Baha’i Holy Places in Haifa
Bahá’i Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee
The Bahá’i Holy Places in Haifa and Western Galilee are inscribed for their profound spiritual meaning and the testimony they bear to the strong tradition of pilgrimage in the Bahá’i faith. The property includes the two most holy places in the Bahá’í religion associated with the founders, the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in Acre and the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, together with their surrounding gardens, associated buildings and monuments. These two shrines are part of a larger complex of buildings, monuments and sites at seven distinct locations in Haifa and Western Galilee that are visited as part of the Bahá’i pilgrimage.
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Bahá’i Holy Places demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value for the Holy shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and the Holy shrine of the Báb, as the most holy places of the Bahá’í faith provide an exceptional testimony to the strong traditions of Bahá’í pilgrimage which have grown up over the last century and draw large numbers of followers from around the world. They also have a profound meaning and value for followers of the Bahá’í faith as sacred sites linked to the faith’s two founders.
Criterion (iii): The Holy shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and the Holy shrine of the Báb, as the most holy places of the Bahá’í faith, and visited by thousands of pilgrims each year from around the world, provide an exceptional testimony to, and are powerful communicators of, the strong cultural tradition of Bahá’í pilgrimage.
Criterion (vi): The two holy Bahá’í shrines are tangible places of great meaning for one of the world’s religions.
The property demonstrates integrity linked to the history and spiritual home of the Bahá’í faith and it demonstrates authenticity as tangible expression of the body of doctrine and system of values and beliefs that form the Bahá’í faith.
The legal protection of the nominated areas and their buffer zones will be improved once the TAMA 35 provisions come into force for Haifa. Conservation approaches are appropriate and the management system for the property provides high quality man agement.
Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev
Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev
The four Nabatean towns of Haluza, Mamshit, Avdat and Shivta, along with associated fortresses and agricultural landscapes in the Negev Desert, are spread along routes linking them to the Mediterranean end of the incense and spice route. Together they reflect the hugely profitable trade in frankincense and myrrh from south Arabia to the Mediterranean, which flourished from the 3rd century BC until the 2nd century AD. With the vestiges of their sophisticated irrigation systems, urban constructions, forts and caravanserai, they bear witness to the way in which the harsh desert was settled for trade and agriculture.
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
The Incense Route was a network of trade routes extending over two thousand kilometres to facilitate the transport of frankincense and myrrh from the Yemen and Oman in the Arabian Peninsula to the Mediterranean.
The four Nabatean towns of Haluza, Mamshit, Avdat and Shivta, with their associated fortresses and agricultural landscapes linking them to the Mediterranean are situated on a segment of this route, in the Negev Desert, in southern Israel. They stretch across a hundred-kilometre section of the desert, from Moa on the Jordanian border in the east to Haluza in the northwest. Together they reflect the hugely profitable trade in Frankincense from south Arabia to the Mediterranean, which flourished from the third century BCE until the second century CE, and the way the harsh desert was colonised for agriculture through the use of highly sophisticated irrigation systems.
Ten of the sites (four towns - Haluza, Mamshit, Avdat and Shivta; four fortresses - Kazra, Nekarot, Makhmal, and Grafon; and the two caravanserai of Moa and Saharonim) lie along, or near to, the main trade route from Petra, capital of the Nabatean Empire in Jordan, to the Mediterranean ports. The town of Mamshit straddles the northern parallel route. Combined, the route, and the desert cities along it, reflect the prosperity of the Nabatean incense trade over a seven hundred year period, from the 3rd century BCE to the 4nd century CE.
