An Overview of Middle Eastern Museology through Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies with a Focus on Jordan

Abstract

The Arabian Gulf has gained international attention in museum studies due to the number of new museums with cultural policies that have opened within the last decade. In particular, there have been developments in the Gulf countries such as Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar, and in the center of the Middle East such as Jordan. This study highlights Jordanian museums that seek to show a unity of national culture with contents similar to Western museums and examines cultural heritage studies in Jordan in terms of both historical and contemporary museum approaches. In Jordan, cultural heritage studies evolved within a system of historical development and practices. This research compares traditional and contemporary Jordanian museums in line with their histories, mission, vision, and approaches to museology. Archeology museums, university museums, a children's museum, and the Jordan National Museum are evaluated, and a general framework is created for museology in the Middle East. It is pointed out that the increase in the number and variety of museums since the 1990s is a positive development, but at the same time, museums are struggling with financial difficulties and a lack of qualified staff. Moreover, common problems affecting museology in Jordan include a lack of educational units in museums other than a few major museums in the country, need for the use of modern technology, lack of cooperative studies, lack of complementary activities such as conferences and seminars, difficulty of competition with other organizations in the entertainment industry, lack of promotional materials, and insufficient public opinion in the fields of archeology and cultural heritage.