By Zayed Alzyoud
Two museums at the University of Jordan offer students and visitors a close look at the country’s past. The Archaeological Museum presents a timeline of major eras through artefacts and excavation finds, while the Folk Heritage Museum documents daily life in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Together, they bring long stretches of history into view, alongside the details of everyday living.
Established in 1962, the Archaeological Museum is as old as the University itself. Its galleries are arranged in chronological order, taking visitors from prehistoric remains into later historical and Islamic periods. The layout supports teaching and guided visits, particularly for students learning how to study artefacts and place them in context.
The collection expanded through two main channels, combining items on loan from Jordan’s Department of Antiquities with discoveries from excavations led by the University’s Department of Archaeology. University teams worked at sites across the kingdom, including Jerash, Petra, Tell al-Mazar and Khirbet Yajouz, as well as Tell Abu al-Suwan, Tell Salameh, Rujm al-Kursi, Tell Seiran and others.
At the start of the route, visitors see stone tools such as axes and scrapers, along with flint arrowheads and spearheads linked to hunting and animal processing. Nearby, a plaster floor uncovered at Tell Abu al-Suwan near Jerash offers another glimpse into early settlement. The Iron Age section includes ceramics, official seals and metal pieces associated with the University’s fieldwork at Tell al-Mazar in the Jordan Valley.
From the Roman period, the museum features pottery vessels, lamps, small figurines, coins and glass containers from excavations in Jerash and Khirbet Yajouz. It also presents pottery sherds and burial-related items from Quwayliba. A Byzantine mosaic panel from Madaba is shown alongside pottery, glass and coins from the University’s work at Khirbet Yajouz. Material from the Islamic period includes ceramic sherds from the Umayyad and Ayyubid eras and later phases, including pieces from Rujm al-Kursi.
In the courtyard, larger stone elements are displayed, including Roman columns brought from Jerash and two gateways: a limestone gate from the village of Ham in Irbid and a basalt gate from Umm Qais. The courtyard also includes a milestone recovered from the Khirbet Yajouz excavation.
The campus also houses dolmens. Relocated to the University in 1997 and 1998 from the Jordan Valley, these massive stone burial structures are thought to have been used for burials. Built from large slabs and topped with a heavy capstone, they include small openings leading into the chamber. Their presence helps explain early settlement patterns, social organisation and burial ritual.
A different side of heritage appears at the Folk Heritage Museum, which focuses on how Jordanians lived in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in villages, Bedouin communities and towns. Located behind the Clock Tower, the museum presents agricultural tools, textiles, jewellery, cosmetics, handicrafts, hunting equipment and items linked to folk medicine.
The displays are arranged to reflect different social and economic patterns across Jordan. Visitors move through corners that reflect Bedouin, urban and rural ways of life. There are sections on traditional coffee culture, straw work, medicinal herbs, adornment and clothing, and a model house built of mud brick that depicts rural living. Domestic furniture and household tools highlight city life, alongside crafts and agricultural practices connected to it. Overall, the displays show how work, dress and daily routines differed from one community to another, shaped by local conditions.
The Folk Heritage Museum was rehabilitated in 2008. The work included maintenance, improved lighting and flooring, the acquisition of additional heritage pieces, and the preparation and display of traditional dresses representing regions across the kingdom. In November 2024, a new workshop station was completed with support through USAID’s SCHEP programme, in partnership with the American Center of Research and with local community participation.
The University is also working to improve visitor access and strengthen the learning experience in both museums. Priorities include infrastructure upgrades, clearer signage and simple digital guides to help visitors navigate the collections. Plans also include expanded cooperation and partnerships, alongside more sustainable funding. Proposed initiatives include a museum shop and stronger donation efforts.
Both museums remain active educational spaces. The Folk Heritage Museum supports touring exhibitions inside Jordan and abroad, while the Archaeological Museum provides a learning environment for archaeology students and deepens understanding of different historical periods.
Together, the two museums complement each other: one preserves the material evidence of long historical eras, while the other records the lived details that shaped modern Jordanian society.