As-Salt, Jordan added to UNESCO World Heritage List

The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decided during its forty-fourth session, held virtually in China, to approve the addition of the city of As-Salt, “the city of tolerance and civilized hospitality” to the World Heritage List.

The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Nayef AI-Fayez said during his participation in the committee’s meetings virtually on Tuesday that the city of As-Salt is among the kingdom’s top priorities because of its importance in demonstrating the characteristics of tolerance, coexistence and social care among its residents.

AI-Fayez added that Jordan and the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO) today send an important message to the whole world: a message of peace, tolerance and coexistence in line with His Majesty King Abdullah ll’s speech at the 2019 International Conference on Cohesive Societies in Singapore, in which His Majesty stressed that “the attack on interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence is the most important threat in the world which requires everyone to join forces to resist hatred and exclusion.”

The meeting of the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO) to approve the inclusion of the city of As-Salt on the World Heritage List was attended by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Dr. lmad Hijazin; the Managing Director of the Jordan Tourism Board, Dr. Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat; the former Minister of Municipalities Maher Abu AI-Samin; and the former Minister of Interior Ghaleb Al-Zoubi; Director of the United Nations Education Office (UNESCO) in Jordan Min Jong Kim; Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Petra Development and Tourism Authority Dr. Suleiman AI-Farajat; Director-General of the Baptism Site Commission, Engineer Rustom Mkhjian, and representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education.

List of already existing UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Jordan:

• Petra: An archaeological and historical city famous for its rock-carved architecture and ancient water canal system
• Quseir Amra: The palace was built during the reign of the Caliph AI-Walid bin Abdul Malik in the 8th century AD
• Wadi Rum Reserve: A valley located in the area of Hasma in southern Jordan, a desert area with diverse landscapes consisting of a group of narrow corridors, natural arches, towering slopes, huge landslides and caves. The site also contains inscriptions and archaeological remains dating back to 12,000 years of human existence
• Umm Ar-Rasas: A historic city, dubbed “Kasserton Mayfaa” as described in a Greek text in a mosaic dating back to the Umayyad period. It began as a Roman military camp and developed into a city in the Byzantine era and continued so until the early Islamic era. There are traces of sixteen churches, some of which still retain good mosaic floors
• Baptism Site: The Baptism site is the place where Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist