September 23 – National Day in Saudi Arabia

Posted on September 23, 2013

Today Saudis celebrate the 1932 unification of their kingdom.

A modern nation?

Saudi Arabia is one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, thanks to the fact that it has the second largest oil reserve on the planet. Although the nation's oil wealth has allowed it to modernize many aspects of life, it has not modernized the role of women. Saudi Arabia is, for example, the only country in the world that bans women from driving. All women—even non-Muslim tourists—have to wear hijab, a veil that covers the head and chest. Every adult female has to have a male relative as her guardian, and women usually have to ask their guardian's permission to travel, study, or work.

(Remember, I'm talking about adult women! Yuck!)

Still, even in places that have huge problems with human rights, there are beauties to enjoy. Here I will share with you few sculptures I like, found in the city of Jeddah, and some gorgeous desert photos.

Islam doesn't allow paintings or sculptures of people (or any living creatures), so artists have to turn to other subjects. Like this giant geometry set.

The city of Jeddah is one of the world's largest “open air galleries,” because it has so many large-scale sculptures.

Maybe the rule against depictions of living creatures doesn't include fish? Because I'm pretty sure I see a fish in this sculpture!

Most of Saudi Arabia is desert, and I saw lots of cool photos of sand dunes. This is one of the weirdest.

I am always amazed when nature is this colorful!

Also on this date:

Anniversary of Lewis and Clark's return from the Corps of Discovery

Physicist Fizeau's birthday

Plan Ahead!

Check out my Pinterest pages on September holidays, September birthdays, and historical anniversaries in September.

And here are my Pinterest pages on October holidays, October birthdays, and historical anniversaries in October.