10,000 YEARS OF ART AND CULTURE FROM JORDAN

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Two-headed bust
site of the discovery: Ain Ghazal
Jordan Archaeological Museum
© Olaf M. Teßmer
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Petra
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An exhibition organized by the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in cooperation with the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.


Jordan – the country on the Jordan River and the Dead Sea – is geographically situated at the crossroads of the most ancient civilizations in the world. The three major world religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, originated in this region where the once thriving trading routes of Incense Road and Kings’ Highway intersected. Here as perhaps nowhere else major developments in the history of civilization can be observed. Presented here for the first time in an exhibition are recent archaeological findings that have radically altered our image of cultural history of this region.


The exhibition provides an unmatched survey of Jordanian culture covering a period of around ten thousand years: from the Neolithic era with the world’s most ancient statues, the spectacular, life-sized human statues from Ain Ghazal, dated from the seventh millennium BC, to the period of early Islam with the Umayyad desert palaces from the mid-eighth century AD.

Frieze block with sitting sphinx
site of the discovery: Petra, Temenos
Petra, Archaeological Museum and Site
© Olaf M. Teßmer
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The exhibition looks also at the transition to a sedentary way of life which occurred in the eighth millennium BC in the first prehistoric hill settlements, the emergence of cities in the Bronze Age and the rise of city-states to kingdoms in the Old Testament era, as well as the Nabataeans with their famous cliff city of Petra, the cities of the Decapolis, and early eastern Christianity.


Approximately 600 of the most valuable and exquisite artworks from Jordan are on display in this exhibition thanks to the valuable cooperation of our Jordanian partner. This might well be the last opportunity to view such a vast array of archeological findings outside of Jordan before the new National Museum opens in Amman.

Mosaic with gazelle
site of the discovery: Gerasa (Jerash)
Jerash, Archaeological Museum
© Olaf M. Teßmer
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Project Manager
Dr. Angelica Francke

Press officer

The exhibition is rounded off with impressive aerial photographs by internationally renowned science journalist Georg Gerster. Gerster’s photos not only show archaeological excavations and historical sites but also capture the diverse beauty of Jordan.