Hamad Al-Jasser, and the Atlas of Saudi Countries by Abdullah bin Khamis, Saad Al-Junaidal, and others, but Al-Suwayyan is the son of anthropology. According to the determinants and frameworks of scientific research, which enabled it to interact with popular material; As a system of life, and a connected universe that expresses the structure of society, its values, and its transformations, which strengthened its position to become a global reference in the oral culture of the Arabian Peninsula and a major source for researchers in the field of social studies. Al-Suwayyan was born in Unayzah in 1944 AD, and obtained a bachelor’s degree in sociology (1971) and a master’s degree in anthropology (1974) from Northern Illinois University, then a doctorate in anthropology, folklore, and oriental studies. from the University of California – Berkeley (1982). His thesis was on Nabataean poetry in the Arabian Peninsula, and it was later published by the University of California. Then he joined work as an assistant professor at King Saud University in 1982, supervised the Folklore Museum, served as head of the Social Studies Department, and was promoted to the rank of professor (2003). Among his most prominent works are: He collected Nabati poetry from its oral sources (1983-1990), collected oral interviews with narrators of the desert, recorded their poetic and historical heritage, and the documentary project of King Abdulaziz (1991-2001), in more than twenty neat volumes of foreign documents, and collected oral traditions (1985), Horse Shoes (1988), and Nabati poetry: The taste of the people. The Authority of the Text (2000), the Catalog of Nabati Poetry (2001), the Arabian Desert: Its Culture and Poetry Through the Ages (an anthropological reading), and the saga of human evolution (which won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award) – Development and State Building Branch – and he was honored with the title (Cultural Personality of the Year) in Saudi Arabia in 2024, within the National Cultural Awards Initiative, and won the Amin Madani Award for research in the history of the Arabian Peninsula. While sociologist Dr. Saad Al-Suwaiyan was struggling alone to advocate for the anthropological study of popular heritage within university classrooms, there were dozens of enthusiasts for his project, hundreds of sympathizers, and thousands of opponents and adversaries. However, the opposition ignited in him a spirit of challenge, and he embarked on his project to rescue oral traditions from the clutches of oblivion, documenting them audibly through the mouths of elderly narrators, particularly in the central and northern regions of the Arabian Peninsula. Nabati poetry served as the repository of both urban and rural life, with all its connotations and implications, and it took the author of (The Epic of Human Development) nearly seven years, starting from 1983, traveling across the country and probing the memories of the people to complete his project funded by the Research Center of the College of Arts at King Saud University. He toured the houses of poetry to document verses, ensuring to engage in dialogues and cultural exchanges with prominent figures of age and stature from the desert narrators, collecting audibly everything related to the lives of people in the surveyed area, including poetry, stories, genealogies, names, homes, resources, ethnographic information, and oral history. This resulted in an output that did not stop there but extended through the establishment of the Saudi Memory Unit at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, which included collecting oral recordings, transcribing them, and converting them into digital formats (MP3), to become part of a living archive of the nation’s memory, based on the importance of listening to history, not just reading it. Oral narration is not a “substitute” for official history but rather complements and sometimes corrects it. Since identity is not constructed from above but built from the stories of the local community, and because documentation is a responsibility that requires integrity, accuracy, and respect.Meanwhile, social studies continued to maneuver and debate among those who believed in their necessity, those who denied their value, and those who innovated and criticized their methodology for more than three decades. The victory for them came with the approval of the Council of Ministers for the establishment of the Royal Institute for Anthropology and Cultural Studies, to be a reliable narrator of Saudi culture and an inspiring beacon contributing to the understanding of humanity through the documentation of its heritage, and to root cultural work by developing academic research and its specialized applications, represented in the study of local communities, modes of living, symbolic systems, social transformations, forms of cultural expression, and the collection of both tangible and intangible heritage, through its social and historical contexts, and monitoring the knowledge, practices, and values associated with it, ensuring the provision of a comprehensive cognitive output for cultural elements as part of the living human experience, and specialized developing academic and applied research in anthropology and cultural studies.Dr. Abeer Al-Qahtani considered the Royal Institute a scientific platform for studying cultural diversity in the Kingdom and monitoring identity transformations in light of rapid social change; Contributing to documenting the Saudi experience and enriching the scientific discussion around it. She emphasized that the institute could facilitate researchers’ future access to archived documents and sources, enabling them to draw a more accurate human, cultural, and economic map, feeding projects to understand social transformations, and enhancing the provision of scientific insights to deal with future challenges, in light of the development of modern research tools, including artificial intelligence technologies, opening new horizons for studying and analyzing cultural and social patterns more deeply. Saad Al-Suwaiyan.. The Father of Saudi Anthropological StudiesDr. Saad bin Abdullah Al-Suwaiyan contributed to enhancing anthropological studies through publications and scientific articles in both Arabic and English, which earned him the status of the father of anthropological studies in the Kingdom. Although there were prior efforts that cannot be overlooked, such as those by the scholar of the Arabian Peninsula, Sheikh Hamad Al-Jaser, the Atlas of Saudi Countries by Abdullah bin Khamis, and Saad Al-Junaidil, among others, Al-Suwaiyan, as a son of anthropology, according to the parameters and frameworks of scientific research, was able to interact with popular material as a system of life, a connected universe expressing the structure, values, and transformations of society. This strengthened his position to become a global reference in the oral culture of the Arabian Peninsula and a primary source for researchers in the field of social studies. Al-Suwaiyan was born in Unaizah in 1944, obtained a bachelor’s degree in sociology (1971), a master’s degree in anthropology (1974) from Northern Illinois University, and then a Ph.D. in anthropology, folklore, and oriental studies from the University of California – Berkeley (1982), with his dissertation on Nabati poetry in the Arabian Peninsula, which was later published by the University of California. He then joined King Saud University as an assistant professor in 1982, supervised the Museum of Popular Heritage, served as the head of the Department of Social Studies, and progressed to the rank of professor (2003). Among his notable works are the collection of Nabati poetry from its oral sources (1983–1990), collecting oral interviews with desert narrators, recording their poetic and historical heritage, the documentary project of King Abdulaziz (1991–2001), in more than twenty volumes organized from foreign documents, and the collection of oral traditions (1985), horse songs (1988), and Nabati poetry: the taste of the people and the authority of the text (2000), the indexing of Nabati poetry (2001), and the Arabian Desert: its culture and poetry through the ages (an anthropological reading), and The Epic of Human Development (for which he received the Sheikh Zayed Book Award) – in the category of development and state building – and was honored with the title of (Cultural Personality of the Year) in Saudi Arabia in 2024, as part of the National Cultural Awards initiative, and won the Amin Madani Award for research in the history of the Arabian Peninsula.
