Stone Ages, Jordan Museum
Exhibits from the beginnings of sedentariness (12,500 BC), until the Late Chalcolithic. Part of the visual informative tour through The Jordan Museum in Amman.
For an optimal view of our website, please rotate your tablet horizontally.
Late Chalcolithic (Late Copper Age), 3800-3600 BC
Tulaylat al-Ghassul, northeast of the Dead Sea.
The earliest known depiction of full-length human figures with decorated costumes, and the earliest known scene of a ritual procession. It shows several standing figures holding hands in a row, wearing black and white masks and decorated costumes painted on red bodies. The leading figure with the tallest mask holds a sickle-like object in the right hand, and they all seem directed towards an unidentified edifice to the left.
The painting originally covered a mud-brick wall. It was found fragmented into 33 major pieces during excavations in 1977, and might be related to the "Star" painting discovered in the 1930s. It has at least seven thin painted schemes, three of which appear clearly at the top left. The preparatory layers for painting are from crushed shells (aragonite), while the colours come from mineral paints and charcoal. The yellow paint is thought to belong to an earlier scheme.
© Text: The Jordan Museum
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
Exhibits from the beginnings of sedentariness (12,500 BC), until the Late Chalcolithic. Part of the visual informative tour through The Jordan Museum in Amman.