Archaeological Museum of Amman

The Jordanian Archaeological Museum contains a substantial collection of artifacts from the Paleaolithic Period onwards. Four exhibits claim special interest. First are the two wax-like figures discovered at Ain Ghazzal in 1983, which date back to the early Neolithic period (8000-6000 BC). The second, and perhaps most famous exhibit, is the collection of The Dead Sea Scrolls, which are contained in a small alcove at the right end of the museum.

An alcove on the opposite side of the room holds four anthropomorphic coffins, discovered in the grounds of the Raghadan Palace, which are rare examples of burials practised between the 13th and 7th centuries BC. Just across from the coffins is the ‘Amman Daedalus’, a Roman copy of the Hellenistic original. (According to Greek mythology, Daedalus built the famous Minoan Labyrinth in Crete. He is also known for making wings to enable him and his son Icarus, to escape the island.)