The Jordan Museum is located in Ras al-Ein district of

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

, Jordan. Built in 2014, the museum is the largest museum in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and hosts some of the country's most important archaeological findings. Its two main permanent exhibitions are the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

, including the

Copper Scroll The Copper Scroll ( 3Q15) is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran, but differs significantly from the others. Whereas the other scrolls are written on parchment or papyrus, this scroll is written on metal: copper mixed ...

, and the 9000-year-old

ʿAin Ghazal statues The ʿAin Ghazal statues are large-scale lime plaster and reed statues discovered at the archaeological site of Ayn Ghazal (archaeological site), ʿAin Ghazal in Amman, Jordan, dating back to approximately 9,000 years ago (made between 7200 BC an ...

, which are among the oldest human statues ever made. The museum presents artifacts from various

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

and

antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

archaeological sites in Jordan. Statues of Ain Ghazal 1

The collections are arranged in chronological order. The museum also features lecture halls, outdoor exhibitions, a library, a conservation centre and an area for children's activities. The museum was established by a committee headed by

Queen Rania Rania Al Abdullah (born Rania Al-Yassin, 31 August 1970) is Queen of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II. Rania's domestic activities include education, youth, environmental, and health initiatives. Globally, she has campaigned for educati ...

, and became the only museum in Jordan to implement modern artifact-preserving technologies.

Background

The

Jordan Archaeological Museum The Jordan Archaeological Museum is located in the Citadel of Amman, Jordan. Built in 1951, it presents artifacts from archaeological sites in Jordan, dating from prehistoric times up to the 15th century. The collections are arranged in chronolo ...

was established in 1951, atop Amman's Citadel Hill, to host Jordan's most important archaeological findings. However, the old site became too small and the idea of developing a new modern museum emerged in 2005. A joint committee headed by Queen Rania was tasked with developing a new museum conforming with international standards. Construction started in 2009 and the museum was officially opened in 2014, spanning over 10,000 square meters.

Location

The museum is located in the Ras al-Ein area near

downtown Amman Downtown Amman () is the old town of Jordan's capital, Amman. Nestled in a narrow valley called Wadi Amman, the downtown is a popular tourist destination, known for its shopping Bazaar, souks and ancient ruins. The Amman valley, surrounded by ...

, adjacent to the

Greater Amman Municipality Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant reg ...

headquarters. It is only a street away (20-minute's walk) from major archaeological sites in Amman such as the Roman theater,

Nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

Amman Citadel The Amman Citadel () on Citadel Hill () is an archaeological site on an L-shaped hill towering over Downtown Amman, in the central part of the capital of Jordan. The Amman Citadel is considered to be among the world's oldest continuously inh ...

and

Hashemite Plaza The Hashemite Plaza is a plaza in Amman, Jordan that spans over an area of 20,000 square metres. It was renewed in 2014 and is named after the Jordanian royal family, the Hashemites. The Hashemite Plaza includes open spaces, fountains, gardens, p ...

Major artifacts

The museum collection includes animal bones dating back 1.5 million years, the 9000-year-old ʿAin Ghazal lime plaster statues, part of the

, including the

, and a reproduction of the

Mesha Stele The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tel ...

. The human statues found at

'Ain Ghazal Ayn Ghazal or Ayn Ghazal () may refer to: * Ayn Ghazal (village), depopulated Palestinian village * Ayn Ghazal (archaeological site), Neolithic archaeological site in Jordan ** Ayn Ghazal statues Ayn Ghazal dates back to approximately c.7300 ...

are among the world's oldest ever made. 'Ain Ghazal is a major

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

village in

that was discovered in 1981. The

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

was found near Khirbet

Qumran Qumran (; ; ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, about south of the historic city of Jericho, and adjac ...

, and contains an inventory of hidden gold and silver, as well as some vessels, presumably taken from the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

in Jerusalem in ''circa'' 68 CE. It is written in a

Mishna The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

ic-style

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. The

is a large black basalt stone that was erected in Moab and was inscribed by Moabite king

Mesha King Mesha (Moabite language, Moabite: , vocalized as: ; Hebrew: מֵישַׁע ''Mēšaʿ'') was a king of Moab in the 9th century BC, known most famously for having the Mesha Stele inscribed and erected at Dhiban, Dibon, Jordan. In this inscrip ...

, in which he lauds himself for the building projects that he initiated in Moab (modern day

Al-Karak Al-Karak (), in English sources often simply Karak, is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of ...

) and commemorates his glory and victory against the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

. The stele constitutes one of the most important direct accounts of biblical history. Other major artifacts are the Balu'a Stele, with an Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription, and a marble head of the Greek goddess

Tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman mythology, Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the dau ...

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan Museum, The Museums established in 2014 Archaeological museums in Jordan 2014 establishments in Jordan Museums of the ancient Near East in Jordan Museums in Amman Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Jordan)

Background

Location

Major artifacts

See also

References

External links