But in Jordan there is a legal definition. Heritage is the word for everything made after 1750AD. Before that, everything is called archaeology/antiquities (the word in Arabic is athar). So archaeological heritage is in a way a contradiction in terms.
This is the kind of stuff we have been talking about at the museum over the last couple of days I've been in, and we are grappling with other nuances like the right word to use for custodian (many of the Arabic options have religious overtones, whereas the standard translation, hares, is usually used for the guy in the carpark who looks after your car, which is not the concept we want to use).
And we're talking about the form of questions, and the general themes we'll be investigating. So far, I think my favourite question will be:
What are archaeologists doing when they are walking across fields?
a) looking for treasure
b) looking for any kind of archaeology
c) measuring the land
d) looking for archaeological sites
e) wasting time
f) other .......................................................................
Here is most of the team (unfortunately Nihad's face is mainly blocked, but you know how hard it is to get a group of people with everyone's face showing and no-one's eyes closed - if the picture is too small, click on it and it opens bigger - unless you've blocked pop-ups). Najd is the main person I'm working with.

No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.