UNESCO to discuss Baptism Site nomination to World Heritage List

AMMAN — Jordan’s Baptism Site is nominated for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List when the World Heritage Committee meets in Germany’s Bonn from June 28 to July 8 to examine proposals to inscribe 37 properties, the international organisation announced Wednesday. 

In a statement posted on its website, UNESCO said the Baptism Site, 40km west of Amman, is classified among mixed natural and cultural sites.

Also known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan, the site is where Jesus Christ was baptised by John the Baptist, according to Christian beliefs. 

The upcoming 39th session of the World Heritage Committee will be chaired by Maria Böhmer, minister of state at Germany’s federal foreign office and member of the Bundestag, according to UNESCO.

Nominations for inscription on the World Heritage List this year include five natural sites, 31 cultural sites and one mixed site, according to the UNESCO website. 

The committee will also examine the state of conservation of 95 sites already on the list, as well as that of the 46 properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. 

The work of the session will be webcast live (www.whc.unesco.org). 

A number of parallel events will take place during the session, such as the launch on June 29 of the global coalition for the protection of cultural heritage “#Unite4Heritage” with the participation of UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova and Böhmer. 

Jordan is home to three cultural World Heritage List sites: Petra, Quseir Amra and Um Rasas.

Wadi Rum is listed as a mixed World Heritage site.

Fifteen other sites in Jordan, including the Baptism Site, are submitted on the tentative list.