Sign In
Learn bits
World Affairs
Mahesh

28/07/24 11:41 AM IST

Gaza’s Tell Umm Amer in the World Heritage Site List

In News
  • The World Heritage Committee (WHC) recently 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.
About Monastery
  • Situated on the coastal dunes of the Nuseirat Municipality, just 10 km south of Gaza city, the ancient Christian monastery was founded in the fourth century by Hilarion the Great (291-371 CE), considered by some to be the father of Palestinian monasticism.
  • Born in Tabatha, close to where his monastery would eventually come up, Hilarion became a monk at the age of 15.
  • As his fame grew, and people began coming to him for miracles, his small hermitage went on to become a thriving monastery, which attracted followers from all over, many of whom would choose Hilarion’s mendicant lifestyle.
  • The present-day archaeological remains of the site span more than four centuries, from the time of Hilarion to the Umayyad period.
  • The ruins comprise “five successive churches, bath and sanctuary complexes, geometric mosaics, and an expansive crypt” making the monastery “one of the largest in the Middle East”, according to The World Monuments Fund, an independent organisation which facilitates the preservation of “the world’s most treasured places”.
  • The UNICEF listing of the site refers to Tell Umm Amer as “the first monastic community in the Holy Land”, and “a hub of religious, cultural, and economic interchange”.
  • The monastery was likely abandoned after a seventh century earthquake, only to be uncovered by local archaeologists in 1999.
Source- Indian Express

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

05 Mar

Arresting women at night

'The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in Deepa versus S. Vijayalakshmi and Others ruled that the legal provision in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which

Read More

05 Mar

Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023

'The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) looking to wrap up public consultations on the draft Rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 by Mar

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps