Workshop trains Jordanians, Palestinians in preservation of heritage sites

AMMAN — Archaeology, not only in the Middle East but in the whole world, is “under the greatest threat”, said Director of Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) Robert Bewley. 

Speaking at the closing ceremony of a workshop organised by EAMENA and held at the Jordan Museum on Thursday, Bewley added: “If we do not know what is present on the ground and if we do not record it, we cannot protect it.”

With the collaboration of the University of Oxford, Jordan’s Department of Antiquities (DoA) and Palestine’s Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage (DACH) trained 10 DoA and 13 DACH staff on remote sensing applications of heritage recording, assessment and management for four weeks in November, according to organisers.

The workshop represents part of an advanced phase of training in endangered archaeology for Jordan and Palestine, training manager for EAMENA in Jordan and Palestine Azadeh Vafadari said, noting that over 4,000 sites have been recorded by Jordanian and Palestinian trainees.

The Cultural Protection Fund (CPF) was established in 2016 with the aim of creating sustainable opportunities for economic and social development and bulding capacity to foster, safeguard and promote cultural heritage affected by the conflict, Director of the British Council Jordan and Levant Joel Bubbers said at the event.

“The CPF was conceived as a result of those horrific events that we all remember in Syria when Daesh took Palmyra,” Bubbers noted, adding that the fund has financed 51 programmes in 12 of the region’s countries.

The event included presentations by the EAMENA advanced training participants and the opening of the EAMENA-CPF Exhibition at the Jordan Museum.

“Although the project covers the Middle East and North Africa, what was special about this training was that it brought together Jordanian and Palestinian trainees who are not only related by blood but their common cultural heritage,” Director General  of the DoA Yazid Elayan said at the event.