Conservation, Management and Variation of the Cultural Heritage Sites of Jericho

This thesis explores management, conservation and valorization issues and their impacts on the safeguarding and developing of the cultural heritage of Jericho with an aim of setting up proper management, conservation, and valorisation policies for better sustainable management and conservation of the cultural heritage sites of Jericho, based on modern scientific and international standards. It examines the main jurisdiction, management, valorisation and planning frameworks that have direct or indirect impacts on the conservation and safeguarding of the cultural heritage properties of Jericho, which have strongly suffered from poor conservation, management and valorisation interventions. Their state of conservation is still very vulnerable and deteriorated because of neglect, urban expansion, outdated legislations, insufficient urban planning frameworks, random tourism infra and super-structure, and negative agricultural practises. Thence, this thesis investigates these issues trying to understand how the cultural heritage of Jericho have been conserved, managed and valorised by successive political and administrative regimes in charge of this heritage since 1920s, including the urban plans of the Jericho city and their impacts on preservation and safeguarding of cultural heritage sites, seeking to draw up a clear picture about past and present management, conservation and valorisation policies, and their influences on the local community, and related private enterprises. This thesis, therefore, comprehensively examine the conflicted relationships between safeguarding Jericho’s cultural heritage sites, and the economic developments. It attempts to come up with steadiness scientific proactive policies for appropriate management and conservation of its cultural heritage, attempting to avoid reaction and ad hoc conservation and valorisation decisions that can result in unanticipated and negative consequences in the short, mid and long-terms. Based on the value-driven management approach, fieldworks, and data analysis and results, a set of policies are envisaged for better management, safeguarding and valorisation of the cultural heritage of Jericho, trying to find sustainable solutions for various conflicted interests of concerned stakeholders, meanwhile conserving their cultural heritage values and physical attributes. Finally, these policies are designed to be one integrated entity based on conservation and valorisation principles

Dysphagia related quality of life and its association with cognitive function and sociodemographic factors among older stroke patients in Amman, Jordan

Dysphagia is a disorder that compromises the movement of food and liquids from the mouth to the stomach. It is a frequent disorder in stroke patients, affecting 50% to 80% of them. Dysphagia and its complications negatively impact the emotional, functional, and physical aspects of stroke patients. Moreover, cognitive impairment is one of the most common disabilities after a stroke, affecting 20% to 80% of stroke survivors. Previous studies have shown that the severity of dysphagia increases with the severity of cognitive dysfunction. However, the correlation between cognitive function and the handicapping effect of dysphagia on emotional, functional, and physical aspects of quality of life (QOL) in stroke patients is still unknown. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the correlation between cognitive function and the handicapping effect of dysphagia on emotional, functional, and physical aspects of QOL in stroke patients. A total of 31 stroke patients with dysphagia participated in this cross-sectional study. The Arabic version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was used to assess patients' cognitive function. Furthermore, the Arabic version of the Dysphagia Handicap Index (DHI) was used to assess the emotional, functional, and physical effects of dysphagia in stroke patients. Most of the patients (61.3%) were male, and the majority (67.7%) were between 60-70 years old. The findings showed that 35.5% of the patients had impaired cognitive function, and the mean ± SD of the DHI total score was 53.5 ± 9.6. Moreover, the results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the means of the physical subscale (p=0.003), emotional subscale (p=0.020), and the DHI total score (p=0.005) between groups with different onsets of dysphagia, indicating that the handicapping effect of dysphagia on the physical and emotional aspects, and overall QOL decreases with time following a stroke. Additionally, the findings showed a weak negative correlation between cognitive function (MoCA total score) and the handicapping effect of dysphagia on the physical subscale (r = -0.418, p = 0.019) and the DHI total score (r = -0.368, p = 0.042). Our findings suggest that dysphagia negatively affects QOL aspects, and cognitive function may have a role in the severity of the handicapping effect of dysphagia on the QOL aspects. Thus, looking into the affected QOL aspects secondary to the debilitating dysphagia and the associated cognitive function will be very helpful for dysphagia management and rehabilitation

Tell Keila, résultats de quatre années de recherches

Le site de Tell Keila dans le gouvernorat d’Hébron (Territoires Palestiniens), bien que connu des sources anciennes et identifié par de nombreuses prospections, n’avait jamais été fouillé. Les recherches récentes in situ ont permis de confirmer une occupation du site depuis le Bronze jusqu’à l’époque ottomane, sans qu’il n’y ait eu, semble-t-il, de solution de continuité. Elles ont montré la présence d’un rempart du Bronze moyen, d’un habitat datant au moins du Bronze récent sur le sommet du tell, et au sud, d’un quartier périphérique de la fin de l’époque romaine et de la période protobyzantine. Par ailleurs, une prospection menée tant sur les terrasses inférieures que dans les collines qui jouxtent le tell révèlent l’existence de nécropoles du Bronze, du Fer et des périodes hellénistique, romaine et protobyzantine. 49 tombes ont pu être localisées et quatre d’entre elles ont été étudiées et relevées. Par ailleurs, la découverte d’un autel portant une inscription latine, ne manque pas de poser la question de la nature de l’occupation romaine du site.The site of Tell Keila in the Hebron governorate (Palestinian Territories), although known from ancient sources and identified by numerous surveys, had never been excavated. Recent in situ research has confirmed occupation of the site from the Bronze to the Ottoman period, apparently without interruption. It showed the presence of a Middle Bronze rampart, a habitat dating at least from the Late Bronze Age on the top of the tell, and to the south, a peripheral area from the late Roman period and Early Byzantine times. In addition, a survey carried out on both the lower terraces and the hills adjacent to the tell reveals the existence of Bronze and Iron Ages, and from Hellenistic, Roman and Protobyzantine periods necropolises. 49 tombs have been located and four of them have been studied. In addition, the discovery of an altar bearing a Latin inscription raises the question of the nature of the occupation Roman of the site.بالرغم من كونه يُعتبر من المصادر القديمة وتم تحديده خلال عدة عمليات تنقيب فإن موقع تل كيلا في محافظة الخليل (الأراضي الفلسطينية) لم يتم التنقيب فيه مطلقاً. وقد سمحت الابحاث الحديثة بالتأكيد على أنّ الموقع أُحتل منذ العصر البرونزي وحتى فترة الاحتلال العثماني، ولكن على مايبدو دون امكانية استمرار تلك الدراسات. اظهرت البحوث الحديثة وجود سور من العصر البرونزي المتوسط ووجود مسكن، على أقل تقدير، يعود تاريخه إلى العصر البرونزي الحديث على قمة التل، وفي الجنوب اظهرت وجود حي هامشي يعود الى أواخر الحقبة الرومانية والفترة ماقبل البيزنطية. من جهة اخرى، تكشف عملية التقيب التي تم إجراءها على كل من الشرفات الداخلية والهضاب التي تجاور التل وجود مقابر تعود للحقبة البرونزية والحديدية والحقب الهلنستية والرومانية والحقب ماقبل البيزنطية. تم تحديد موقع تسعة واربعين قبراً دُرس منها أربعة وحدد موقعها. ومن جهة ثانية تم اكتشاف مذبحاً يحمل نقوشاً لاتينية تثير التساؤل حول طبيعة الاحتلال الروماني للموقع