Amman - Royal Scientific Society (RSS) and the Department of Antiquities (DoA) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to restore the ancient town of Jawa, 150km northeast of Amman.
According to the MoU, restoration of the water harvesting system at Jawa is one of the main aims of the project.
"The deflection dams at Wadi Rajil, the canals and the pools will be restored in the style and the technique of the Jawaites with the same or similar materials," the project's concept paper said.
But the main goal of the project remains educational, planners said. The restoration seeks to "learn from old civilisations which survived and flourished in arid zones, including their solutions to water supply and demand problems."
When the project is completed, not only will the local community in the northeastern region benefit from the revived water harvesting techniques, but also all countries and nations in arid zones, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to the paper.
Under the terms of the MoU, the RSS will run the entire project, supervise work, handle financial matters, prepare technical studies and tender documents and compile progress reports for both the DoA and the donor, the United State Agency for International Development (USAID).
For its part, the DoA will appoint a liaison officer with the RSS and offer facilities to the RSS team working on the project. DoA archaeologists will be involved in supervising the technical side of the restoration project.
The MoU was signed at the RSS premises by DoA Director General Fawaz Khreisha and RSS President Saad Hijazi.
The project also seeks to achieve other objectives such as preserving the archaeological site of Jawa as a place of human heritage, enriching Jordan's tourism and preserving the remnants of the bedouin culture.
Planners believe that the restoration of the site will help alleviate poverty in the region.
The Mafraq Governorate, where Jawa is located, is one of the most impoverished areas in the Kingdom, according to official studies.
In addition to the revival of the water harvesting system of 6,000-year-old Jawa, experts will, if funds permit, reconstruct a citadel, fortifications and authentic houses. Other complementary projects include an access road to the site and a visitors' centre.
Historical studies indicating that the area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, are based on the findings of S. W Helms, who carried out several excavations in the area during the 1970s. In 1981, Helms published his book "Jawa, lost city of the Black Desert." Nine years later, he published another book on the area entitled "Early Islamic Architecture of the Desert: a Bedouin Station in Eastern Jordan."
By Mahmoud Al Abed
© Jordan Times 2005
