Unique and Outstanding: Jordan’s World Heritage Sites
Written by HRH Princess Dana Firas
Unique and Outstanding: Jordan’s World Heritage Sites, is so important. It showcases the country’s diverse heritage, from iconic cultural sites to urban heritage and biosphere reserves, making a major contribution to the preservation of these natural and cultural treasures, as well as expert and public knowledge.
I would like to congratulate Her Royal Highness Princess Dana Firas, a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, for this achievement, as well as for her continued efforts to advocate for the protection of cultural heritage as a pillar of sustainable development.
– Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO
PHOTO © HRH PRINCESS DANA FIRAS 2022
“In 1954, the government of Egypt decided to build the Aswan High Dam, which would create a water reservoir, named Lake Nasser, 500 km long and 35 km at its widest with a surface area of 5,250 square km. This would cover with water significant portions of the Nile Valley that contain ancient Egyptian and Nubian monuments and villages, damaging and erasing both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
In 1960, at the request of the governments of Egypt and Sudan, the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) launched the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia. The campaign ended in 1980 and raised over US $80 million, a significant amount at the time and in today’s dollars the equivalent of over $250 million. It resulted in the successful relocation to higher ground of several important temples, including Abu Simbel and Philae, as well as the excavation, documentation and salvage of hundreds of sites and thousands of objects.
The campaign set an important precedent and cemented UNESCO’s role as the international body for the protection of global cultural heritage. This function was formalized with the development over a seven-year period (1965-1972) of a convention to protect cultural heritage, drafted by UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). On 16 November 1972, the General Conference of UNESCO adopted the “Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage,” referred to as the World Heritage Convention.
The Convention came into force on 17 December 1975, and has been ratified by 194 state parties. Jordan ratified the Convention on the 5 May 1975. World Heritage Sites are cultural and natural heritage sites from around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity or having “Outstanding Universal Values (OUVs).”
As of July 2021, a total of 1,154 World Heritage Sites (897 cultural, 218 natural, and 39 mixed properties) have been listed across 167 countries. The listing also requires physical protection boundaries for each site and implies legal protection by the World Heritage Convention. It requires that local governments implement conservation and management plans, as well as monitoring measures.
UNESCO actively encourages member countries to protect and preserve World Heritage by providing technical assistance, training and awareness raising activities as well as emergency assistance for sites in danger. Signatory countries are required to submit periodic reports, called the State of Conservation reports, providing an overview of conditions at each of the World Heritage properties and detailing the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and its operational guidelines.
These reports and the follow up of the World Heritage Committee and Centre are an important recourse for advocates to ensure the implementation of the Convention and the protection of the sites.
Today, despite the incredible wealth of cultural heritage sites in the Middle East, with over 100,000 sites in Jordan alone, the region remains poorly represented on the World Heritage List. We, in Jordan, are working closely with our international partners to remedy this imbalance. UNESCO has described cultural and natural heritage as “irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration,” and nowhere is this more true than in the unique and magnificent sites of Jordan.”
This book is an attempt to illustrate the rich diversity of Jordan’s cultural heritage sites, including those that have been successfully listed as well as sites that will be recognized in the future.
Excerpt: “UNIQUE AND OUTSTANDING: JORDAN’S WORLD HERITAGE SITES”
Thank you.
Sincerely,
HRH Princess Dana Firas
PHOTO © HRH PRINCESS DANA FIRAS 2022
About the author:
HRH Princess Dana Firas is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for cultural heritage and a global advocate for heritage protection and preservation as pillars for sustainable development.
Princess Dana leads a number of organizations in Jordan and globally that work to preserve heritage and promote culture and the arts. She is passionate about heritage preservation and the role of cultural heritage in building vibrant communities, inclusive identity and responsible citizenship, and understanding and peace. She received international recognition and won several awards for her work.
She is the author of a number of published articles and was featured in numerous film and television documentaries. Princess Dana holds a BA degree in Economics and International Relations from Boston University, an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.
About the photographer:
Bashar Tabbah’s passion for photography, exploration, and history has dominated his life. Growing up in Jordan surrounded by its historical treasures highly influenced his interests and outlook. Since 2004, Bashar has travelled extensively, photographing hundreds of historical locations internationally as well as in Jordan, where he published an extensive study of its historical sites in 2018.
Bashar walks a fine line between documentary and artistry in his work. He describes what he does as a combined form of freedom of movement and education in cultures and their past.
You can see more of Bashar Tabbah’s work on his personal website, A Map and A Lens.
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