By Lina Al-Fayez ~
Land of the thousand civilizations, Jordan deserves praise not simply for its commitment to preserving its archaeologically blessed heritage but, more practically, to incorporating it into national planning, education, and tourism.
A Living Legacy: The Conservation of Petra and Beyond
From Jerash to Petra, and from Umm Qais to Madaba, Jordan’s heritage sites are not ruins but complete histories of human beings. In order to be able to effectively assert that they are their own, the Jordanian state has encouraged preservation of their heritage as a corner stone of national identity and national development. Jordan’s Department of Antiquities (DoA) carried out hundreds of restoration works on sites in the recent past with the support of foreign organizations like UNESCO, USAID, and the European Union.
Petra’s Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) utilizes 3D scanning and GIS mapping to identify climatic change and erosion risk zones. Not only does it serve the site’s protective purpose, but in doing so enables sustainable tourism that is non-environment-negligent but attempts to infringe on livelihood for locals.
Smart Urban Planning With a Historical Heart of Amman
In Jordan’s cosmopolitan capital city, Amman, heritage is finally coming into the field of urban planning today. Amman Plan — Half-a-century Master Plan of Greater Amman Municipality — is prioritizing considerably the conservation of archaeological ensembles, ancient souks, and old quarters as the city grows and goes online.
Among them is also the rehabilitation of downtown Odeon plaza and Roman Theater.andoned for decades, it has now been rebuilt as a culture center with outdoor concerts, art festivals, and leasing to schools. It even added smart streetlights, wheelchair ramps, and QR code signs, putting together ancient architecture and 21st-century city planning.
It also encompasses new development transport and housing under tight archaeological specifications, where developers will collaborate with the DoA and halt development when they encounter artifacts.
Without places like Ajloun and Karak, where rural fringes converge with ancient archaeology, its people are learning to preserve it themselves. USAID-supported Sustainable Cultural Heritage Through Engagement of Local Communities Project (SCHEP) has hired Jordanians in hundreds of jobs as tour guides, conservators, and cultural entrepreneurs.
Consider the example of Umm al-Jimal, or the “Black Jordan Oasis” rather than otherwise superior more rightly more traditionally superior better-known other name. It was a basalt city centuries ahead of its time, and now serves as an archaeology park safeguarded locally in collaboration by NGOs and universities. Locals offer tourists guided tours, run ecotourism bed-and-breakfast inns, and even use augmented reality software to recreate ruins.
Education and Innovation in Heritage Conservation
Jordanian universities are also leaders in balancing innovation and tradition. Germany-Jordanian University’s Institute of Archaeology and Heritage Studies has completely overhauled programs of study in digital conservation, museum curatorship, and GIS archaeology.
The drones, the photogrammetry, the AI — the students employ to conduct research and restore ancient monuments — the very same used by archaeological sites around the country. The academy collaborations are making Jordan a regional hotbed for technology-driven heritage management.
Second, the Ministry of Tourism provided virtual interactive tours of Petra, Jerash, etc., and put them on the global map so everyone had a taste and developed virtual tourism.
Respecting the Past in Tourism
The legacy has instilled an unfegrudging character of the Jordan tourism industry that has been a bonanza to the economy of the country. Over 5.3 million visitors had already traveled to the Kingdom as early as 2023, a record of whom were attracted by its past deeds the most, but the government claimed that in fact they took something with them from there: numbers have to be lost in surrendering to fill up.
From hiking in Dana Biosphere Reserve to a Nabatean folk evening in Wadi Musa, tourists bring back time and substance.
Constructing Tomorrow Without Forgetting Yesterday
As cranes shape the horizon of Amman and fiber-optic cables inscribe across the desert, Jordan constructs the future. And constructs it with a sense of awe for its yesterday — a yesterday that reshaped the world and continues to reshape the world today.
In a world that is moving so quickly today, Jordan’s is the message of clean air: revolution need not be a way to forget. Far too often the best course of action is to dig deep in order to move forward.
References
