The first structures at the site date back to the 1st century AD, when it was part of the Nabatean Kingdom.
The Jordanian village of Umm al-Jimal has been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List, a move hailed by the country's minister of tourism and antiquities as a “great achievement”.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is hosting a meeting of its World Heritage Committee in New Delhi, India, told X newspaper on Friday that the earliest structures discovered at Umm al-Jimal date back to the first century AD, “when the area was part of the Nabatean Kingdom.”
He added that the inscription in “Greek, Nabatean, Safaitic, Latin and Arabic discovered at the site… sheds light on the changes in the religious beliefs of its inhabitants.”
The town is near the Jordanian-Syrian border, 86 kilometres (53 miles) north of Jordan's capital Amman, and is known as “the black oasis” because of the prevalence of black volcanic rock in the area.
Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Makram al-Qaisi said at a press conference on Sunday that the inclusion of Umm al-Jimal on the World Heritage List is a “great achievement of which we should be proud.”
He said the ministry hoped to invite local and international investors to the site and “present Umm al-Jimal as an attractive tourist destination.”
The name Umm al-Jimal comes from the use of camels as part of trade caravans in the town, which was first settled by the Nabataean people in the 1st century AD and later occupied by the Romans, becoming an important agricultural and commercial centre.
Umm al-Jimal is the seventh historic site in Jordan to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, along with Petra, Quseir Amra, Umm al-Rasas, Wadi Rum, al-Maghtas and Salt.
Tourism contributes between 12 and 14 percent of the kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP), and its 10 million people rely heavily on the sector.
Qaisi said Jordan will welcome more than six million tourists in 2023, bringing in $7 billion in revenue. Most of the tourists come from Europe, the United States and Canada, followed by countries in Asia and the Pacific.
But tourism in the country has been hit by Israel's devastating war on neighbouring Gaza.
Qaisi said the kingdom has seen a 4.9 percent drop in tourism revenue so far in 2024, and a 7.9 percent drop in visitors.
