AMMAN - The US government has provided the Petra National Trust (PNT) with a grant to help reconstruct the ancient Nabataean city's network of dams.
The US embassy in Amman this week announced that the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation awarded an $83,700 grant to the PNT to carry out the "Rehabilitation of the Nabataean Flash Flood Protection System, Wadi Al Jarra Dam".
The dam, located south of the Treasury courtyard, plays a key role in protecting monuments and visitors in the iconic courtyard from flooding, according to PNT Director Aysar Akrawi.
The structure is part of an extensive system of dams and channels built by the Nabataeans 2,000 years ago to prevent flash floods, which are common occurrences during the rainy season in Petra.
"The Nabataeans had a whole hydraulic network that extended way beyond the park boundaries. Like any system, it needs maintenance and neglect is bound to take its toll," Akrawi told The Jordan Times in a phone interview yesterday.
Without the dams in place, floods worsen in the Petra area, threatening the lives of tourists and members of the local community. The last reported deaths were in 1963, when 22 French tourists were drowned during a flash flood, according to the PNT.
"These flash floods have an impact on visitors to the site as well as the monuments," the PNT director pointed out.
Most recently, following heavy rains in early February a monument in the Museirra area collapsed. Such collapses and increased flash floods can be expected to increase if the ancient hydraulic systems are not restored, according to experts.
"Had it not been for the project for the rehabilitation of the Siq, you would have seen many more accidents and even deaths resulting from flash floods," Akrawi said.
The initiative is the latest in a series of projects to rehabilitate the Nabataean hydraulic systems in Petra. Previous projects have covered an area outside the Movenpick Hotel through Siq Al Mudhlim, around Mataha ending at the Nymphaeum; the Siq, the city centre and now the Treasury, according to the PNT.
Work on the Wadi Al Jarra Dam project is expected to begin in July and be completed by the end of the year, Akrawi said.
The Wadi Al Jarra Dam was one of seven projects in the region supported by the Ambassador's Fund, and one of the 59 selected out of 192 worldwide proposals, the PNT indicated.
The PNT previously received grants from the fund to reconstruct the Siq Al Mudhlim tunnel, also part of the Nabataean dam system, and to restore the Nabataean wall paintings of Little Petra.
By Taylor Luck
© Jordan Times 2010
