Digital Documentation and Storytelling Build Greater Appreciation for Jordan’s Cultural Heritage

Editor’s Note: This piece was adapted from an article written by the U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Heritage Center. The above photo shows Jude Twal completing photogrammetry of the Hippolytus Hall in Madaba, Jordan.

__________________________

“Sundays were always a time for joy, food, and visits from relatives and friends. We used one of the mosaics as a kind of carpet, with wool mattresses and cushions spread around it in a square type arrangement. People sat and drank tea or black coffee, and talked about the events of the week. After this happy time, the mosaic was covered again with the dirt to keep it safe.” - Ghaleb Oweimrin

When the COVID-19 pandemic upended life around the globe last year, the local community in Madaba, Jordan that had depended on tourism revenue for their livelihoods faced many challenges. In response, partners that had been working on a U.S. Department of State-funded project at the Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum pioneered an initiative of training, professional development, and virtual tours of the heritage trail in downtown Madaba, bringing to light the many stories of people who call this ancient place and its living heritage home.

The project—One Place, Many Stories: Madaba—involved digital documentation of the heritage sites within the historic downtown. Three Jordanian students from the American University of Madaba worked with California-based CyArk to record the archaeological parks and historic buildings, including St. George’s Church, a Byzantine period building that houses the oldest mosaic map of the Holy Land. Using photogrammetry, the Madaba heritage sites were then turned into 3D models. This documentation was combined with audio and video tours recorded by Jordanian guides who received English language training. In addition, StoryCenter worked through an online workshop format with six Madaba residents, to chronicle how their contemporary lives relate to the cultural heritage of Madaba. Take a moment to explore the resulting online experience here.

Eventually a tipping system will be available with the virtual tour, to give financial support to guides who have lost their jobs during the pandemic. This community-centered documentation project and virtual tour in Madaba serves as a public education tool, supports the livelihoods of Madaba residents, and provides a digital inventory of the site until the project team can return and complete its work in the museum.

This project was funded by the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and coordinated by Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum staff and partners from the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Gannon University, and La Sierra University.

About the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation

The Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), created in 2001 at the direction of Congress, supports projects to preserve a wide range of cultural heritage in countries around the world, including historic buildings, archaeological sites, ethnographic objects, paintings, manuscripts, and indigenous languages and other forms of traditional cultural expression. Since its creation, AFCP has supported more than 1,000 cultural heritage projects around the world.

Mosaic, St. George church, Madaba, Jordan.