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30 June 2021

Naif Palace – Jubbah

Tucked away among the palm groves of Jubbah stands the museum (under a sign ‘The Monumentel (sic) Palace of Naif’), gardens and home of Naif Ateeq Al-Shammari. Naif is the direct descendent of the young emir of Jubbah who extended the fabled desert hospitality to Lady Anne Blunt & with her husband Wilfrid  Blunt. Lady Blunt was the granddaughter of Lord Byron and arrived in January 1879 on their visit. The smoke-blackened room where they sipped coffee is still there. On one of its adobe walls hang two framed and faded photographs of Lady Anne and two copies of her watercolors of the Nafud. Alongside are pictures of other notable visitors who have passed that way. The palace is now a museum with a wide ground floor divided into seven parts of different areas, comprising approximately 2165 pieces.