Jordan Archaeological Museum, Archaeological museum at Amman Citadel, Jordan.
The Jordan Archaeological Museum is a two-story building of pale tan stone blocks on Citadel Hill, reached by a wide stone staircase with solid balustrades rising to a central entrance porch. Above the door a dark plaque with gold lettering reads "JORDAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM" in Arabic and English, and tall narrow grilles light the windows to its left. Inside, finds from excavations across Jordan are arranged in chronological order, from the Palaeolithic through the Islamic periods.
The museum opened in 1951 to house artifacts collected from archaeological digs across the country. These collections document civilizations and cultures that developed in this region over thousands of years.
The museum displays crafts and everyday items from different periods, showing how people in this region created and lived across centuries. You can walk through the rooms and observe the objects people actually used in their daily lives.
The museum sits atop the Citadel and is accessible on foot from the Old City, though the walk is uphill. Bring proper shoes and allow time for the climb, especially on hotter days.
The Ain Ghazal statues in the collection are made of plaster, not stone, and date to about 6000 BCE. The museum once held some Dead Sea Scrolls, including the sole Copper Scroll, written in Aramaic; these are now displayed at the newly created Jordan Museum.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,475 contributors worldwide.
