AMMAN — HRH Prince El Hassan on Thursday visited the National Library Department, where he was briefed on its efforts to preserve Jordan's documentary and cultural heritage, safeguard the Kingdom's national memory and document the country's history for future generations.

 

National Library Director-General Firas Darabah highlighted the department's efforts to preserve books, manuscripts and official records, while advancing digital archiving and documentation to safeguard Jordan's national heritage, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

 

Prince El Hassan said the National Library is more than a repository of books and documents, describing it as the nation's memory. He stressed that protecting heritage in the age of artificial intelligence requires ensuring Arab heritage is represented in digital databases, rather than leaving the region's history and identity to be shaped by global platforms and algorithms.

 

He noted that national memory encompasses documents, books, maps and the collective memory of cities, villages and local communities, warning that modern conflicts increasingly target history, identity and historical narratives, as well as land and people.

 

Prince El Hassan also referred to the concept of "memoricide", describing it as the deliberate erasure of history, identity and collective memory through practices such as renaming places, seizing cultural artefacts and documents, or replacing one historical narrative with another.

 

“Young people today need the ability to distinguish between information and knowledge and to analyse information critically, alongside access to information,” he added.

 

Prince El Hassan said that strengthening and digitising Arab data would help ensure artificial intelligence systems draw on reliable regional sources when generating knowledge about the region.

 

He called for a comprehensive framework to preserve, digitise and make Arab archives and documents accessible to future generations.

 

The visit concluded with a tour of the National Library's Centennial Exhibition, which chronicles the establishment and development of the Jordanian state over the past century.