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The culture of
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 ...
is based on Arabic and Islamic elements. Jordan stands at the intersection of the three continents of the ancient world, lending it geographic and population diversity. Notable aspects of the culture include the traditional music and clothing of Jordan and interest in sports. These include football and basketball as well as other sports such as equestrianism, fencing, karate, swimming, and table tennis


Popular culture

More than 90% of the population lives in the metropolis of Amman, concentrating the culture of Jordan in that city. Clubbing and partying culture are present in Amman, especially in the Western half of the city. Amman is consistently declared as one of the most liberal cities in the region. Malls, global-brand stores, and hotels are important elements in Amman's urban life, especially on the Western side. English is understood and even spoken in lieu of
Jordanian Arabic Jordanian Arabic is a dialect continuum of mutually intelligible varieties of Arabic spoken by the population of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Jordanian Arabic can be divided into sedentary and Bedouin varieties. Sedentary varieties belong ...
among Jordanians in the upper class. There's a notable foreign influence on the nation's political life and foreign affairs. In addition, many people from nearby countries have been immigrating to Amman and calling it their new home in the past few years. This increased trade links with the world and has reshaped the culture. The Cuisine is shared with surrounding nations such as Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey.


Media

Nonprint media has played the most important role in Jordanian culture. Television production in particular has thrived due to high-quality acting and creative, interesting storylines that challenge and critique contemporary Arab society. Print media too, however, continues to play a large role in Jordanian culture; newspapers include ad-Dustour ("The Constitution") and Al Ra'i ("The Opinion"), the most widely read the Arabic language newspapers. Additionally, the country has one daily English-language newspaper, ''
The Jordan Times ''The Jordan Times'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Amman, Jordan. History Established in 1975, ''The Jordan Times'' is owned by the Jordan Press Foundation, a shareholding company which also runs the Arabic-language daily '' ...
'', and one weekly English-language newspaper, '' The Star''.


Music

Rural
Zajal Zajal () is a traditional form of oral strophic poetry declaimed in a colloquial dialect. While there is little evidence of the exact origins of the zajal, the earliest recorded zajal poet was the poet Ibn Quzman of al-Andalus who lived from 1078 ...
songs, with improvised poetry played with a
Mijwiz The ''mijwiz'' ( ar, , DIN: ''miǧwiz'') is a traditional Middle East musical instrument popular in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. Its name in Arabic means "dual," because of its consisting of two, short, bamboo pipes with reed tips p ...
,
Tablah The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet- ...
,
Arghul The ''arghul'' ( ar, أرغول or يرغول), also spelled ''argul'', ''arghoul'', ''arghool'', ''argol'', or ''yarghul'', is a musical instrument in the reed family. It has been used since ancient Egyptian times and is still used as a trad ...
,
Oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...
, Rabab
reed pipe A reed pipe (also referred to as a ''lingual'' pipe) is an organ pipe that is sounded by a vibrating brass strip known as a ''reed''. Air under pressure (referred to as ''wind'') is directed towards the reed, which vibrates at a specific pitc ...
and ADdaf ensemble accompanying is popular. Recently Jordan has seen the rise of several prominent DJs and popstars.


Cinema

Jordan's film industry has cinemas everwhere in jordan. The only Jordanian films are ''
Captain Abu Raed ''Captain Abu Raed'' ( ar, كابتن أبو رائد) is a 2007 Jordanian film directed and written by Amin Matalqa. It is the first feature film produced in Jordan in more than 50 years. The Royal Film Commission of Jordan endorsed ''Captain A ...
''. and Theeb. Though these are the only Jordanian films made in Jordan. multiple Hollywood films have been filmed on location in Jordan, such as ''
Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–191 ...
'' and '' Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''. The 2010 Oscar winner for Best Picture, ''
The Hurt Locker ''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film foll ...
'', was also filmed in Jordan. Much more recently, The Martian (2015), Dune: Part One (2021), Aladdin (2019) and parts of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker were filmed in Jordan.


