Heritage Sites of the Jordan Trail: Documenting and Interpreting 7,000 Years of Urban Living in Jordan

In the spring of 2017, the Jordan Trail Association officially launched a 600+ km hiking trail connecting many of the historic sites in Jordan. The first 80km stretch of the route (from Um Qais to Ajloun) is likely to become one of the most popular with visitors due to the relatively temperate climate of the northern mountains as well as the relatively high density of cultural and natural sites.

The impact of greater visitation on the heritage sites and small towns along the way merits further attention. While well-known archaeological sites and historic towns such as Um Qais, Pella and Ajloun have some management infrastructure in place through the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, a series of lesser known sites including caves inhabited during the Neolithic period, Roman cisterns and farming centers, Byzantine churches, and outposts built by the Ottomans remain without any specific conservation plan or protective measure in place. As an ensemble, they are exceptional. Together, these sites provide a cross section of 7,000 years of continuous urban life, where residents have struggled and largely succeeded in reconciling the challenges of living together in dense communities. This summer workshop conducts a rapid assessment of current conditions of the lesser known and largely unprotected historic sites along the trail and anticipates preservation, planning, and interpretative challenges associated with the ongoing development of the route.