An international scientific conference titled "Funerary Practices in the Levant from the Roman Period to the End of the Islamic Era" was inaugurated today at the University of Jordan. The conference was organized by the Faculty of Archaeology and Tourism at the University in collaboration with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and German universities.
The conference, which will span two days, aims to explore "Funerary Practices in the Levant from the Roman Period to the End of the Islamic Era." It brings together 28 experts in archaeology and excavation from local, Arab, and German universities, in addition to those from Jordan.
According to Dr. Nizar Attarshan, the head of the preparatory committee from the University of Jordan, the conference aims to enhance cultural and scientific exchange and cooperation between the University of Jordan and German universities and to understand the religious, cultural, social, and anthropological identities of the Jordanian population during those periods.
Dr. Attarshan further stated that the Faculty of Archaeology and Tourism, represented by the Department of Archaeology, was keen to start the new academic year with a research-oriented academic activity that highlights the ethnic, religious, and cultural aspects of archaeological sites in Jordan over the ages, as well as burial customs.
During the opening ceremony, Prof. Dr. Shatwi Al-Abdullah, Vice President for Administrative and Financial Affairs at the University, delivered a speech in which he noted that the conference is a landmark event in the university's history, bringing together a distinguished elite of European academics specializing in funerary customs, alongside their Jordanian and Arab counterparts.
Dr. Al-Abdullah emphasized that the conference's topics, focusing on burial customs throughout the ages in the Levant region, could serve as a unifying factor for the people of the region, despite the political differences among them.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Fiber, representing the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), expressed pride in the efforts made by the conference organizers to establish a solid foundation for the success of the conference, which evolved from an idea into a reality.
Dr. Christoph Eger from the University of Munich shed light on the religious practices and rituals that characterized the successive eras, from the Roman to the Islamic periods, in preparing the deceased from the moment of death until burial. He emphasized the clear differences in religious practices between the Roman era and those of the Byzantine and Islamic periods, stressing that religions impose their own rituals regarding the preparation and burial of the deceased.
Hala Abu Jarada, a student representing the Faculty of Archaeology and Tourism, welcomed the participants from various local, regional, and German universities, highlighting the academic benefits she gained from a scholarship provided by the German DAAD and the scientific progress achieved through that experience.
The conference sessions of the first day discussed several relevant topics presented by archaeologists and excavation experts, covering burial customs among the Nabateans, Roman periods, coffin forms in northern Jordan, and the continuity of burial customs at the Yarmouk archaeological site from the late Bronze Ages to the Islamic eras. The sessions also examined the features of burial customs in many archaeological sites spread across the Jordanian provinces, such as Khirbat al-Samra, Um Qais, and the Jordanian Badia, through inscriptions and archaeological remains.