Saudi Arabia has gifted the United Nations the curtain of the Kaaba door, one of Islam’s most sacred items.
The tapestry comprises nearly 50 black cloths made of pure silk and is decorated with Quranic verses and interwoven with silver threads covered with gold.
It will be hung on the replica of the Kaaba door at the UN’s Indonesian Hall. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.
It was presented to UN general-secretary Ban Ki Moon this week.
“I am pleased to join you to mark the reinstallation of this magnificent gift to the United Nations from Saudi Arabia,” Ban said in a statement.
“We are honoured that this example of cultural heritage and tradition is here with us at the United Nations.”
The late Saudi King Fahd also presented the original curtain of the Kaaba door to the UN in 1983.
The practice of covering the Kaaba with an embellished curtain dates back more than six hundred years and still forms part of the ceremony surrounding the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
A new curtain was recently hung at the Kaaba as part of the a major renovation of the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site. The cube-shaped Kaaba sits at the centre of the mosque grounds and is considered the House of God.
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