RIYADH: The AlUla World Archaeology Summit has announced a roster of leading Saudi and international speakers and delegates for its inaugural forum from Sept. 13-15. More than 80 speakers will take part in the event, which aims to pave the way for new findings and innovations in the field. The Royal Commission for AlUla said that speakers from the Kingdom will include visual artist Manal Al-Dowayan; Jasir Alherbish, CEO of the Saudi Heritage Commission; Prof. Daif Allah Al-Talhi, professor emeritus of archaeology at the University of Hail; and Prof. Suleiman Altheeb, professor emeritus of ancient Arabian scripts and languages at King Saud University. Global speakers will include Prof. Shadreck Chirikure, Edward Hall professor of archaeological science at the University of Oxford; Jyoti Hosagrahar, deputy director of the World Heritage Center at UNESCO; Prof. Zeidan Kafafi, professor emeritus of archaeology, Yarmouk University, Jordan; Prof. Toshiyuki Kono, professor emeritus of private international law, Kyushu University; Gary Martin, founder and senior adviser, Global Diversity Foundation; Denise Pozzi-Escot, director, Pachacamac Site Museum, Peru; Timothy Whalen, director, Getty Conservation Institute; and Dennis Wuthrich, founder and CEO of Farallon Geographics in the US. Other leading figures due to attend the summit include British historian and documentary presenter Bettany Hughes, and explorer, photographer and author Levison Wood. More than 300 people will take part in the summit, engaging with a range of subjects intended to inspire visionary, heritage-based solutions to contemporary problems across a variety of sectors. The summit will be held in AlUla’s Maraya multi-purpose venue, which holds the Guinness World Record as the largest mirrored building with 9,740 glass panels. It will be held around the same time as Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the 45th assembly of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, from Sept.10-25. The summit is an initiative of the RCU, which is leading the comprehensive regeneration of AlUla as a major global destination for cultural and natural heritage. Archaeological research and conservation are cornerstones of the project, which aims to attract 2 million visitors a year to AlUla by 2035. Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani, executive director of archaeology, conservation and collections at RCU, said the summit is attracting interest worldwide, with speakers spanning the globe from the US and Australia to Jordan and Japan. “We welcome them to share knowledge on the summit’s four themes: identity, ruinscapes, resilience and accessibility. Their presence aligns with AlUla’s legacy as a crossroads of civilizations, where people have exchanged ideas from far and wide.” Delegates will visit AlUla’s key heritage sites, many of which are undergoing active archaeological excavation. AlUla is best known for the Nabataean tombs of Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site, but since 2018 project teams have recorded thousands of archaeological locations across AlUla and Khaybar. More sites are set to be explored by archaeological research institutions, universities and companies from the Kingdom and around the world. In coming months 11 projects involving 150 to 200 archaeologists and associated specialists will conduct fieldwork across AlUla and neighboring Khaybar, one of the world’s most active archaeological research undertakings.