Dr. Monther Jamhawi, Director General
Department of Antiquities of Jordan

Tuesday 24 January 2017 at 6:00 p.m.

Reception to Follow

About the Lecturer:

Dr. Monther Jamhawi is the Director General of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. Before joining the Department, he was a professor of Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage at the Jordan University of Science and Technology. Dr. Jamhawi is a widely published author and has served as a consultant expert for many national and regional projects involving heritage, conservation, and tourism development.

Dr. Jamhawi earned a Ph.D. in Cultural Resources Management from Oxford Brookes University (UK); and M.A. in Archaeology from Yarmouk University and a B.A. in Architecture from Yarmouk University.

About the Lecture:

The Department of Antiquities of Jordan was established on 1923 and since that time it has taken the responsibility under the law to excavate, restore, and protect Jordan’s antiquities and to present part of the antiquities as a cultural tourism product. The classical approach and the existing procedures for adopting these responsibilities proved that vandalism and illegal trading and illicit trafficking of objects are still active. International reports show that ISIS is relying on the antiquities trade to raise funds for their terrorist activities. Therefore, the need for a new perspective to change the procedures in saving our heritage has become crucial. This lecture will focus on how heritage could be a tool for the cross cultural dialogue when dealing with Jordan’s many sites and monuments as a human innovation that should be respected and saved.