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About us

Introduction

The Jordan Museum ... the storyteller of Jordan

The Jordan Museum is located in the dynamic new downtown area of Ras al-‘Ayn. Presenting the history and cultural heritage of Jordan in a series of beautifully designed galleries, The Jordan Museum serves as a comprehensive national centre for learning and knowledge that reflects Jordan’s history and culture, and presents in an engaging yet educational way the Kingdom’s historic, antique and heritage property as part of the ongoing story of Jordan’s past, present, and future.

 

This concept is physically represented in the building’s exterior — rough and smooth stones suggest the past and present, glass the future.

Through state of the art storage and conservation practices; support of research and publications; exciting permanent and temporary exhibitions; challenging outreach programmes; and well thought out guest services, The Jordan Museum fulfills a dual role as a repository of knowledge and a centre for education, allowing it to help link Jordan with other cultures, and connecting communities within Jordan for thoughtful dialogues to help meet future challenges.

What We Do

The Jordan Museum aims to be a jumping off point for visitors to entice them to explore the cultural sites and cities in Jordan. As a museum and research center, The Jordan Museum intends to enable its guests to experience Jordanian culture and history in a lively contextual setting.

Permanent Exhibition Areas

The exhibition space encompasses much of The Jordan Museum’s 10,000 square meter building and covers 1.5 million years of Jordanian history and archaeology, starting from thePalaeolithic(Old Stone Age), linking to the present, and projecting into the future. Within three main Chronological Flow Galleries (Archaeology and History, Traditional Life, Modern Jordan), The Jordan Museum tells the ‘Story of Jordan’ both chronologically and thematically, utilizing graphics, over 2,000 artifacts on loan from the Department of Antiquities, and specially designed materials. The nine major themes elaborated on are the environment, food production and processing, visual art and architecture, cultural exchange and trade, politics and the military, communication and writing, industry, religion, and daily domestic life in Jordan throughout the ages.

Distributed among these galleries are One-to-One Theaters, thematic exhibitions that complement the chronological exhibition themes. These are the main interactive spaces in the museum that communicate Archaeology; Mining; Humans;Nomadism; Writing; Lighting; and Children of Jordan.

Other Exhibition Areas

In addition to the permanent galleries there are outdoor and temporary indoor exhibition areas. Here, on a rotating basis, the museum will offer the opportunity to explore themes in more depth usingtravellingexhibitions as well as in-house special exhibitions.

Makany

A specially planned space that contributes to our goals of education and learning. This is an inviting hands-on area devoted to teaching and learning, where children can express their creativity in projects and performing arts activities inspired by their museum visit.

Conservation Centre

An area supporting the physical sustainability of the objects of Jordan’s cultural heritage that combines cutting edge academic knowledge and facilities with practical experience and skills – a conservation center not just for Jordan, but the region.

Library

A facility including several thousand publications of largely donated materials that deal with archaeology, history, education, and museology. For the use of the museum’s staff and outside researchers.

Guest Services

The Jordan Museum will offer services to guests to enrich their visit, including a thematic gift and book shop, and a café. Spaces for private and cultural functions as well as for academic meetings and conferences are also available.

 

Mission & Vision

Coming soon ...

Board of Trustees

HER Majesty Queen Rania- Al-Abdullah: President

HER Royal Highness Princess Sumaya Bint El-Hassan: Vice President

H.E Ministry of Planning & International Cooperatipn

 

 

H.E Ministry of Public Works and Housing

 

H.E Minister of Tourism & Antiquities

H.E Minister of Culture

H.E Minister of Education

H.E Mr. Akel Biltaji

H.E Dr. Yousef Al- SHawarbeh Mayor of Amman

H.E Director General, Department of Antiquities

H.E Dr. Zeidan Kafafi

H.E Mrs. Haifa Najjar Member of Senates

H.E Mr. Khaled Masri

H.E Mr. Haitham Batikhi

H.E Jordan Museum Director General

 

History & Building

History

The idea of a national museum that would present the treasures of Jordan’s archeological and cultural heritage was first raised in the 1960’s. In 1980 HRH Crown Prince El Hassan bin Talal held the first International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan at the University of Oxford, where conferees recommended the establishment of a “National Museum”. He founded and chaired the Society of Jordanian Culture in 1989, which worked on issues that developed into general concepts for the museum. Then in 1999 a loan agreement was signed with the Government of Japan for financing the ‘Tourism Sector Development Project’ of which a national museum was a sub-project.

In 2002 King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein issued a royal decree stating the establishment of a “National Museum”, and accredited it by law in 2003.

The museum was brought to life on the ground in 2005, when HM Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, chair of the museum’s governing Board of Trustees, laid the cornerstone of the museum building and the Board adopted the name The Jordan Museum.

HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, vice-chair of the Board said “The Jordan museum will be a place that embodies our belief in the importance of education, learning, personal growth, and discovery. This entity will also provide an opportunity for visitors to think about the historical and cultural aspects that make up the society that surrounds them.”

Building

The chief architect of the museum building is Ja’far Toukan, a pioneering Jordanian architect and the designer of many major buildings in Jordan. He has skillfully woven the concept of the building into its very fabric, with exterior materials suggesting the past and present (rough and smooth stones) and the future (glass). The responsibility for the museum development is shared by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Greater Municipality, in collaboration with the Japanese government through JICA.   

 

Staff Directory

His Excellency Engineer Mr. Ihab Amarin , Director General of The Jordan Museum
Mazen Biltaji , BOT Secretary
Eyad Almahrouq , Accounting Section Head
Samih Althweib , IT Director
Jumana Kilani , Human Resources & Administrative Affairs Manager
Nabeel Alkhoury , Network Administrator & Technical Support
Cenamees Ansoka , Personnel Section Head of HR
Dana Jarrar , Executive Secretary
Ahmad Salem , Store keeper
Balsam Shaban , Museum Documentation Specialist
Dr. Ahmed Al-Momani , Curator
Dr. Yosha Al-Amri , Curator
Jihad Kafafi , Curator
Najd Sweidan , Assistant Curator
Mohammad Alqaisi , Education Specialist
Ala' Al Deek , Education Assistant
Falah sharaya’ah , Librarian