City Of Jerash Research Articles

Safeguarding the Jordanian Oral Literature by Translation in Jerash Province

The goal of this study is to look into how oral literature in Jerash region, Jordan, is translated. To revitalize Jordan's heritage, two major questions were raised: to what extent translated proverbs, idioms, and linguistic expressions can revive Jordan's heritage for generations, and what challenges or opportunities in safeguarding Jordanian proverbs, idioms, and linguistic expressions in Jerash city by translation are. From a methodological standpoint, a personal interview was devised to include ten questions about how oral literature is translated; it was administered to a representative sample of English teachers in Jerash. Because the schools in Jerash were the subject areas, the population of concern (PoC) included all of the English instructors in Jerash city (N. 57); those with translation competency were 24 (=42.1%). The oral literature of Jerash was discovered to be in need of translation and efficient classification; there were too many stories to tell and render forth. Specialized training and ethical principles in cultural translation are essential for maintaining oral literature (or orature) and passing on heritage to future generations. A collaboration with the Jordanian Ministry of Culture and/or the Public Libraries of Jerash could be organized, with the objective of hosting a book fair.

Oral Literature Documented to Preserve Jordan’s National Heritage in Jerash

The goal of this research is to look into how well documented oral literature is in Jerash province, Jordan. Bridging worlds posed two major questions: what traditions, narratives, and family activities reflect cultural values and historical changes across generations in Jerash, and how rituals and material practices in families might indicate the dynamic interaction between cultural continuity and change. A personal interview was intended to be administered to a representative sample of elders in Jerash city, with the population of concern (PoC) representing the 50+ age range (=16.8%). Given the enormity of the undertaking, a significantly smaller sample of PoC—mostly dwelling in both urban and semi-rural areas—was chosen (N. 73). Based on the two questions, the interview consisted of ten inquiries. The oral literature of Jerash was discovered to be in need of documentation and efficient classification; there were too many stories to tell and write down. The study aims to improve understanding of Jordanian oral literature in small places such as Jerash, emphasizing its importance in preserving cultural legacy against societal change. The Ministry of Tourism and the Antiquity Sites in Jerash city could be collaborated with for fruitfull partnerships to promote Jordanian culture.

Multilingualism in the linguistic landscape of the ancient city of Jerash

ABSTRACT This article examines multilingualism in the linguistic landscape (LL) of the ancient city of Jerash with a concentration on the use of English on signs. The analysis of monolingual and multilingual practices is based on a corpus of 68 signs collected from the historical sites of Jerash. The LL items identified include two main types of signs: official and unofficial tokens. What is remarkable is a high extent of bi/multilingualism with three main languages in use (Arabic, English, and to a lesser degree French). Although Arabic is the official language of Jordan, English enjoys higher visibility than Arabic on unofficial signs and other languages on official signs. The results suggest that English has emerged as the lingua franca in the official tourism discourse.

They Were Here

ABSTRACT Eroded graffiti by the hundreds can be seen on the features of the ancient city of Jerash. One hundred and eighty-seven distinct graffiti were selected for the purposes of our study to provide insight on forms of graffiti and the motives for creating them. Four field visits were conducted, where forms and photos were used for documenting the graffiti. Left by visitors who wanted to memorialize their visits, no frequent patterns could be found. Yet, analyses like the one presented here are of significance since they document a very common problem at heritage sites that affects the sites’ aesthetic and archaeological value. In addition, this article offers a set of recommendations on how to prevent this form of vandalism.

