Jordan Tours and News

 AMMAN — Sales of a unified ticket designated for tourist areas in Jordan have increased during the first eight months of this year, according to Tourism Ministry official figures.

 AMMAN — Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Majd Shweikeh, along with Véronique Vouland-Aneini, French ambassador to Jordan, and Akel Biltaji, president of the Franco-Jordanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, launched the 5th edition of the French Week in Jordan on Saturday during a press conference at the Amman Rotana Hotel.

 AMMAN — Even in ancient times, people already had an effect on the environment by cutting wood for fires and by letting goats and sheep graze around the villages, which caused erosion of the landscape, said an archaeologist specialising in the topic.

 AMMAN — Ancient inscriptions found in the Eastern Desert reveal relations between Nabateans and bedouin tribes and depict daily life as well as major political events, wars and revolts, said a Jordanian scholar.

 AMMAN — The Azraq region appears to have been a magnet for human settlement in the Epipalaeolithic period, which dates back 20,000 to 10,000 years.

 AMMAN — An inscription known as Mesha Stele or Mesha Inscription indicates that in the ancient town of Altaruz, located some 30 kilometres southwest of Madaba, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, was worshipped.

 AMMAN — For the first time since 2007, Royal Jordanian (RJ) registered JD3.4 million profit from continuing operations in the first half of 2019 against JD11.1 million loss for the same period in 2018 and a net profit of JD1.5 million, according to RJ CEO Stefan Pichler.

 AMMAN — The early adaption of an ancient heating system by the Nabataeans point to an outward-facing society, according to a Canadian archaeologist.

 AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz on Thursday inaugurated the 34th Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

 AMMAN — Hundreds of Jordanians released balloons filled with messages of hope at the Amman Citadel on Sunday for a ceremony marking World Population Day.

Deputising for HRH Crown Prince Hussein, the Regent, Culture and Youth Minister Mohammad Abu Rumman on Friday attended the launch of activities by Al Hussein Camps for Work and Construction 2019 in Aqaba.

 AMMAN — “Collecting artefacts is a part of our nature, it is after all a human trait”, said Jordanian archaeologist and museum specialist Arwa Badran.

 AMMAN — Wadi Hammeh 27, located 2 kilometres north of Pella, represents one of the largest and most complex Natufian base-camps in the southern Levant, an Australian archaeologist has said.

 AMMAN — Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) welcomed 804,153 passengers in April, a 10.6 per cent increase over last year’s numbers for the same period, according to a statement from the Airport International Group on Monday.

 AMMAN — The Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) Chief Commissioner Suleiman Farajat on Sunday said the number of visitors to Petra increased by approximately 33 per cent during May, compared with the same period last year.

 AMMAN — Jordan’s tourism revenues during the first third of the year (T1-2019) have increased by 6.1 per cent to $1.7 billion, approximately JD1.2 billion, compared with around $1.6 billion generated in the same period last year.

 JERASH — As numbers of visitors continue to grow, Jerash Archaeological Park has received 20 per cent more tourists during first third of this year than the same period of 2018, an official said.

 AMMAN — The winners of the “Our Heritage, Our Identity” student video competition were announced at a ceremony on Saturday at the historic Odeon Theatre in Amman.

 AMMAN — In contrast with the area of Wadi Musa, Beidha is still free from modern development, so the natural landscape is still unspoiled and the archaeological heritage is still accessible to researchers, according to an Italian archaeologist.

 JERASH — Jerash’s second Labaneh Festival drew customers from around the Kingdom on Friday who came to sample and buy homemade dairy products.

 AMMAN — Ryanair on Thursday announced four new routes to Amman and Aqaba for winter, citing an expected rise in the number of visitors to the Kingdom.

 AMMAN — Abdul Rahman Nouri told The Jordan Times he could not believe what he had seen during a recent hike near King Talal Dam.

 AMMAN — Amman’s eighth annual jazz festival launched on Friday evening at Al Shams Theatre, with seasoned Jordanian jazz pianist Omar Faqir and his band delivering the festival’s first performance. Alongside the pianist was his brother Alaa on guitar and two guest musicians from Lebanon and Syria — Omar Harb on bass and Gio Najarian on drums.

 PETRA — Italian President Sergio Mattarella toured the ancient city of Petra on Thursday before concluding his official visit to Jordan.

 AMMAN — Jordanian photographer Bashar Tabbah’s exhibition titled, “Stars and stone” and emphasising night shots of Jordan’s historical sites concluded on Sunday at the Nabat Art Gallery.

