The Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum (MRAM) will be a state-of-the-art regional archaeological museum that employs best practices to preserve and display artifacts from Madaba and sites in the area bounded by southern Amman, the Dead Sea, the Wadi Mujib, and the eastern desert. These artifacts come from all periods represented in the region—from pre-history through the Bronze and Iron Ages to Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods, as well as modern times (see Timeline HERE). A museum like this one will become a destination for the display and protection of Jordan’s considerable cultural heritage, organized around narrative themes native to the region. To be enduring, endearing, and sustainable, the museum must derive and grow from local roots, and to this end the museum is being conceptualized, designed, and planned in direct engagement with stakeholders in the Madaba region.
THE VISION
MRAM is envisioned as a new regional archaeological museum for the Governorate of Madaba in central Jordan, which will serve as an educational tool and a springboard for local development and sustainable tourism. Community is key to this concept.
Our vision for the new museum is aligned with the principles outlined by the International Councils for Museums (ICOM) that museums must play a role in the development of contemporary society and with ICOM’s definition of the museum:
“A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.”
To that end, we have conceived the whole project in terms of community archaeology; that is, as a collaborative endeavor between MRAMP (the Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum Project) and the community, with the ultimate goal of promoting local stewardship of cultural heritage, as well as providing economic benefits to the community.
