Abdulrahman al-Ansary (A.R. al-Ansary, Abdul-Rahman al-Ansary; ar, عبدالرحمن بن محمد الطيب الأنصاري) is a former professor of

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

King Saud University King Saud University (KSU, ar, جامعة الملك سعود) is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1957 by Saud of Saudi Arabia, King Saud bin Abdulaziz to address the country's skilled worker shortage, it is the firs ...

and member of the first and second terms of the

Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia The Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia ( ar, مجلس الشورى السعودي, Maǧlis aš-Šūrā s-Saʿūdiyy), also known as ''Majlis ash-Shura'' or ''Shura Council,'' is the formal advisory body of Saudi Arabia. It is a deliberative as ...

. Professor al-Ansary is the founder of the rediscovery of archeological site of

Qaryat al-Fau Thirteen ancient towns have been discovered in Saudi Arabia up to the present day. These include Qaryat al-Fāw, the Al-Ukhdūd archeological area, Hegra (Madā'in Ṣālih), Jubbah, Tārūt, Al-Shuwayḥaṭiyah, Thāj, Taimaa and Dūmat Al-Ja ...

.al-Ansary, A.R
Qaryat al-Fau: A Portrait of Pre-Islamic Civilisation in Saudi Arabia
Riyadh University Press. 1982.

Education

Professor al-Ansary earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic language and literature from

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

in 1960 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the department of Semitic Studies of the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

in 1966. During his doctoral studies, he focused on the comparative study of Lihynite personal names and trained at archeological excavations with his thesis supervisor at Durham University and

Motya Motya was an ancient and powerful city on San Pantaleo Island off the west coast of Sicily, in the Stagnone Lagoon between Drepanum (modern Trapani) and Lilybaeum (modern Marsala). It is within the present-day commune of Marsala, Italy. M ...

, Sicily, and with Professor

Kathleen Kenyon Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been call ...

in Jerusalem in 1966.

Career

Professor al-Ansary was a faculty member of

(formerly Riyadh University) from 1966 to 1999 where he held several positions and rolesAdumatu Journal Website
including dean of the College of Arts (1971–1972 and 1988–1994), chairman of the Department of History (1974–1978) and chairman of the Department of Archeology and Museology (1978–1986). Between 1996 and 2001, he served as a member of the

, which were its first two terms. Professor al-Ansary is considered the pioneering academic who established the study of archeology in Saudi Arabia by taking the leading role in creating an archeology concentration in the Department of History at

and later the Department of Archeology and Museology in 1978, the first in the country. Professor al-Ansary is perhaps most known for leading the archeological excavation in the city of

between 1972 and 1995 while at

. In 1982 he authored a book entitled "Qaryat al-Fau: A Portrait of Pre-Islamic Civilisation in Saudi Arabia", which presented the results of the first six seasons of excavation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansary, Abdulrahman Archaeologists of the Near East Cairo University alumni Alumni of the University of Leeds 1935 births Living people King Saud University faculty Saudi Arabian archaeologists