The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities is currently developing a museum for Makkah history at Maabida Palace, said Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of SCTA yesterday.

“We are also building a number of new regional museums,” he added.Prince Sultan made this comment after meeting Abdul Maqsood Khoja at his house in Jeddah. He honored Khoja for donating nine rare manuscripts to SCTA and commended his desire to preserve national heritage.

“The books donated by Khoja including a manuscript of the Holy Qur’an donated by Khoja are very valuable,” the prince said. They represent a precious gift for SCTA. “We’ll keep them at the new Makkah Museum,” he added.He said SCTA has so far received 14,000 pieces of antiquities from inside and outside the Kingdom. “We hope more citizens will donate their relics to SCTA in order to keep them properly,” he added.

Khoja commended Prince Sultan’s efforts to boost domestic tourism and preserve the Kingdom’s heritage. He commended SCTA for holding Saudi heritage shows at major world museums.The manuscripts presented by Khoja to SCTA included one related to Sahih Bukhari dating back to 1166 and written by Mahmoud Al-Eskarari, a book on Hanafi school of thought written by Ibrahim Al-Halbi in 923 and Islamic edicts written by Muhammad Al-Khalidi in 969. – KahleejNews