From the Editors

The editors are pleased to present this issue to our readers. It contains timely information on endangered cultural heritage sites including the latest facts about the use of antiquities to finance terrorism in Syria, a comprehensive architectural study of one of the forgotten churches of southern Syria, a methodical examination of modern graffiti at the splendid site of Jerash in Jordan, and a fascinating Forum section on the Late Bronze Age collapse in the ancient Near East.Presenting new evidence on the continuing destruction, looting, and illicit trading in Syrian antiquities, authors Isber Sabrine, Ristam Abdo, and Neil Brodie extensively document the involvement of Da’esh in these destructive practices. Through interviews with those who have personal knowledge of the pillaging of significant archaeological sites, the authors were able to obtain images of looted objects and, also, Da’esh administrative documents. They were also able to report, in this article, looting at some previously unknown archaeological sites. Providing abundant details about an issue that has received worldwide attention, this article includes very important, heretofore unpublished, information.Rama Al Rabady and Shatha Abu-Khafajah’s case study of the Lubbēn Large Church in southern Syria examines the place of this structure as an aula ecclesiae that represents a transition from secular to sacred church architecture following the earliest Christian house churches. They discuss the aspects of the architecture of the Lubbēn Large Church that add to the representation of divinity in the church in the context of historical, regional, and local conditions. The article also offers many comparisons with other southern Syrian churches in this region called Trachonitis in the New Testament. Lubbēn’s church was built during the height of Byzantine occupation in the region. Referencing the unusual flat roof of the apse, the study concludes that aulae ecclesiae like this one introduced the innovation of “divine light” in Christian churches.In “They Were Here,” Mairna Hussein Mustafa, Ramzi Mahmoud Al-Rousan, and Fadi Abedallah Bala’awi examine modern graffiti exhibited at the ancient city of Jerash for patterns and themes. Using a unique sampling technique, they examine these colorful but jarring scribbles on the ancient features of the city in order to gain insight into graffiti types and the motives of those who created them. Analyses like this one are important for conservation specialists because they address a very common problem at heritage sites. Looking at graffiti from the standpoint of its perpetrators leads the authors to a number of cogent recommendations on how to prevent this form of vandalism in the future.We are particularly enthusiastic about this issue’s Forum section featuring a debate on a significant topic in Near Eastern archaeology—the Late Bronze Age collapse. Noted expert on this topic Eric Cline starts off the dialogue by examining the work he has done on this subject over many years of study and publication, and he reaches some new conclusions. Guy Middleton revisits the archaeological evidence for the collapse while Raphael Greenberg raises and addresses the question of what collapsed in 1177. Norman Yoffee’s contribution problematizes the use of the term “collapse” in the historical context under discussion, and Aren Maeir shines a light on the question of what happened to Late Bronze Age cultures from a “Philistine” vantage point. Louise Hitchcock takes on the multiple meanings of the term “collapse”—to all of which Cline provides a rejoinder at the end of the Forum.Scholars from four different countries contribute to this issue’s Book Reviews section. Atilla Batmaz reviews Wine Jars and Jar Makers of Cyprus: The Ethnoarchaeology of Pitharia, by Gloria London; Marzia Cavriani reviews Byblos in the Late Bronze Age: Interactions between the Levantine and Egyptian Worlds, by Marwan Kilani; Marta Lorenzon reviews The City Gate in Ancient Israel and Her Neighbors: The Form, Function, and Symbolism of the Civic Forum in the Southern Levant, by Daniel A. Frese; and John Peter Oleson reviews Under the Mediterranean I: Studies in Maritime Archaeology, edited by Stella Demesticha and Lucy Blue.

SYRIAN ATTITUDE TOWARD THE PRESERVATION AND MAINTENANCE OF SYRIAN DIALECT AND CULTURE IN JERASH, JORDAN

The study of dialectical variation and cultural maintenance may help in protecting and promoting norms and values in a given community. The inconsistent background of Syrian from Jordanian culture enables a contingency approach for the influence of dialectical variances in cultural activities. The paper aims at examining the role of dialectical variation towards strengthening the relationship between Syrian-Jordanian communities in Jerash city. The paper examines the elements that determine dialect choice in the vicinity. The study investigates dialect and cultural maintenance among Syrian-Jordanian to allow comparison of the potential influences of several parameters on their use on different dialects. The study used the data collected from various participants through interviews and questionnaires to arrive at the findings of the study. Both local and foreign dialects receive significant recognition and functions such as social domains, social activities, social gatherings, religious practices, cultural heritage, to mention a few, in the city. The findings show that dialect maintenance is strictly secure by Syrians in all aspects, except in exceptional cases like feasts, condolences, weddings, buying and selling where they opt for local dialect other than Syrian dialect. It has been observed that socio-demographic factors impact the flow of Syrian dialect and cultural maintenance in Jerash city. The findings discovered that gender contributed to dialect choice and shifting. What appears to be achieved and documented through the current study is that Syrian males are mostly lean to the usage of Jordanian dialect than the Syrian females because the latter hardly utilize Jordanian dialect even while the necessity arose to a large extent. The regular shift of dialect from Syrian to Jordanian or vice versa which equally constitutes the factors responsible for dialect shift is heavily supported by friendship, marriage, religion, relatives, migrations, and good rapport between Syrians and Jordanians.

