The U.S. Embassy in Amman is pleased to announce the award of a $160,000 grant to the Faculty of Archeology and Anthropology of Yarmouk University for the conservation and rehabilitation of the Roman Aqueduct of Gadara in Umm Qais. The award was made possible through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) which supports the preservation of cultural sites, objects, and forms of traditional cultural expression around the world.
The Roman Aqueduct in Umm Qais is the largest Roman water system in the world covering 170 km from Jordan to Syria — a distance more than nine times the length of the second longest subterranean aqueduct in Italy. This grant will enable the Department of Conservation and Management of Yarmouk University and the Department of Antiquities to open the aqueduct tunnel to tourists and increase overall interest in the site as a tourist attraction.
Since 2001, Jordan has received nearly $1.7 million in grants to fund 14 unique cultural heritage preservation projects in places like Petra, al-Beidha, Umm al-Jimaal, Abila, the Jordan Valley and in downtown Amman. Since its inception, the Fund has supported more than 500 cultural preservation projects in more than 100 countries.
The United States is proud to stand as a partner in preserving and protecting Jordan’s heritage sites Tourism remains one of the foundations of Jordan’s economy and the United States is committed to supporting its continued growth.
