Amman, Oct. 28 (Petra) - The Department of Antiquities (DoA) announced on Wednesday the completion of a project to conserve, document, and showcase archaeological discoveries in the southeastern Jordan desert, backed by the French Embassy and funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
The initiative displayed deep Jordanian-French cooperation in heritage preservation, professional training, and archaeological research. It exhibits Jordan’s prehistoric and Neolithic heritage, shedding light on the economic, social, and cultural shifts of the ancient Near East.
The project builds on excavations conducted since 2012 by the Al-Hussein Bin Talal University and the French Lumière University Lyon 2, in partnership with the French National Centre for Scientific Research's ArScAn laboratory and the French Institute of the Near East (IFPO).
Efforts focused on three main pillars: 1- Artifact restoration: Conserving roughly 30 artifacts at the Jerash Regional Conservation Center through a collaboration between Jordanian specialists and French National Institute of Cultural Heritage experts.
2- Advanced documentation: Digitizing collections using photogrammetry, 3D scanning, and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), alongside equipping the DOA with specialized technology and staff training.
3- Museum integration: Developing a display and scenography design by the French firm Les Les Charrons to integrate the findings into the permanent exhibition at the Petra Museum.
The finds stem from the Jibal Khashabiyeh area, located 90 kilometers east of Al-Jafr. Primary discoveries include 9,000-year-old mass hunting traps known as desert kites, previously unknown Neolithic settlements dubbed the Ghassanid Culture, and two ritual structures featuring human-shaped carvings, small stone animal figurines, marine fossils, and miniature models of the hunting traps.
A ceremony marking the milestone was held at the DoA, attended by Director-General Fadi Abu Danah, French Deputy Head of Mission in Jordan Jean-Christophe Augé, and IFPO's Head of Archaeology Tara Steimer-Herbet.
//Petra// HA
