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Hiba Qassar and Agnes Favier from the European University Institute give a brief presentation of a few ongoing initiatives for the preservation of archaeological sites in the Middle East, assessing their strengths and weaknesses.
November 1
The Middle East remains destabilised by large-scale armed conflicts and major socio-economic crises, which have profound and multifaceted impacts on the region’s cultural heritage. Over the last decade, considerable documentation work on the destruction of archaeological sites and historic buildings in war-torn countries has been carried out by various organizations and universities (including through remote site monitoring by ANCHISE’s partner ICONEM) and this work is still ongoing on Gaza (The Heritage for Peace). In addition, at least two types of initiatives have been launched to better protect a very rich but still endangered archaeological environment: capacity-building programmes for heritage professionals; projects to engage local communities in the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage resources.
Capacity-building programmes are currently carried out mainly from lead institutions based in the Gulf countries, such as the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage in Bahrain and the ICCROM Regional Centre in the United Arab Emirates which both include their mission of protecting cultural heritage at the regional level (of the Arab member States).
Among their most recent activities, the two institutes jointly launched on 30 June the first phase of the “Capacity Building Programme on Improving Management Effectiveness of World Heritage Properties in the Arab States Region”, in which site management teams from 14 World Heritage properties (Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates) participated. Organised in three phases until November 2024, the training project aims to promote an approach focused on understanding how to manage and conserve the multiple heritage values of heritage places in their wider social, environmental and economic contexts. It is based on two key resources: Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0 (EOH 2.0) and a forthcoming resource manual on managing World Heritage that combines the two previous resource manuals (Managing Cultural World Heritage and Managing Natural World Heritage).
Financially supported by the governmental authorities of their respective countries and in close coordination with UNESCO, these organizations primarily address the needs of state actors in the Arab world, whether in terms of training or technical assistance. However, some archaeologists in the region question the effectiveness of this top-down approach and the long-term efficiency of training for an audience coming from very diverse and specific national contexts, including situations of state collapse (Yemen, Sudan or Palestine).
A second type of initiative aims to enable local communities to get involved and benefit from the preservation of cultural heritage, through the improvement of economic opportunities or educational activities. Most of these projects had their golden age in the 2000s (The Dahshour Project and the Quseir Community Archaeology Project in Egypt; or the Neolithic Heritage Trail in Jordan), but few have survived the post-2011 wave of destabilization and the exacerbation of economic and political crisis. Securing sustainable funding, maintaining long-term interest of local communities, and finding a balance between the interests of experts and the public when rehabilitating archaeological sites are challenging.
In Lebanon, non-governmental organizations such as Biladi my heritage my life and Silat for Culture have recently had to suspend their awareness-raising activities on archaeological sites among public school students due to the critical financial crisis and the exhaustion of their funding. In Jordan, by contrast, a number of well-funded initiatives designated to protect archaeological sites with a strong livelihood component are still ongoing. For example, the Turquoise Mountain Foundation has developed a community-focused and heritage-led urban regeneration proposal for one of Jordan’s most important archaeological sites (Umm Qais).
The initiatives of the American Center of Research (formerly the American Center of Oriental Research - ACOR) in Jordan also deserve to be highlighted due its long-term and comprehensive approach. Established in 1968 to serve as a hub in Jordan for scholars of the region, ACOR has been implementing the USAID -funded Sustainable Cultural Heritage Through Engagement of Local Communities Project from 2014 to 2024.
The project is structured around key pillars: creation of employment opportunities via supporting local micro- to small-scale enterprises focusing on cultural heritage and community-based tourism; preservation and development of archaeological sites with the direct involvement of the surrounding communities; an active partnership with the people, universities, and government agencies through training and awareness sessions. Based on these achievements, ACOR also led the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property Project (2021-2023), delivering training from monitoring sites to preparing a repatriation request, and the team's efforts continue through its contribution to the National Cultural Heritage Property Database, and the ACOR Digital Archives project. Foreign investments have certainly not stopped the looting of archaeological artifacts and they may have negative effects (focus on certain sites and promotion of industrial tourism) (1). ACOR's initiatives, however, offer a rare integrated approach combining the fight against illicit activities and the promotion of heritage resources in favour of local communities.
Notes:
Liam Devlin, « Jordan : Cultural Heritage success story of the Middle East ? », Asian Affairs, March 2024, DOI: 10.1080/03068374.2024.2326045)