Aqaba Archaeological Museum ( ar, متحف آثار العقبة, Matḥaf ʾĀthār al-ʿAqaba) is the official archaeological museum of the city of
Aqaba
Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...
in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
.
Location
The museum is located in the historical part of Aqaba, adjacent to the historic
fort of Aqaba and near the
Aqaba Flagpole
The Aqaba Flagpole in Aqaba, Jordan is a tall flagpole. This height makes it the 6th tallest free–standing and 7th tallest flagpole in the world. It was the tallest free–standing flagpole in the world until being surpassed by the tall As ...
.
History
The building that hosts the museum was the palace of
Sharif Hussein Bin Ali
Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ar, الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after procla ...
, the founder of the
Hashemite dynasty
The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (19 ...
, and was built shortly after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1917.
Ministry of Culture, Jordan- Aqaba Archaeological Museum
/ref> The museum was established in 1989 and was officially opened on January 1, 1990.
Collection
The museum houses Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
artifacts that were recently discovered in the Tall Hujayrat Al-Ghuzlan
Tall Hujayrat Al-Ghuzlan is an archaeological site during the Chalcolithic period that lies 4 km north of modern-day Aqaba city in Jordan. Tall Hujayrat Al-Ghuzlan and the neighboring Tall Al-Magass site in Aqaba both have extensive evidence ...
archaeological site near Aqaba, dating back to 4000 BC. The discovery of the Tall Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan settlement provides an important proof that Aqaba is one of the oldest continuous settlements in the region that had a vibrant copper production. The museum also houses a collection of artifacts from the 7th to the early 12th century AD.
Some of the most known pieces of the museum's collections include a large inscription of a Quranic verse that was hanging on top of the eastern gate of the city in the 9th century, as well as golden coins that date back to the Fatimides
The Fatimid dynasty () was an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty of Arab descent that ruled an extensive empire, the Fatimid Caliphate, between 909 and 1171 CE. Claiming descent from Fatima and Ali, they also held the Isma'ili imamate, claiming to be the righ ...
and other coins from the kingdom of Segelmasa in Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
.
References
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Aqaba Governorate
Aqaba
Archaeological museums in Jordan
Museums of Ancient Near East in Jordan