Petra’s new invaders
Christophe Ayad, Cairo-based journalist, special correspondent in Petra
A group of tourists are dwarfed
beneath the columns of Petra’s majestic Al-Khaznah monument, reached through a narrow
gorge called the Siq.
Bdul, bedouins who once lived in Petra, now await tourists at the
entrance to the site.
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The sadness of Venice does not arouse melancholy; it is an oppression that overwhelms the heart; the humid atmosphere weighs upon the lungs, and the traveller at every instant wishes to flee and breathe elsewhere. Domingo F. Sarmiento, Argentinian writer and politician (1811-1888) |
‘From now on we are making sure that nothing which can have a negative impact on Petra will be built’
Petra was
declared a world heritage site in 1985, Since then it’s been an uphill
“Petra has
changed more in the last 15 years than it did in the previous 14 centuries,” says
Ahmed Salamin, who knows what he is talking about. He was born in Wadi Moussa, the
nearest town to the outstanding Jordanian site, and served as its mayor before becoming
assistant director-general of the Petra Regional Planning Council (PRPC). Fourteen
centuries ago, he says, a series of earthquakes seriously damaged the ancient city,
once the capital of the kingdom of the Nabataeans, an Arab people who controled the
caravan trade routes between Arabia and the Mediterranean before they were conquered
by Rome in 106 A.D.
Today, Petra and those who seek to preserve the site have nothing to fear from the
forces of nature or the Roman Empire. The present danger comes from the legions of
tourists overrunning the site, whose 800 monuments carved into pink stone were included
on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1985. The number of
visitors rose from 100,000 in the late 1980s to 400,000 six years later, then declined
slightly. Recent regional tensions stemming from the crisis with Iraq and the deadlock
in the peace process have deterred visitors, especially Israelis and Americans, from
visiting some Middle Eastern countries.
A comprehensive
plan
Concerned about the
influx of tourists and the chaotic growth of Wadi Moussa, Queen Noor of Jordan sounded
the alarm in the early 1990s. She appealed to UNESCO, which sent a mission of experts to
Petra in 1992. The outcome was the Management Plan for the Petra National Park, which
includes an array of measures covering the conservation and restoration of monuments,
site development, the improvement of infrastructures, charting a future for the area’s
25,000 inhabitants, and protection of the environment.
In accordance with the plan’s recommendations, the Jordanian authorities set up the
PRPC in 1995 to bring together all the official bodies concerned. Chaired by the
minister of tourism, the council includes representatives of the department of antiquities,
the ministries of planning, finance, labour, health, local government, and irrigation,
the environmental protection department and local communities. Financed by a 25 per
cent cut of the site’s receipts, the council is empowered to review and approve all
decisions concerning Petra. But several questions remain unanswered. Does it have
enough political clout to control all the changes in its 900-square-kilometre area
of competence? How can conservation needs and tourism interests be balanced in a
country where tourism accounts for earnings of nearly one billion dollars a year
and 17,500 jobs?
So far, tourism does not seem to have inflicted irreparable damage on Petra, and
the prospect of increased revenues has led to some indispensable improvements. Under
a $27-million priority action plan set up with the help of the World Bank in 1996,
construction work has begun on a drainage system. Previously, untreated waste and
waste water were often discharged into the environment. In addition, terraces dating
back to the Nabataean period have been gradually restored and wadi beds cleaned.
Once the hydraulic work is completed, the authorities will renovate the road network,
especially in the centre of Wadi Moussa, which is congested with buses and taxis.
Olive and pine trees are being planted to stop desertification. Reforestation “will
help absorb water in the event of torrential rainfall and beautify the site,” says
Zeidoun al-Muheisen, director-general of the PRPC. “And it’s the best way to prevent
unauthorized building.”
That threat, among others, is associated with the activities of the Bduls, Bedouin
who lived in the ruins of Petra until 1985. They farmed in the area and had their
goats graze there before being expelled and rehoused in the village of Oum Seyhoun
on the edge of the archaeological park. Now most of them make a living from tourism,
renting horses or selling trinkets. But the tribe’s population has continued to grow
and the Bduls, who believe they have been mistreated, are cramped in their new village.
“There were 40 Bdul families in 1985. Today there are 350,” says Salamin. “The tourist
boom has drawn newcomers from the Aqaba region. If they want to move here all they
have to do is buy land.”
