New UNESCO World Heritage Site in Jordan
46th meeting of the World Heritage Committee
During the 46th meeting of the World Heritage Committee, which was held in India, the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the addition of Umm El-Jimal as the seventh Jordanian site on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which also includes:
- Petra
- Qasr Amra
- Umm Al-Rasas
- Wadi Rum
- Baptism Site of Jesus Christ
- Al Salt
About Umm Al-Jimal
The village is near the Jordanian-Syrian border, 86 kilometres (53 miles) north of the capital Amman, and is known as “the black oasis” due to the prevalence of black volcanic rock in the area.
Umm El-Jimal is the third Nabataean city after Petra and Umm al-Rasas, which represented an extension of Nabataean rule in the north and a witness to the ability of the Nabataeans to build a smart, sustainable system despite the scarcity of water, and represents the resilience that the people of the region enjoyed at that time and until today
The village was first settled by the Nabataean peoples in the first century AD and later occupied by the Romans, becoming an important agricultural and commercial village.
Photo credit: Ali Barqawi UJAP