On July 1, 2019 the special exhibition „Tall Zirā‘a – Mirror of Jordan’s History” will be opened under the patronage of H.R.H. Princess Sumaya bint al-Hassan and H.E. the German Ambassador Birgitta Siefker-Eberle at the Jordan Museum in Amman. The exhibit will give an overview of the investigations on Tall Zirā‘a in northwest Jordan which were conducted between 2001 and 2011 and again in 2018 and 2019 by the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology and the Biblical Archaeological Institute Wuppertal with the kind support of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. The exhibition has been funded by the German Embassy and the Regula Pestalozzi Stiftung. It will last until the end of December 2019.
The focus is on four subjects which are demonstrated by 84 archaeological objects. The first theme gives an introduction to the site Tall Zirā‘a and its surroundings in the Wādī al-‘Arab as well as the aims and methods of the investigations.
The second theme focuses on “Cult and Religion on Tall Zirā‘a” from the Bronze Age to the Byzantine period.
The third theme deals with the “Handicraft – tradition meets innovation” which explains the hints to pottery, glass and metal production or processing on and around Tall Zirā‘a. The last subject concentrates on “Cultural contacts” which embrace the other themes as well.
With its five thousand years long settlement history and situated at a trade route connecting the Mediterranean with North Syria and Mesopotamia to the north as well as Egypt to the south, the site of Tall Zirā‘a mirrors some important aspects of the overall history of Jordan.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 280 pages catalogue, which gives an introduction to each theme and shows all the exhibited objects in high-quality photographs.
