A cache of artworks never before seen outside of Saudi Arabia is now on show at Paris’s Louvre museum, part of the Routes d’Arabie exhibition.

This landmark exhibition surveys the Saudi Arabian visual tradition through 200 archaeological artifacts and historic artworks.

Neolithic funerary stelae, carved stone tablets, are some of the most magnificent pieces on display. Three sandstone stelae unearthed near the small village of Ha’il over recent decades are almost modernist in their simplicity, despite being carved in the 4th millennium BC. In one, a man with two straps across his chest and a single dagger seems reminiscent of a Modigliani, or of the artist’s African mask sources.

Art flourished in the ancient kingdom thanks to its location at the heart of trading routes. Later, the birth of Islam led to a flourishing of new forms of devotional ornamentation.

The art from the crossroads of trade and religion makes for a captivating show. Visit the Louvre until September 27 to take it all in.