Tents, Tours, and Treks: Archaeologists, Antiquities Services, and Tourism in Mandate Palestine and Transjordan

Abstract

In the period between the end of the First World War and the declaration of the Palestine Mandate, a system for administering Palestine, preserving its heritage and protecting, reconstructing, and promoting its antiquities was implemented. Archaeology, though underfunded by government, was touted as one of the jewels of the Mandate administration. This paper will discuss the political framework for archaeology and tourism in British Mandate Palestine and Transjordan, introducing some of the key characters in the history of archaeological or heritage tourism in Mandate Palestine and Transjordan. It will present archaeology’s impact within the British Mandate administration as particularly useful for forging a unique identity to solidify Mandate authority in the region. The effects of this archaeological/political connection are still visible in Israel and Jordan today.