Television and episodes

The term "musalsalat" may be loosely translated as Arabic soap operas. Jordan produces a number of "Bedouin soap operas" that are filmed outdoors with authentic props. The actors use local Bedouin-accented Arabic to make the story feel more authentic, but have incorporated aspects of the accent of foreign Bedouins in order to make the dialect more broadly understood. These series have become popular in the Levant, Arab states of the Persian Gulf and some parts of Iraq. Notable series center around traditional village life during the time period just before World War II. Often, these dramas are permeated by themes of tension between the ancient and modern ways of life with specific emphasis on the patriarchal systems and the role of women within them. Another genre is that of the historical drama. Topics of these shows range from pre-Islamic poets to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Many of these are joint productions by Levantine and Gulf television producers. While the aforementioned series target a broader, Arabic-speaking audience, certain programs target Jordanians specifically. These shows tend to deal with social and political issues particular to current-day Amman.


Dance

One of the most popular traditional dances in Jordan is
dabke ''Dabke'' ( ar, دبكة also spelled ''dabka'', ''dubki'', ''dabkeh'', plural ''dabkaat'') is a Levantine Arab folk dance. Dabke combines circle dance and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and other joyous occasions. The line f ...
. This may be performed as gender-segregated or co-ed groups. The dancers line up shoulder-to-shoulder, holding hands or placing arms over the neighboring two dancers’ shoulders, then move as a group in a circle using steps that are punctuated by kicks and stomps. The accompanying music includes a flute called a ney, a drum called a tabl, and a reed instrument called a mizmar. This group dance is popular among Bedouins and non-Bedouins alike, and is often performed at weddings. Jordan has also been effected by an influx of global dance styles within the cultural impact of the last century. These include several ballroom and ballet dance studios in Amman, as well as a regionally recognized and royally supported contemporary dance troupe.


Archaeology

Archaeological study of Jordan began in the 19th century with the discovery of Petra by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Most archaeological attention in the 19th century, however, was focused on Palestine, since foreign archaeologists tended to be preoccupied with the proliferation of Biblical sites located there. The Department of Antiquities in Amman was established in 1923, and since then, there have been excavations in Amman,
Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...
,
Gadara Gadara ( el, Γάδαρα ''Gádara''), in some texts Gedaris, was an ancient Hellenistic city, for a long time member of the Decapolis city league, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. Its ruins are today located at Umm ...
in
Um Qais Umm Qais or Qays ( ar, أم قيس , , Mother of Qais) is a town in northern Jordan principally known for its proximity to the ruins of the ancient Gadara. It is the largest city in the Bani Kinanah Department and Irbid Governorate in the extrem ...
, Petra,
Jerash Jerash ( ar, جرش ''Ǧaraš''; grc, Γέρασα ''Gérasa'') is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located north of the capital city ...
, Kerak, and Aljun.
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
statuettes were found in 1983 at the site of prehistoric village Ain Ghazal. Fourth century mosaics have been found in the church at the Monument of Moses at
Mount Nebo Mount Nebo ( ar, جَبَل نِيبُو, Jabal Nībū; he, , Har Nəḇō) is an elevated ridge located in Jordan, approximately above sea level. Part of the Abarim mountain range, Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses ...
, and Byzantine mosaics at various churches in Nebo and
Madaba Madaba ( ar, مادبا; Biblical Hebrew: ''Mēḏəḇāʾ''; grc, Μήδαβα) is the capital city of Madaba Governorate in central Jordan, with a population of about 60,000. It is best known for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, especi ...
. Other mosaics are found throughout the Jordanian desert at various castles dating back to the Umayyad dynasty. Such castles include Qasr al-Hallabat, Hmmam al-Sarakh, Qusayr ‘amra, Qasr Kharana, Mshatta, and Qasr al-Tuba."Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of." In The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Ed. Jonathan M. Bloom, Sheila S. Blair. Oxford Islamic Studies Online. 3 May 2012. . The
Jordan Archaeological Museum The Jordan Archaeological Museum is located in the Citadel of Amman, Jordan. Built in 1951, it presents artifacts from archaeological sites in Jordan, dating from prehistoric times to the 15th century. The collections are arranged in chronologica ...
was founded in 1951 in Amman, and archeological museums at Petra, jerash, Madaba, and Kerak have also come into existence. Archeological discoveries in Jordan have also been supported since 1970 by the American Center for Oriental Research (ACOR). ACOR hosts visiting archeologists and anthropologists, funds ongoing discovery initiatives and offers fellowships for students in the region.


