Old clay houses in a number of villages in Ajloun Governorate still stand as testimony to traditional building methods and the way of life led by past generations, carrying details tied to building materials and the social customs that accompanied their construction.
اضافة اعلان
Specialists and residents have affirmed the importance of documenting what remains of these houses, preserving them, and repurposing some of them for cultural and tourism activities that help preserve the memory of the place and raise awareness of its heritage.
Ajloun tourism director Firas Al-Khatatbeh said that rehabilitating the old clay houses could form an additional element within the governorate's tourism offering, calling for their use as heritage guesthouses, small museums, lodges, or sites along tourist trails, which could help raise awareness of the villages' history and enrich visitors' experience of the governorate, while preserving the original character of the buildings.
For his part, heritage researcher Dr. Mahmoud Al-Sharida noted that building clay houses relied on materials available in the local environment, including soil and straw, which were mixed with water and left to rest for a period before being shaped into hand-made blocks and used in construction.
He added that roofs were built using reeds and wooden beams and covered with insulating materials, while the thickness of the walls and the properties of the clay helped create a more temperate environment inside the house during both summer and winter.
Founder of "Cave of Reflection" Dr. Saffah Al-Subh said that clay houses are part of the governorate's architectural and social memory, reflecting an important chapter of the villages' history and the ways of life residents led in earlier periods.
He affirmed that preserving these houses and documenting their stories helps pass on the knowledge tied to the place to new generations and strengthens the presence of local heritage within cultural activities and programs.
Founder of the "Story of a Place" initiative Youssef Al-Samadi explained that documenting clay houses is not limited to photographing the building, but also involves gathering the stories tied to their owners and the way they were built, noting that the initiative works on listening to the accounts of elderly residents and villagers, recording details related to old sites and houses, and turning them into media content, helping preserve the memory of the place before parts of it are lost over time.
