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ABSTRACT
The history of Jordan is an epistemological construction of the colonial past with Biblical archaeology at its core. At the same time, vernacular heritage is addressed by many foreign scholars as decaying, disappearing and accidental. This article takes issue with the foreign Biblical formation of the past and introduces local heritage-making as part of a decolonising construction. We debate the historical continuity of Biblical epistemology whilst proclaiming vernacular heritage as an accidental reality that is irrelevant to the ancient past. Local communities are introduced as active knowledge agents whose understanding of, and approach to, vernacular heritage can shift the epistemological debate on Jordan’s history and its relevance to the present and the future. This argument is anchored in case studies of the Biblical archaeology of Hisban and the local village of Gharisa, to investigate how each one functions in the absence/presence of the other. The comparison shows that while the Biblical epistemology applied in the case of Hisban precipitated a version of Jordan's history based on a spatio-political pattern of tribalism, local knowledge advanced a logic of modern history that included vernacular heritage as a link between the ancient past and the uncertain present and future in Jordan, and using Arabism, as opposed to tribalism, as a unifying framework.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the following for their contribution to the study: Foreign scholars conducting research and project work in Jordan; Jordanian scholars, writers, and artists; the local community of Hisban, the NGO of Hisban, and the local community Gharisa. The collaboration of Dr. Øystein LaBianca is greatly appreciated. I wish to extend my special thanks to Former Prime Minister Abdelraouf Rawabdeh. During his lectures organised by the Hashemite University and Al Ahliyyah Amman University, the first author learned many new insights about Jordan’s history. Our special thanks to the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East for permitting us to use aerial photos of Gharisa and Hisban. Finally, we thank the editor and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped us improve the manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The term ‘foreign scholars’ is used also to allude to the knowledge generated in modern scientific institutions mainly located in western countries. It has been noted for its rigour because it was developed through scientific-based reasoning, mechanisms and formulation. The notion ‘foreign’ is employed (instead of the ‘western’) because it opposes the term ‘local’ and hence allows us to conduct a dialogue between the two spectrums of knowledge-making of the history of Jordan.
2 Southern Levant involves Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and the Sinai Peninsula, and Israel.
3 Several studies discuss the rise of the secondary states in the Iron Age Levant (see for example Finkelstein Citation2007).
4 The quote is inserted here as edited by Professor LaBianca in the process of obtaining consent to use the information after interviewing him.
5 The Nabulsi family’s arrival in Hisban is unknown (Carroll et al. Citation2006, p. 139).
6 Endangerment happens due to acts of excavation, terrain alteration, quarrying, road development, stone robbing, bulldozing, population expansion, agricultural development, urban expansion, warfare, and looting. They are all factors that put archaeological sites in jeopardy (Banks Citation2016).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rama Al Rabady
Rama Al Rabady: At the Hashemite University in Zarqa, Jordan, Rama Al Rabady teaches as an associate professor in the Department of Architecture Engineering. She received her BSc from the Jordan University of Science and Technology, her MSc from the University of Jordan, and her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, all in the field of architecture. Her research interests include integrated heritage management, the decolonization of heritage governance in Jordan, urban spatial regeneration, the interpretation of ancient architectural and urban styles, history of construction, and ancient masonry building and structural technology.
Shatha Abu-Khafajah
Shatha Abu-Khafajah graduated as an architect from the University of Jordan in 1997. She specialized in documentation and conservation of archaeological heritage while doing her master’s degree in archaeology. Her PhD in cultural heritage management from Newcastle University, acquired in 2007, enabled her to synthesise architecture and archaeology with a special interest in establishing a sustainable approach to heritage management in the Arab region that is community-based and context-oriented She is currently an Associate Professor at the Hashemite University in Jordan.