Seismic site effect estimation using microtremor studies in the archaeological city of Jerash in Jordan

Seismic site effect estimation using microtremor studies in the archaeological city of Jerash in Jordan

Mapping an ancient city with a century of remotely sensed data

The rapidly growing global population places cultural heritage at great risk, and the encroachment of modern settlement on archaeological sites means that valuable information about how past societies worked and interacted with the environment is lost. To manage and mitigate these risks, we require knowledge about what has been lost and what remains, so we can actively decide what should be investigated and what should be preserved for the future. Remote sensing provides archaeologists with some of the tools we need to do this. In this paper we explore the application of multitemporal, multisensor data to map features and chart the impacts of urban encroachment on the ancient city of Jerash (in modern Jordan) by combining archives of aerial photography dating back to 1917 with state-of-the-art airborne laser scanning. The combined results revealed details of the water distribution system and the ancient city plan. This demonstrates that by combining historical images with modern aerial and ground-based data we can successfully detect and contextualize these features and thus achieve a better understanding of life in a city in the past. These methods are essential, given that much of the ancient city has been lost to modern development and the historical imagery is often our only source of information.

Mosaicists at work: the organisation of mosaic production in Early Islamic Jerash

Abstract

Integrated application of geophysical methods for investigation of the Al-Berktain archaeological site in the city of Jerash, Jordan

The application of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) techniques involving the Wenner and Schlumberger electrode configurations was conducted at the ancient site of Al-Berktain of Jerash, N-Jordan during June, 2011. It may be considered as the first archaeogeophysical survey at this site. The city lived by succession of ancient cultures and still has archaeological remains (e.g. water pools) which gave it historical value and boosted the archaeological interest to make this study. The objective of the work was to determine the layout, dimension, and the depth of expected buried structures (i.e. water channels related to the pool structure) within the site, and to provide recommendations for future excavation projects. The results showed high resistivity anomalies (red color) located within the site. These anomalies were interpreted as a part of a general infrastructure of ancient man-made buried channels or supporting basins draining out or feeding water to the two the water pools especially at the western and eastern sides. Inside the pool (the main structure in the site), results of the survey showed anomalous thin shallow zone interpreted as a layer limestone pavement of a thickness of 1 m. The ERT successfully determined the dimensions of the buried features and proved that this site was water reservoirs to serve the ancient city of Jerash or irrigations purposes beside its use for leisure (i.e. presence of the theatre, roman path and the pools).

Urban heritage ‘space’ under neoliberal development: a tale of a Jordanian plaza

What happens when urban heritage spaces within developing countries, such as Jordan, are subject to touristic development funded by international bodies, such as the World Bank? This question is explored theoretically and practically by considering a popular local plaza in the secondary Jordanian city of Jerash that has been subject to three tourism development projects funded by the World Bank. The study, which incorporates and critiques the discourse of neoliberalism within urban heritage development studies, seeks to analyse the World Bank projects and, more specifically, how they have defined, approached and produced outcomes in the Jerash plaza and its context. In so doing, the study triangulates the analysis with accounts by local respondents that identify major drawbacks in the World Bank approach, particularly its emphasis on conventional ‘readings’ of urban space that highlight universal values and histories, while neglecting and marginalising local values and understandings. The triangulation offers attentive ‘readings’ of the plaza as a place understood and experienced by a people. The challenge is to break with the neoliberal paradigm that dominates urban heritage development programmes (and their associated West–East dualisms and top-down approaches) by presenting local sociocultural and economic contexts as assets to enrich development projects, rather than obstacles to be ‘fixed’ and ‘fitted’ for tourism.

Archaeological Documentation Based on Geomatics Techniques for Jerash Historical Site

The archaeological heritage constitutes the basic record of the past human activities; the documentation and management of archaeological heritage and historical sites become very important issues. The uses of new efficient and accurate techniques are very important for achieving the previous goals. In this paper, orthophoto, field surveying and Geographic Information System (GIS) were integrated for documenting the historical and archeological sites in Jerash city. A very precise two dimensions (2D) and three dimensions (3D) Digital models were built using aerial photographs, GIS and a precise Laser Distomate. This leads to a 3D representation of the studied site for each part of the historical site. This will allow the restoration in case of slow deterioration caused by environmental factors or sudden destruction caused by earth quakes or other natural disaster or war or vandalism. After validation, the obtained results showed all details with high accuracy.

Radon concentration levels in the historical city of Jerash, Jordan

Abstract Radon concentration levels were measured in the soil and indoors of Jerash city using time-integrated passive radon dosimeters enclosing CR-39 solid-state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs). The city was divided into five sectors over which four hundred dosimeters were distributed randomly; one hundred dosimeters were installed into soil and the rest were distributed indoors. The study revealed that radon concentration in soil ranges from 0.98 to 3.05 kBq/m 3 with an average of 2.29 kBq/m 3 . Indoors radon concentration measurements versus floor elevation showed that the maximum concentration was in the basement and decreases gradually for upper floors. A considerable variation in concentration levels for the same floor in the different sectors was noticed and attributed to the difference in the type of the soil of each sector. Results showed that soil and indoors radon concentration are strongly related for the same area of study. In general, it is found that the average indoor radon concentration in Jerash city is 49.21 Bq/m 3 . The measured radon levels are within the globally accepted values and no unusual concentrations were observed.