 AMMAN — Souq Dezain, a fashion and design exposition, opened today at the Ras El Ain Hangar in Amman featuring 40 designers, with specialties including home decor, oriental fashion, shoe wear and jewelry.

 AMMAN — The AdventureNEXT Near East 2019 conference kicked off in Aqaba on Sunday, according to a joint statement sent to The Jordan Times.

 AMMAN — Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Director General Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat on Sunday announced the launch of charter flights from Poland to Aqaba. The charter flights are expected to carry more than 3,000 Polish tourists aboard 16 flights planned for 2019, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

 AMMAN — More than 52 cruise ships are expected to visit Aqaba this year, with more than 96,000 tourists on board, according to the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA).

 Amman — The Al Hussein Cultural Centre in Amman on Thursday played host to a concert by The Italian Cello Trio to celebrate the twinning of stone cities Petra and Matera, the latter of which is the 2019 cultural capital city of Europe.

 AMMAN — Wadi Finan Art Gallery has recently announced its participation at the Art Dubai Exhibition, which will end on Saturday.

 AMMAN — Prior to 1968, the hilltop of Machaerus, overlooking the Dead Sea near Mount Nebo was an untouched “virgin” site, according to Hungarian archaeologist Gyozo Voros.

 AMMAN — Ancient tombs found in Jordan’s Eastern Desert indicate a “flourishing” culture that managed to adapt to the harsh conditions of the landscape, according to a Dutch professor investigating the tombs.

 AMMAN — The Jordan Fashion Week, in collaboration with the W Amman, will launch on March 29, according to a statement sent to The Jordan Times on Tuesday. The two-day event will feature Amman-based designer Shirene Rifai to select participating designers and brands showcased at the event.

 AMMAN — Preparations have recently started at Run Jordan for the 25th LG Dead Sea Ultra Marathon, which will take place on April 12, according to a statement sent to The Jordan Times.

 AMMAN — The King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) on Wednesday announced that they plan on launching the “Steps for Life” initiative for the fourth year in a row.

 AMMAN — A total of 15 Arab and local photographers will be capturing the “beauty” of the Kingdom and its main attractions this spring as part of an air drone photography contest, organisers said on Wednesday.

 AMMAN — Following in the footsteps of the first Italian archaeological expedition to Amman, which took place in 1927 on the Amman Citadel, an archaeologist came to the Jordanian capital in 2009 to draw a clear picture of the achievements made in almost a decade, mostly relying on old photo archives.

 AMMAN — Despite the cultural importance of the Neolithic period, when people first began making pottery and developing agriculture, simply finding and cataloguing sites often poses a major challenge for researchers.

 AMMAN — A team of 19 Jordanian teenagers will climb Tanzania’s Mount Meruto to raise funds for supporting the treatment of underprivileged cancer patients at King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC).

AMMAN — Rain over the weekend channelled 5 million cubic metres (mcm) of water into the Kingdom’s 14 major dams, raising storage levels to 38 per cent of the dams’ total capacity, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said on Saturday.

 JERASH — Al Mawa for Nature and Wildlife has provided a number of animals rescued from war-torn countries in the region with a sense of normalcy after they experienced abject conditions following instability in the region.

 AMMAN — Jordanian businesswoman Sohair Saber has been announced recently as the president of The Hague Institute for Global Justice.

 AMMAN — Scholars researching the Early Bronze Age (EBA) (2000–1500BC) in the region say people during this period likely faced some of the same challenges the world faces today.

 AMMAN — Sitting in a dimly-lit east Amman café is Palestinian native Alaa Al Juneidi; world traveller and creator of “Rahhal” (which means “traveller” in Arabic), a project whose goal is to document the world’s 194 countries and mount the seven summits while inspiring others and creating a shared community of travellers.

 AMMAN — Under the patronage of HRH Prince Raad, an exhibition recently launched to showcase the Jordan Trail through the photography and paintings of artists, according to a joint statement sent to The Jordan Times.

 JERASH — An estimated seven or more springs were revived after heavy rain fell on Jerash and its surrounding districts this past week.

 AMMAN — With each trip to one of Jordan’s archaeological sites, a local photographer’s fascination and passion to document their beauty grew.

 AMMAN — Caches of gazelle skulls and bones laid at the base of a standing stone as well as excavations revealing ever older layers of construction are some of the discoveries in Eastern Badia.

 AMMAN — His Holiness Pope Francis on Monday praised the Kingdom efforts in hosting refugees and the “spirit of fraternity”  displayed in the act.