Petra

Petra (Jordan)-Site management during COVID-19 pandemic

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The Cultural Space of the Bedu in Petra and Wadi Rum

Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity - 2008
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/cultural-space-of-the-bedu-in-petra-and-wadi-rum-00122

Description: The Bedu are settled and nomadic communities living in the southern part of Jordan, particularly near Petra and Wadi Rum, within a region of semi-arid highlands and deserts. These conditions have allowed for the development and existence in complementary relationship of both types of communities. Several Bedu tribes, namely the Bdul, the Ammarin and the Saidiyyin, continue to use the Nabatean water-collecting cisterns and caves near Petra. The Bedu communities inhabiting this area keep alive a traditional pastoral culture and related skills. The Bedu of Petra and Wadi Rum have preserved specific knowledge related to the flora and fauna of the area, traditional medicine, camel husbandry, tent-making craftsmanship, and tracking and climbing skills. The Bedu have developed an extensive knowledge of their environment and complex moral and social code, all of which is expressed and transmitted orally. Their rich mythology is manifested in various forms of oral expression, comprising poetry, folktales and songs that are closely linked to particular places and the history of these communities. Over the last fifty years, more and more Bedu groups have settled down. The provision of education, housing, health care and sanitation has made a sedentary existence more attractive for many of them, leading, however, to the erosion of skills developed by the Bedu over generations. The increase of desert tourism and its demand for authentic Bedu culture should not be allowed to further degrade the intangible heritage of the Bedu in Petra and Wadi Rum.

UNESCO/NHK Videos on Heritage

Inhabited since prehistoric times, this Nabataean caravan-city, situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, was an important crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia. Petra is half-built, half-carved into the rock, and is surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges. It is one of the world's most famous archaeological sites, where ancient Eastern traditions blend with Hellenistic architecture. Source: UNESCO TV / © NHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai URL: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/326/