Society and customs


Hospitality

One of the key aspects of Jordanian culture is the hospitality shown by hosts to their guests. This is felt even while walking around the streets of Jordan, where the phrase "ahlan wa sahlan" ("I welcome you") is heard nearly everywhere you go. Old proverbs such as the following one show that traditions of hospitality date back many years: "The host must fear the guest. When he sits nd shares your food he is company. When he stands nd leaves your house he is a poet" ().Shryock, Andrew. "The New Jordanian Hospitality: House, Host, and Guest in the Culture of Public Display". Comparative Studies in Society and History , Vol. 46, No. 1 (Jan. 2004), pp. 35–62. Some of the traditions of hospitality come from Jordanian Bedouin culture. For example, the host and his/her guest often share a cup of black coffee. The host drinks out of the cup first, ensuring that the coffee is the right temperature. The guest then drinks what remains of the first cup. A second cup is served to the guest, and then a third. The host also serves the guest copious amounts of food and is careful to make sure the guest is comfortable and stays as long as he/she would like. Such displays are referred to as karam, the Arabic word for "generosity" or "hospitality" that also has implications of "nobility," "grace," and "refinement." In addition to wanting to be hospitable, the host also has a reputation at stake when inviting over a guest.


Bedouin weddings

Bedouin tradition favors marriage between first cousins on the paternal side of the family. This allows family property to stay within the family. When a man decides he would like to marry, he, his father, and the women of the family discuss who might be an appropriate choice for a wife. Then, a courtship begins. The young man is able to meet with his potential spouse multiple times until they decide whether the marriage will happen. The father of the bride meets with the young man and his father, who seal the agreement over coffee. Traditional Bedouin wedding celebrations last anywhere from five to seven days. The week begins with small gatherings in the tents of the bride and the groom. These gatherings increase in size throughout the week, adding more guests and food as the days pass. The men gather in the groom's tent where they dance and sing and use pistols and rifles to shoot celebratory shots in the air. The women gather in the bride's tent, and on the final night they paint her hands and feet with henna. On the day of the wedding, the male relatives of the groom dress and prepare him; the women prepare the bride. The bride is dressed in an embroidered wedding dress and gold or silver jewelry, with a green silk cloth covering her head. The female relatives process her to the groom's tent where the wedding takes place. After seven days of marriage, the female relatives of the groom wash and dress the new bride, who is now officially a married woman of the groom's household.


Non-Bedouin weddings

Traditional weddings among non-Bedouin Jordanians involve a long process that starts with an engagement. Typically, the older women in the family lead the process and talk among one another their children and which among them might make a good match as husband and wife. When an agreement is made between two families, the deal is confirmed over rounds of coffee between the girl's father and the prospective groom and his father. The groom's family then hosts a large engagement party. The two families work together to prepare for the wedding. Traditional wedding celebrations last a week and begin with small gatherings of family and close friends. As the days pass and the wedding grows closer, the parties increase in size. More guests are invited and more food is served. The night before the wedding, the bride's hands and feet are painted with henna by the women in her family as they sing and tell stories. Traditionally, on the morning of the wedding, the groom's friends take him to a bathhouse for an intense cleaning and a shave, singing and telling jokes all the while, but today this is less common. Once prepared, both the bride and the groom go to the house of the groom's parents. The bride is processed by a caravan of honking cars. The men typically sit outside the house; the women, inside. There is much singing and dancing done by all. Mansaf is typically served as the noonday meal. Today, especially in cities such as Amman, it is also common for the wedding celebration to be shortened to make the occasion more financially affordable, as well as less time consuming. Many brides opt for bridal outfit white dresses; grooms, a formal black suit. The procession of cars still occurs, but often to a wedding hall rather than the groom's house where guests may or may not sit segregated by gender.


Sports

Football is the most popular sport in Jordan, followed by
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
. The increase of interest in football can be attributed to the recent success of the Jordanian national football team, after they qualified for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time ever in 2004. The Jordanian national basketball team also experienced success after receiving sponsorship by Zain.