If they can afford it. Land prices have skyrocketed. That is why, say the Bduls,
they are forced to add storeys to their houses, which are now visible from the site,
where their flocks still graze. They can also expand Oum Seyhoun, but only on its
northern side. The east is set aside for reforestation, the south is occupied by
the archaeological site and the west is part of the natural park that is currently
being created. This strictly regulated area will probably cover 264 square kilometres,
forming a huge buffer zone around Petra. The U.S. National Parks Service will train
a team to manage the area. But the project is still on the drawing board.
The hotels that have sprung up like mushrooms in Wadi Moussa have also caused degradation
to the site. Ten years ago there were fewer than five; today there are around sixty.
“The PRPC did not exist when most of the building permits were issued,” says Salamin.
“From now on we are making sure that nothing which can have a negative impact on
Petra will be built.” He is probably thinking of the unsightly Mövenpick restaurant,
located a few metres from the entrance to the archaeological park, and the six hotels
overlooking the site from the village of Taybé. The private sector is not
the only culprit. Two large public buildings stand at the left of the entrance to
Petra. One is the Wadi Moussa sports hall. The other is the future headquarters of
the PRPC.
The admission fee at Petra is 20 dinars ($30), an exorbitant price that does not
seem justified and makes the Nabataean city one of the world’s most expensive sites.
Of course, some difficulties are hard to avoid: to reach the heart of Petra, visitors
must take the Siq, a narrow, 800-metre-long gorge carved into the rock that leads
to the impressive Al Khaznah, a monument with a columned façade cut into the
solid rock. Congestion seems inevitable. To limit it, horses are not allowed through
the gorge unless they are drawing carriages.
Other improvements have made life easier for visitors. Toilets have been built, the
site is kept meticulously clean, and souvenir vendors have been grouped together
and will eventually be moved outside the park. On the other hand, the tourist information
centre is too small and is used almost exclusively to display the handicrafts made
by local women under the aegis of the Noor al-Hussein Foundation. Signposting is
minimal: there are few maps and no explanations.
Under pressure from tourism and in the absence of a local tradition of site restoration,
conservation may be the most pressing issue. In 1993 the German international co-operation
agency, the GTZ, launched an ambitious programme in co-operation with Jordan’s department
of antiquities. The first on-site training centre is scheduled for completion by
the end of 1999. After years of work, the centre developed a natural mortar which
is particularly suitable for the stone at Petra. This discovery seems especially
important since the cement and reinforced concrete used in earlier restoration work
have caused damage to the Khaznah and other monuments. These “modern” materials trap
water in the monumental stonework, which is gradually eaten away from within and
cracks in some places.
Restoration is a long job, but tour operators are in a hurry and the scales are tipping
in their favour. Conservationists are having trouble making their voices heard. The
department of antiquities reports to the ministry of tourism, which does not like
to see scaffolding up for a long time. In an effort to stop water seepage into some
of the monuments, the authorities have applied sprays that prevent the stone from
breathing and may cause the same problems as cement.
Controversial
initiatives
That’s not all, say
archaeologists, who are particularly critical of the activities of the Petra National
Trust, a private foundation whose members are prominent figures who want to contribute
to the enhancement of Jordan’s foremost cultural treasure. Chaired by Prince Raad
ben Zeid, a cousin of the late King Hussein, the Trust has commissioned a Swiss company
to build a series of dams in the small valleys that give on to the Siq. The purpose
is to avoid a recurrence of the tragedy that occurred in 1963, when 21 French tourists
drowned as a result of flash floods. The $1.5-million project, which is financed
by the Swiss government, damages the site’s integrity, say archaeologists, who would
like to restore the Nabataean hydraulic system. Experts are also upset about the
way the same company excavated the ancient pavement “with a bulldozer and without
archaeological supervision.” To cap it all, the Swiss firm coated the Siq’s unpaved
surfaces with a white, powdery substance that has spread to the walls of the gorge,
masking the rock’s magnificent colours.
“We’re not here just to restore four monuments, carry out a high-profile operation
and leave,” says Helge Fischer, head of the GTZ project. “Our objective is to set
up a Jordanian structure capable of looking after the restoration of monuments.”
This body, the Conservation and Restoration Centre in Petra (CARCIP), will be independent
of the department of antiquities and staffed by highly-qualified professionals. So
far, GTZ has spent $3.5 million on equipment and training six specialized workers,
two architects and two stone-cutters. In the long term, the team should comprise
ten or more people. But CARCIP has not yet got off the ground.
