There we saw what could be considered one of the most remarkable things on display in the museum; a bow that is believed to have belonged to a companion of the Prophet (PBUH), Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas (RA) himself.
The upper floor has a long corridor adjoined by multiple rooms, the kinds you see in hotels. The room probably once functioned as offices for the railways during its heydays. Today, each room is dedicated to a specific piece of history. A room housing arms and ammunition was probably one of the biggest attractions on the floor that had numerous rifles, swords and shields covered in glass cases. Nearby was a room that had minted coins and currency notes from the era of King Abdulaziz. The history of Saudi Arabia, right from the first house of Al Saud is brought to light in a room that has long framed posters on its walls. There is also a room that has old photos of Madina; the rapid modernization of Madina is evident from these photos that were taken less than a century before.
Trunk with intricate designs.
84 DESTINATION RIYADH OCTOBER 2016
Bow believed to have belonged to Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas (RA)
Once we passed the corridor we reached a hall, though smaller than the one on the ground floor that had old hand written copies of the Quran. There were also gold and silver coins dating back to the Umayyad era right next to them.
Rifles
We then came upon a room on the ground floor that had naturally occurring rare stones that are found in the region including the pink quartz and the agate stone on display. Adjacent to it was the pre-Islamic hall that had ancient pre-Islamic artifacts housed within it.
Pink quartz, flint stone and a stone from the gold mines near Madinah.