Cuisine

The Jordanian cuisine is a traditional style of food preparation originating from Jordan that has developed from centuries of social and political change with roots starts with the evidence of human activity in Jordan in the Paleolithic period (c. 90,000 BC). There is a wide variety in the Jordanian style of cooking. The authentic Jordanian cuisine can range from baking,
sautéing Sautéing or sauteing (, ; in reference to tossing while cooking) is a method of cooking that uses a relatively small amount of oil or fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Various sauté methods exist. Description Ingredients for ...
and grilling to stuffing of vegetables (grape leaves, eggplants, etc.), meat, and poultry. Also common in the Jordanian style of cooking is roasting and preparing foods with special sauces. As one of the largest producers of olives in the world, olive oil is the main cooking oil in Jordan. Herbs, garlic, spices, onion,
tomato sauce Tomato sauce (also known as ''salsa roja'' in Spanish or ''salsa di pomodoro'' in Italian) can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish, rather than as a condiment. Tomato sauces are c ...
and lemon are typical flavours found in Jordanian food. The recipes to the meals of the cuisines of Jordan can vary from extremely spicy to mild. The most common and popular of the appetizers is hummus, which is a puree of chick peas blended with tahini, lemon, and garlic.
Ful Medames Ful medames ( ar, فول مدمس, ' ; other spellings include ''ful mudammas'' and '' foule mudammes''), or simply fūl, is a stew of cooked fava beans served with olive oil, cumin, and optionally with chopped parsley, garlic, onion, lemon juice, ...
is another well-known appetizer. A worker's meal, today it has made its way to the tables of the upper class. A successful
mezze Meze or mezza (, ) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in the Levant, Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Iran. It is similar to Spanish tapas and Italian antipasti. A mezze may be served as a part of a multi-course ...
must of course have , ,
baba ghanoush Baba ghanoush (, ;"baba ghanouj"
(US) and
,
tabbouleh Tabbouleh ( ar, تبولة, translit=tabbūla; also tabouleh, tabbouli, tabouli, or taboulah) is a Levantine salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley, with tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur (soaked, not cooked), and seasoned with olive oil, lemon ...
, olives and
pickles Pickles may refer to: Dogs * Pickles (dog) (died 1967), a dog that found the stolen World Cup trophy in 1966 * Pickles (pickleball), a dog often cited as the name origin for the sport of pickleball * Mr. Pickles, the titular demonic dog in ...
.


Mansaf

The national dish in Jordan is
mansaf Mansaf ( ar, منسف) is a traditional Jordanian dish made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice or bulgur. It is a popular dish eaten throughout the Levant. It is considered the national dish of Jordan, and ...
, a dish that is associated with Bedouin traditions. Despite these rural roots, it is shared by Jordanians of many diverse backgrounds, not just Bedouins or those who can trace their ancestral lines back to Bedouins. The dish is composed of a bread called sherack, lamb meat, and yogurt (jameed). Recently, rice and nuts have been added to the dish, and some regions in Jordan add seasoning. It is served on a large, circular platter. The ingredients are combined to form several layers. The first layer is made of thin, unleavened bread, shredded and soaked in yogurt broth. Next is a layer of rice which covers the bread. Large chunks of lamb that have been simmered in the same type of yogurt broth are placed on top of the rice. The head of the lamb is placed in the center of the tray. Pine nuts, almonds, and parsley are sprinkled atop the meat and rice. The final step involves pouring a yogurt broth over the entire dish, which is then added periodically throughout the meal to keep the dish warm and moist. Traditionally, mansaf is eaten while sitting on the floor, using ones hands to eat from a large, circular communal tray. This tradition still persists, although in modern years, many people have taken to eating the dish with silverware. Most admit, however, that mansaf tastes better when eaten with the hand. The dish takes hours to prepare and thus is primarily served only on special occasions.


