Kuwait’s National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) and the World Monuments Fund have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enlist Failaka Island in Kuwait in UNESCO’s world heritage list.
The MoU was signed by NCCAL Secretary-General Mohammad Al-Jassar and the fund’s President and CEO Benedicte de Montlaur, in the presence of Kuwaiti Ambassador to the U.S. Sheikha Al-Zain Al-Sabah, at the fund’s headquarters in Manhattan.
NCCAL’s Al-Jassar underscored the importance of Failaka island in Kuwait, the Gulf and the world. Dating back to 4,200 years, the island saw the era of five different civilizations and was last inhabited 34 years ago.
The enlisting process includes scanning archaeology sites on the island to determine the plan to turn them into a cultural tourism attraction in the future, Al-Jassar noted.
World Monuments Fund (WMF) is the leading independent organization devoted to safeguarding the world’s most treasured places to enrich people’s lives and build mutual understanding across cultures and communities. The organization is headquartered in New York City and its global team of experts has preserved the world’s diverse cultural heritage using the highest international standards at more than 700 sites in 112 countries.
Failaka Island is located approximately 20 km northeast of Kuwait City. The island has a shallow surface measuring up to 12 km in length and 6 km wide.
The island proved to be an ideal location for human settlements, known for its wealth in natural resources such as harbors, fresh water, fertilized soil, as well as being a strategic maritime commercial route that links the civilizations of Mesopotamia from the northern side and the Gulf from the southern side. Studies indicate traces of human settlement can be found on Failaka dating back to as early as the end of the 3rd millennium BC, and extending until 19th century AD.