Petrography and mineralogy of Roman mortars from buildings of the ancient city of Jerash, Jordan

Roman mortars (cementing materials) from the archaeological site of Jerash have been studied by means of petrography, mineralogy, microstructure and geochemical analysis. They are mainly composed of lime with differing in the type and proportion of aggregates used, including crushed carbonate rocks (limestone), gypsum, and siliceous sand. The samples were studied in order to identify their mineralogical composition using thin section, XRD and SEM and their chemical compositions were analysed using XRF. The results showed that two types of natural aggregate sources were used: the first was composed of calcite, gypsum and quartz while the second was composed of calcite gypsum, clay minerals and crushed pozzolan. One sample of the first type showed fine particles with micrite matrix and clay minerals. Petrographic analysis showed the strong binder cohesion and perfect binder bond of aggregate and high reactivity for of the lime, and these agree with soft burning of the raw limestone.

Applied Error Analysis of Written Production of English Essays of Tenth Grade Students in Ajloun Schools, Jordan

The objective of this study was investigating the written English errors of tenth grade students in females and males schools in Ajloun, Jordan. It was conducted on purpose of identifying the written errors of English committed by the tenth grade, estimating the predominant errors and the least ones and explaining the causes of the written errors of English committed by the tenth grade students The sample of study consisted of 350 students selected randomly from group of schools in Ajloun. The students were asked to write a free essay about " A journey to the ancient city of Jerash in Jordan" in an ordinary English language exercise in the class. Then the essays collected and analyzed depending on a table of errors adopted from a Ph.D. of ( wakkad,1980).The findings were: First, the most predominant errors among tenth grade students in Ajloun schools within morphology were errors of lack of agreement between subject and the main verb. Second, the most predominant errors among tenth grade students in Ajloun schools within function words were errors of insertion of prepositions. Third, the most predominant errors among tenth grade students within syntax were errors of omission of the main verb. Fourth, the most predominant errors among tenth grade students within tenses were errors of using present instead of past. Fifth, the most predominant errors among tenth grade students within lexical items were errors of lexical items wrongly used in place of others.

Investigation on the geological and geotechnical factors leading to a major slope failure at a selected site on a Jordanian highway

During and after the very wet 1991/1992 winter experienced in Jordan, significant slope failures occurred along several sections of the new Irbid-Amman highway in Jordan. The topography over most of the route is hilly, and significant amounts of cut and fill were used to construct the highway. One such slope failure lies at 44+800 km on the highway south of Jerash City at a distance of about 5.0 km from Wadi Zerqa bridge. A landslide occurred downslope of the highway embankment resulting in a collapse of the most of the gabbion wall supporting the embankment. This paper deals with the overall stability of the slope at 44+800 km. It presents the geological and geotechnical studies carried out at this site, identifies the causes and mechanism of instability, and presents appropriate remedial measures. The study concluded that the landslide movement occurred within the colluvium material. It resulted primarily from excess piezometric pressures generated within the slope as a direct consequence of inadequate drainage. It is recommended to reconstruct the entire gabbion wall with its foundation seated on the sandstone that underlies the colluvium and to install a surface drainage system at the site.

Tourism as a Catalyst for the Appropriate Urban Development of Jerash, Jordan

This article examines how tourism to the ancient city of Jerash, Jordan, serves as a catalyst for expanding the nearby village's understanding of itself and its role within the development of Jordan. The importance of the scenographic character of the city, the historic substructure of the ancient city, the modernization and evolving political processes are discussed from the four points of view of tourism interests, archaeological concerns for protecting antiquities, the needs of a modernising city and the interests of Jordanian regional and national development.

EARLY ISLAMIC INSCRIBED POTTERY LAMPS FROM JORDAN

AbstractThis study deals with early Islamic inscribed pottery lamps in Jordan, of which there are only 14 altogether in Jordanian museum collections. They come from the Jordanian Archaeological Museum (Nos. 1–2, 8, 12–13, 15), the local museums of Jerash city (Nos. 4, 6–7, 9–10) and Irbid (No.5), and from the University of Jordan Museum (Nos. 3, 11). Lamp No. 14 which is decorated with floral motifs and birds and dated to the Umayyad period has been included in this research to shed some light on the present study. A Byzantine lamp (No. 16) is also added to show how such inscribed Islamic lamps have developed directly from their Byzantine counterparts.