The Depository · Browse · Middle East
The Depository documents 11 techniques in Jordan; by risk level: 1 critically endangered, 4 endangered, 3 vulnerable, 1 stable, 1 thriving. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.
The forging of the shibriya, a traditional Bedouin dagger that has armed nomadic tribes across the Jordanian desert for centuries, carried on today by a small number of remaining family workshops.
The making of niello jewelry -- silver decorated with a black metallic alloy inlay -- in As-Salt, a Jordanian town where craftsmen originally from Nablus settled and established the technique, which remains in high local demand today.
The hand-spinning and weaving of rugs, cushions, and bags by Bedouin women of the Bani Hamida tribal confederation, centered in and around Mukawir in central Jordan.
The hand-spinning and ground-loom weaving of long woolen and goat-hair strips used to construct the beit al-sha'ar, literally the 'house of hair,' among the largest woven structures ever built, produced by Bedouin women across Jordan's…
The embroidery and construction of the Jordanian thobe, a floor-length women's dress whose specific stitch style, al-roqma, is genuinely distinct from the cross-stitch tatreez tradition of neighboring Palestine: al-roqma's stitches…
The hand-crafting of goat-skin leather goods -- candle lanterns, nature boxes, and other decorative and functional gifts -- by local Bedouin women of Feynan, a remote desert region in southern Jordan.
The preparation and communal serving of mansaf, lamb seasoned with aromatic herbs and cooked in dried fermented yogurt (jameed), served atop a large shared platter of rice and flatbread, sprinkled with almonds, pine kernels, and other nuts.
The creation of mosaics by pressing ceramic, stone, or glass fragments into wet plaster, historically used to decorate the floors, walls, and ceilings of buildings across Jordan primarily between the first and eighth centuries AD,…
The carving of basalt stone into sculptural artworks embodying Jordanian heritage, values, and traditional customs, a craft experiencing genuine, actively documented growing popularity in the Northern Badia region of Mafraq Governorate.
The layering of naturally colored sand within glass bottles to compose detailed desert scenes -- undulating dunes, camels, and, at the buyer's request, names or words -- a distinctive Jordanian craft directly self-taught as a child by…
All miscellaneous & heritage-adjacent craft techniques worldwide →
The wheel-thrown production of remarkably thin, egg-shell-like painted pottery bowls, a technique historically developed by the Nabataeans, the ancient civilization who built Petra, and directly documented as demonstrating a highly skilled…