Zarb/Quzi

Another famous meat dish in Southern Jordan, especially in the Bedouin desert area of Petra and
Wadi Rum Wadi Rum ( ar, وادي رم ''Wādī Ramm'', also ''Wādī al-Ramm''), known also as the Valley of the Moon ( ar, وادي القمر ''Wādī al-Qamar''), is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan, about to the east ...
, is the Quzi also called as '' zarb''. It is a Bedouin style barbeque containing chunks of meat which have been marinated in spices, as well as bread dough and vegetables which are prepared in a submerged oven called a ''
taboon A tabun oven, or simply tabun (also transliterated taboon, from the ar, طابون), is a clay oven, shaped like a truncated cone, with an opening at the bottom from which to stoke the fire. Built and used in biblical times as the family, neig ...
''. It is considered a delicacy of that area.


Daily meals

Breakfast usually includes a variety of white cheeses, olives, pickled vegetables, and freshly baked breads served with various fruit spreads, butter, or honey. Most opt for tea or fruit juice as a drink with breakfast. Lunch is the main meal for most Jordanian families, and can take place anywhere from 2 pm until 8 pm. It typically includes a main dish containing meat, as well as rice or bread, as well as a wide variety of salads and dips. Some common salads are
tabbouleh Tabbouleh ( ar, تبولة, translit=tabbūla; also tabouleh, tabbouli, tabouli, or taboulah) is a Levantine salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley, with tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur (soaked, not cooked), and seasoned with olive oil, lemon ...
and salatah ‘arabiyah (chopped tomatoes, cucumber, and onions, drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice). Dips include baba ghanouj and tahini. Dinner is generally a smaller meal than lunch, but this can vary family-to-family depending on work schedules. If traditional practice is followed, the meal is usually a type of soup or stew or the leftovers from lunch. Although simple fresh fruits are often served towards the end of a Jordanian meal, there is also dessert, such as baklava, hareeseh,
knafeh Knafeh ( ar, كنافة) is a traditional Middle Eastern dessert made with spun pastry called ''kataifi'', soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup called attar, and typically layered with cheese, or with other ingredients such as clotted cream, pis ...
, halva and
qatayef Qatayef or katayef or qata'if ( ar, قطايف, ), is an Arab dessert commonly served during the month of Ramadan, a sort of sweet dumpling filled with cream or nuts. It can be described as a folded pancake, similar to a Scottish crumpet. Etym ...
which is a dessert made specially for Ramadan.


Imported culinary customs

The large Palestinian population in the country has led to the rise of another popular dish among the people of Jordan:
maqluba Maqluba or Maqlooba ( ar, مقلوبة) is a traditional Iraqi, Lebanese, Palestinian, Jordanian, and Syrian dish served throughout the Levant. It consists of meat, rice, and fried vegetables placed in a pot which is flipped upside down whe ...
. This dish is made of meat (typically beef or lamb), fried onions, and a variety of vegetables. The word maqlubah means "upside down" and the dish draws its name from the fact that the pot it is prepared in is turned upside down on a plate before it is served. The dish falls out of the pot with what had been at the bottom of the pot during preparation now sitting on top of the dish. The Ottoman legacy also lives on in Jordanian cuisine, as evidenced by the presence of such dishes as one called
kabsa ), ''makbūs/machbūs'' ( ar, مكبوس/مچبوس) , country = Saudi Arabia , region = Arabian Peninsula , creator = , course = Meal , served = , main_ingredient = Rice (usually long-grain, ...
or Riz Bukhari which is made with chicken, onions, carrots, tomatoes, orange or lemon zest and juice, and spices. This mixture is served on top of rice and sprinkled with raisons and chopped almonds. This dish originates with Turkish-speaking Uzbeks from Central Asia who came to Jordan in the decade 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 ...
.Shoup, John A. "Traditional Cuisine and Costume." Culture and Customs of Jordan. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2006. 71–86. Print.


See also

*
Architecture of Jordan The architecture of Jordan has been subject to vast development, specifically in the final years of the twentieth century. Jordan is a semi-arid country located in the Middle East. Its location has great significance to Christians, Muslims and Je ...


References


External links


Information on Jordanian culture

Ministry of Culture (Arabic)Jordan culture and traditions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culture Of Jordan Jordanian culture Western Asian culture