Upon the invitation of the Dean of the Faculty of History and Philosophy at the University of Latvia in Riga, Professor Nizar Abu-Jaber presented a lecture titled “History through the cultural heritage of Jordan” on September 24, 2014. In his lecture, Professor Abu-Jaber pointed out some of the similarities between Jordan and Latvia, emphasizing the nature of a central location between major competing powers, and the impact of that on the resulting physical and intangible heritage. Thereafter he followed a historical chronology of Jordan, highlighting some of the major heritage sites representing each period, as well as some of the major developments and achievements of each period. These include cultural developments, such as the rise of the major monotheistic religions, and technical achievements in agriculture, water management and metallurgy.
The lecture was attended by a large group of students and faculty members, who asked a number of questions about Jordan, its history and the situation of cultural heritage in Jordan and in Syria.
Following the lecture, a meeting was held in order to discuss future cooperation in heritage research between the University of Latvia and the Center for the Study of Natural and Cultural Heritage at GJU.
Latvia has a number of sites listed on the World Heritage List, including the Old City of Riga. The University of Latvia is almost 100 years old, and is considered to be one of the premier universities in the Baltic region. It is currently involved in a number of important heritage projects with the European Union. It is hoped that cooperation between the University of Latvia and GJU will be fruitful, as it would be the first scientific cooperation between Latvia and the Arab world.