General
Overview
Universities
and academic institutions have a significant and effective role in managing and
implementing theoretical and practical research programs and studies to develop
teaching methods and scientific research; serve local communities; and to
contribute preserving the cultural heritage of human societies and physical
landmarks, specifically those that fall around the geographical location of the
universities. Matching with Al al-Bayt University’s goals in serving education
and scientific research; integrated methods are used in science, research methods,
and community service to explore the historical and cultural potentials of
urban and archaeological areas to employ them in sustainable tourism. Since the
establishment of Al al-Bayt University; the field studies of history, heritage,
culture, and environment were introduced to achieve cultural, social and,
economic development at the national, regional, and global levels. Upon this
vision, the idea of the international conference came under the title:
Mafraq
Cultural Heritage and its Environmental Surroundings (International Tourist
Destination)
This conference
focuses on the environmental, cultural, archaeological and heritage resources
in Al Mafraq and its surroundings as the second largest governorate of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Al Mafraq governorate
passes through many historical and heritage stages from the ancient Stone Age
civilizations to the classical Greek, Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic
eras, and up to the modern era. This legacy included environmental, nature and
geological resources of volcanic caves and tunnels, vital resources of water
sources and water harvesting systems in archaeological sites of basaltic Hurra,
the historical sites of palaces and castles, and the Hijaz railway and its
stations. It also included many archaeological sites such as Umm al-Jimal, Al-Fdain
- Mafraq, Burqu Palace in the Badia, and the legendary site of Java in Wadi
Ragel in the Jordanian Hurra. It further involved the archaeological sites in
Deir al-Kahf, Umm al-Quttin, Sabha, al-Dafyana, Rakis, al-Aqib, al-Ba’aj, and
Umm al-Sarab, Jaber, Sama Al-Sarhan and Al-Khansari.
In historical
villages and towns, there are archaeological monuments and Byzantine churches
in the towns of Rehab, Al-Madwar, Hayyan Al-Mashref, Balama, Khirbet Al-Samra,
and other archaeological sites. In addition, there are the possibilities of
creating new, non-traditional forms of sustainable tourism, such as Badia and
desert, meditation, geo-tourism, cave, adventure and camping, astronomy
observation, and cultural and religious tourism. Given the material and
immaterial social and cultural diversity, possibilities are available to
innovate tourist pathways, and organize types of cultural, social, urban and
folklore tourism with the participation of community bodies, which will have a
positive and developmental impact on the local community and enhance the
economics of tourism.
The disclosure
of the heritage and cultural storage of Al-Mafraq Governorate helps achieve
development programs that provide practical productive opportunities for the
local community and be able to participate in development projects. Therefore,
the conference seeks to reveal these possibilities in light of the region's
rich archaeological, heritage, and cultural resources, as well as the presence
of Al al-Bayt University with its facilities and through its scientific,
administrative, and technical participation in sustainable tourism development
programs, to make Mafraq and its surroundinggs tourist attractions at the local
and global levels.
