São Paulo – The United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (Unesco) announced last week the inclusion of 25 more sites in the list of World Heritage Sites. Among them, four are in Arab countries: the Wadi Rum, in Jordan, the ancient villages in northern Syria, the archaeological sites of the Island of Meroe, in Sudan, and the cultural sites of Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates.
The Wadi Rum (“wadi” means “valley,” in Arabic) is a natural reserve and a traditional tourist spot located in southern Jordan, near the border of Saudi Arabia.
According to Unesco, the 74,000 hectare area has been inscribed as a mixed natural and cultural site. According to the organization, it features different desert landscapes, various rocky formations, petroglyphs, inscriptions and archaeological evidences that attest to 12,000 of human presence in the region.
The archaeological sites of the Island of Meroe are part of a semiarid landscape between the Nile and Atbara rivers, in Sudan, and according to the UN agency, they used to be the centre of the ancient Kingdom of Kush, which thrived between the 8th century BC and 4th century AC.
According to the Unesco, the site comprises the royal city of the Kushite monarchs and religious buildings. The Kush lineage of kings reigned over Egypt during approximately one century, the organization informs. The site also contains pyramids, temples and houses. The Unesco also informs that th eKushite empire ranged from the Mediterranean to the heart of Africa and its ruins reveal the cultural exchange that existed between different regions.
The cultural sites of Al Ain, a city and oasis located in Abu Dhabi, are, according to the UN agency, a series of areas that attest to sedentary human occupation in the region dating back to the Neolithic Era. They include 3,500 year old stone tombs, wells and adobe buildings.
The villages in northern Syria are ruins dating back to the start of the Christian Age and were originally agricultural settlements. According to the Unesco, they are an “important illustration” of the transition from the pagan Roman Empire to the Christian Byzantine Empire.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
