Jordan- Thank You Nayef QusousBy Mohammad Aburumman

(MENAFN- Alghad Newspaper)

Honestly, was ashamed of the fact that I had not read his works on archiving and national Jordanian history, one of Jordan's most prominent specialists, Dr Nayef Oudeh Qusous.

Having actually read some of his works just recently, thanks to Mr Bassam Halasa, I realise now the scale of injustice and negligence the man endured thanks to the government's dismissal of his unprecedented achievements!

Qusous was never awarded a medal or high commendation.

Ironically enough, he happens to be the one specialist in Jordan who professionally traces and documents medals, honours, mints, bills and commendations for a living.

In fact, he is the man behind the establishment of a unique museum, with the collection of some eight thousand medals, mints and bills.

He is still the museum's secretary general, after the Ahli Bank sponsored the museum, having realised the value of Qusous's work, under the patronage of Dr Rajai Muasher.

Qusous is actually a dentist, but his early passion for collecting medals, mints and bills drove him to specialise in the field, and dedicate all his time to it.

The result of is dedication is thousands of them from all around the Levant, alongside numerous invaluable authorships on the histories of these medals, mints and bills, and their values.

On the side of his effort to protect our national history and archive, Dr Qusous also preserved old Jordanian documents that belonged to his father, Oudeh Qusous, between the years 1877 and 1943. Most of these documents he preserved belong to his father and family members, but they tell the story of Jordan's modern history from the 19th century through the first half of the 20th century. They packing with information, documentation of events and data.

Another brilliant piece of work by this genius is the documentation of Jordan's oral history, especially in the social field, having collected many important official and social documents, backed by documented oral narratives on events over various periods of Jordan's time.

He also authored the 'Dictionary of foreign words in the Jordanian dialect, prepared and edited by Emil Hanna Qusous Halasa.

Qusous's achievements, and those of his colleagues, if far more valuable than anything any research or study centre could do, including all the officials and specialists, combined.

He bridged a deep gap in our national history and archive with reliable, documented information, without ever being awarded for his magnificent input.

Nayef Qusous is one of Jordan's unknown heroes; an honest guardian of our culture and history. He worked hard and silently, with perseverance and dedication, to preserve our national history, through medals, mints, bills, and oral history.

One step at a time, through the years long journey, to introduce us to the past we really knew next to nothing about!

The least we can do is say 'Thank you, on our behalf and on behalf of the many Jordanian generations to come; Thank You!

This article is an edited translation of the Arabic version, published by AlGhad.

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