Erasing History

Jarir · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:38 am Post subject: Erasing History

A dolmen field threatened by a stone quarry north of the Dead Sea, around the GPS coordinates: 32° 06.200N, 35° 36.230E.

Habeeb Maani · Monitor Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 21 Location: Jordan

Till when!! Sad

nafila · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 3:41 pm Post subject:

This is where more strict implementation of "building permits" is required. If archaeological ruins are found on private land the permit is not supposed to be issued until the site is excavated through the Ministry of Archaeology. A process that is still full of gaps, flaws and favoritism.

Jarir · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 9:19 pm Post subject:

This dolmens field is well known and likely to have been excavated. Some of the dolmens have been relocated, while others are still standing vulnerably in the middle of quarried areas.

The issue isn't just saving antiquities, but also their historic context and the surrounding areas. An example is the prehistoric settlement of "Ain Ghazal", where important artifacts have been excavated and saved, yet the actual settlement has been overlooked in favor of road construction:

Here are more examples of menhirs in Amman that have been saved, but notice how they are rendered less significant by the surrounding buildings:

Here's the Ammonite tower "Rujm al-Malfouf" in Jabal Amman, surrounded by modern buildings. The Ministry of Antiquity is right next to it (where this photo was taken from), while new construction activity takes place on the other side:

To see the Alhambra palace in Spain in its original splendor, its restoration involves growing the same plants that were originally grown in its gardens. Similarly, wouldn't it be great to see trees and streams still running through Jerash, Petra, and other archeological sites in Jordan?