Introduction to
Handcrafts in Jordan

This is a traditional ground loom being used to weave a carpet.
Note the rolled finished length of carpet behind the weaver.
See the web page on Bedouin weaving.

There is no real tradition of artisanal crafts in Jordan. Historically people made what was needed by themselves  and did not trouble with organising it. Only recently has there been any attempt at this, largely to provide some sort of income for the rural women, many of them who live in the most complete poverty.

Help came from the Save the Children Fund and later from the Noor al Hussein Foundation. Queen Noor has always been deeply interested in the problems of rural women and her Foundation provided encouragement and a measure of financial help. Since the death of King Hussein, Queen Noor spends much of her time outside the Kingdom, and the Jordan River Foundation, the project of Queen Rania, has been attempting to replace it.

Since these foundations are concerned with women, a number of others have sprung up, in different areas around Jordan, all of them directed largely at women, who have a certain amount of leisure but who cannot move far from their homes. Gradually these different organisations are gaining recognition and with it, some additional financing, rather than the shoestring aid that they had to rely on to begin with.

Unemployment is fierce in Jordan, and some of these women are becoming the main wage earners for their families; it is interesting to speculate on the eventual social repercussions.

One of the problems is to be able to finance suitable premises for workrooms, and to buy the raw materials to make whatever is being made. Undoubtedly this is one reason why embroidery is so very important in nearly every one of the organisations : the raw materials are cheap, and it is something that women can easily do at home.

Besides the two I have named, some of the more prominent organisation/foundations are the Ghor al Safi Women's Group, the Women's Trade Cooperation at Salt, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, the Iraq al Amir Women's Cooperative Society and many others. In fact, almost every small town and village has something of the kind organised, and their main problem is to find outlets for selling their products. This problem is particularly acute for individuals.

The Noor al Hussein retail outlets have now closed and apart from the showrooms of the richer organisations like Jordan River, the RSCN and the Bani Hamida in Amman, I know of only two places that call themselves "handcraft centres". One is "Made in Jordan" in Petra (see separate web page); the other is the Madaba Handicrafts Centre a couple of kilometers from the centre of Madaba. This is in fact a gigantic shop, and sells some beautiful artisanal work. However, by no means all of the objects on sale here are made in Jordan, and if you want a selection of Jordan made work you almost have to go to "Made in Jordan".

Madaba Handicrafts Centre

Mosaics

This is a few kilometers outside Madaba on the road to Mount Nebo. There is a very large collection of objects for sale, many of them beautifully made. There is a workroom for mosaics on the premises and you can watch the work being done there. The Madaba Mosaic School produces a number of graduates each year and by no means all of them specialise in restoring the ancient mosaics, which is physically very demanding work.  Some of them find work in tourism, making copies of the better known mosaics for sale, and some others concentrate on making original mosaics, either for direct sale or as gallery pieces. This has led to a considerable market in mosaic pieces in sale in Madaba, which are not to be found elsewhere in Jordan.

The pieces are all decorated with mosaic tiles. The great jar shows a cobra climbing up and around it to drink the water supposedly inside. The many mosaic tiles on the right show details of well known mosaics in and around Madaba.

The vase on the right above is a direct copy of the very famous and memorable mosaic in the church at Mount Nebo. This mosaic is also very often to be found copied as a rug.

This original mosaic of irises and reeds was done by Alaa Hajjeh who works at the Madaba Handicrafts Centre. He is not himself a graduate of the Mosaic School, but learnt to make mosaics "on the job". He insisted that his colleague Bassim Assan (who did learn at the School) should be included in the photo.

Olivewood carvings

The  olivewood carvings shown here are very beautiful, but are not made in Jordan Many of them come from Palestine, some from Egypt. However, as you can see the work is extraordinary.

The Centre sells many other objects, most of which are discussed in the page about "Souvenirs". The rugs are also beautiful, but again they are not made in Jordan; most of them are brought from Egypt, although they are based on traditional Jordanian designs. A number of them use the mosaic at Mount Nebo shown on higher up.

There is little woven or embroidered work ; a good deal of jewellery, most of it imported from either Turkey or India. However, the management does try, even though this cannot really be considered a JORDANIAN Handicrafts Centre.

Index to the Handcrafts Section

Home