Amman — Al-Khalij Publishing and Distribution House has released Wadi Musa, Cradle of Petra: The Memory of Place and People, by researcher Hani Ali Al-Falahat, a book documenting part of the historical and social memory of the area, capturing examples of places and figures tied to the history of Wadi Musa and Petra's surrounding area, who helped shape its social and cultural character.
اضافة اعلان
The book draws on a collection of articles Al-Falahat wrote in earlier periods, covering places of historical and social significance, and local figures who left their mark on their community but hadn't received sufficient documentation or presence in contemporary memory. Bringing these articles together into a book is an attempt to preserve part of the memory of place and people, and pass it on to new generations.
The book offers a reading of the intertwined relationship between people and place, based on the premise that a place isn't merely a geographic space, but a vessel for memory, events, and human experience, and that much of social history remains tied to the places that witnessed it, and to the people who lived there and left their mark on it.
In part, the book raises concerns about the changes taking place in the city of Wadi Musa, and the decline that urban and social growth may bring to certain traditions and values tied to the place, calling for local memory to be documented before some of its details fade from the awareness of new generations.
The author affirms that the book represents the beginning of an ongoing documentation project, noting that the area surrounding Petra is rich with other places and figures deserving of documentation, and that he intends to continue the project in future volumes, alongside preparing a dedicated work covering social figures in the Petra district and their contributions to serving their community and place.
Dr. Fares Al-Amarat wrote the book's introduction, addressing the close relationship between human and place memory, affirming that this relationship reveals a deep interconnection between the two, with each serving as a complement to the other. He explains that using the concept of "the memory of people and place" isn't metaphorical or coincidental, since a place's presence in human memory is the product of a strong relationship built on coexistence and interaction.
He notes that place, in this sense, becomes a witness to the events a person experienced or lived through, which explains why literary and critical studies take an interest in place as a witness to events tied to a person or group of people, and as a carrier of their memory.
Al-Amarat explained that place isn't limited to being a physical space, but includes symbolic and conceptual dimensions, in which facts, events, and actions merge. As a result, it becomes impossible to imagine, record, or recall many events without the place that hosted them.
He affirmed that place, upon closer examination, isn't merely a physical space or a vessel for memory, but a fundamental element of human life that can't be overlooked or ignored; it represents the substance of life, if not life itself.
From a psychological perspective, the relationship between a person and place begins from the first moments after birth, continuing through childhood, and over time becomes a habitual, constant bond, before deepening into something intimate, sometimes reaching the level of devotion.
Al-Amarat discussed the importance of the author's connection to the place and people of Wadi Musa, noting his persistent dedication to this subject and his determination to document it in a work titled Wadi Musa: The Memory of a People. The author's interest wasn't limited to memory and place alone, but extended to how a creative person's memory engages with space, its details, and its inhabitants.
The author believes a creator's memory represents the distillation of years of lived experience, during which he engaged closely with the details of people and place in Wadi Musa. That's why he didn't choose places at random, nor did he address people arbitrarily, but drew instead on his interest in history and antiquities and his prior experience in documenting everything tied to the significance of Wadi Musa, as both people and place.
Al-Amarat concluded that this documentation encompassed people, dwellings, and familiar places, in an attempt to link them together within a narrative that brings together elements of place and memory, allowing those interested to benefit from this heritage and recall the deep bond between people and place, keeping places alive in memory and consciousness.
In his introduction to the book, Hani Ali Al-Falahat notes that many successes and creative achievements can arise from exceptional circumstances and without prior planning, contrary to the common belief that success must be preceded by careful planning, precise organization, clear goals, and a calculated assessment of resources and conditions.
Al-Falahat says life's realities prove that the absence of planning or clear goals doesn't necessarily lead to failure, and that modest beginnings and passing circumstances can sometimes yield outstanding, impactful work. It was from this perspective that the idea for Wadi Musa, Cradle of Petra: The Memory of Place and People emerged, beginning as short articles shedding light on aspects of the historical and social life of the city of Wadi Musa.
The author explained that those articles covered places of historical or social significance, and people overlooked by both the public and history, despite the positions, qualities, and social values they left behind that impacted the life of their community. The motivation for writing about them wasn't simply to document a particular place or person, but an attempt to preserve part of the memory of place and people and present it to a generation living amid fast-changing lifestyles, where some of the values and places that helped shape events and memory now risk being forgotten.
Al-Falahat notes that new learning tools and modern forms of knowledge have exposed generations to different kinds of information, where the valuable mixes with the trivial, which pushed him to offer light, useful material that restores the value of place and people, and helps encourage a generation drawn toward virtual reality to return to its own reality, with all the values of goodness, giving, and belonging it carries.
Speaking about the "city of Wadi Musa," the author explains that cities often lack certain deep-rooted spatial and historical values, and the stories tied to the men and women who left their mark on their communities, since social relationships within them tend to be based more on benefit, self-interest, diversity, and competition, compared to customs, traditions, and social heritage.
He says this is what he's observed in Wadi Musa in recent years, where the city seems to be undergoing a new transformation, one that, as its features take shape, could lead to a decline in some of the elevated social values, traditions, and concepts. From this, he sees it as his duty, and the duty of everyone able to contribute, to revive part of the historical and spatial memory for the current generation, and to bring forward positive social role models, in a way that reinforces appreciation for both place and people and their standing.
From this standpoint, the short articles he wrote grew into a book project, given the content and values they carried, values that were once present in the past but have declined in the culture of the new generation. Al-Falahat notes that Dr. Fares Al-Amarat took the initiative to contact him and discuss compiling these articles into a book, and he agreed to the idea, hesitant at first, before Al-Amarat announced the book's upcoming release in a post, inviting readers to engage with it.
He adds that readers' responses, their welcoming of the idea, and their enthusiasm for it encouraged him to move forward with the project, so he began working with Al-Amarat to select topics that aligned with the title Wadi Musa, the Memory of Place and People, with the writings focusing on places within the area surrounding Petra in the Petra district, and on people connected to this region.
Al-Falahat affirms that he didn't write about these people with the aim of glorifying the famous or the prominent but chose examples of ordinary people who served their homeland sincerely, without personal gain or immediate benefit. Their contributions stemmed from genuine belonging that grew with them and became rooted in their lives, so their actions were far removed from seeking fame or recognition, reflecting pure souls who loved their land and homeland and did their duty without expecting anything in return.
The author affirms that this book won't be the last to carry this title, since the area surrounding Petra is rich with places of deep history and remarkable figures who left their mark on both place and people, opening the door to future volumes covering new places and figures, hoping they meet with success and acceptance.
Al-Falahat notes that this in no way diminishes the standing of the community's virtuous social figures, sheikhs, opinion leaders, and tribal judges, who left a clear mark on the history of Wadi Musa, affirming his intention to dedicate a separate work covering aspects of their contributions in serving their place and people, and the time, effort, and money they devoted to their community, often at the expense of their own interests and families.
Al-Falahat concluded that doing justice to these figures and preserving their legacy is a responsibility and a duty, announcing that he is working on preparing a dedicated volume covering the social figures of the Petra district, with material gathering set to begin once the current book is complete.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Aziza Ali
