TELL UMM AMER HERITAGE SITE – ART AND
CULTURE
News: The World
Heritage Committee (WHC) decided to include the Palestinian site of Tell Umm
Amer in both the UNESCO World Heritage Site List and the Lost of World Heritage
in Danger during its 46th session in New Delhi.
What’s in the news?
Tell Umm Amer Heritage Site:
- Location: Coastal
dunes of the Nuseirat Municipality, 10 km south of Gaza city.
- Historical
Significance: An ancient Christian monastery
founded in the 4th century by Hilarion the Great (291-371 CE).
- Alternative
Name: Monastery of Saint Hilarion.
- Importance: The
first monastic community in the Holy Land, laying the groundwork for the
spread of monastic practices in the region.
- Strategic
Position: Located at the crossroads of
major trade and communication routes between Asia and Africa.
UNESCO:
- Full
Form: United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization.
- Type: Specialized
agency of the United Nations (UN).
- Constitution: Entered
into force in 1946, aimed at promoting international collaboration in
education, science, and culture.
- Headquarters: Paris,
France.
- Parent
Organisation: United Nations Economic and
Social Council.
- Primary
Goals:
- Contribute
to peace and security by promoting collaboration among nations through
education, science, and culture.
- Promote
sustainable development and intercultural dialogue.
- Building
a more just, peaceful, and inclusive world through these areas.
What are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
- UNESCO
World Heritage Site is a place that is recognized by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of
distinctive cultural or physical importance which is considered of
outstanding value to humanity.
- It
may be a building, a city, a complex, a desert, a forest, an island, a
lake, a monument, or a mountain.
- They
have been inscribed on the World Heritage List to be protected for future
generations to appreciate and enjoy as they have a special cultural or
physical significance and outstanding universal value to the humanity.
- Italy
is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites.
- At
present, India has 38 World Heritage Properties. All the sites under the
Ministry are conserved as per ASI’s Conservation Policy and are in good
shape.
More about selection and protection of
World Heritage Sites
- The
sites are judged to be important for the collective and preservative
interests of humanity.
- To
be selected, a WHS must be an already-classified landmark, unique in some
respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having
special cultural or physical significance (such as an ancient ruin or
historical structure, building, city, complex, desert, forest, island,
lake, monument, mountain, or wilderness area).
- It
may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence
of our intellectual history on the planet.
- The
sites are intended for practical conservation for posterity, which
otherwise would be subject to risk from human or animal trespassing,
unmonitored/uncontrolled/unrestricted access, or threat from local
administrative negligence.
- The
list is maintained by the international World Heritage Program
administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21
“states parties” that are elected by their General Assembly.
UNESCO World Heritage Committee
- The
World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World
Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World
Heritage in Danger.
- It
monitors the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties,
defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial
assistance upon requests from States Parties.
- It
is composed of 21 states parties that are elected by the General Assembly
of States Parties for a four-year term.
- India
is NOT a member of this Committee.