What is the significance of the Ain Ghazal statues? What was the purpose of Ain Ghazal?

Ain Ghazal is a Neolithic archaeological site located in Amman, Jordan, about 2 kilometers northwest of Amman Civil Airport.

The location is notable for the discovery of the Ain Ghazal figures, which are among the oldest large-scale statues ever uncovered.

The settlement at Ain Ghazal (‘Spring of the Gazelle’) originally developed in the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (MPPNB) and is divided into two phases. Phase I begins at 10,300 Before Present (BP) and finishes around 9,950 BP, whereas Phase II concludes at around 9,550 BP.

It is located in a reasonably rich environmental setting, directly close to the Zarqa River (Wadi Zarqa), Jordan’s longest drainage system.

What is the significance of the Ain Ghazal statues?

Dating to around 9,000 years ago, they are considered some of the earliest large-scale representations of the human form.

What was the purpose of Ain Ghazal?

Archeologists believe that these statues were directly related to the burials of humans whose bodies, after the complete decay of flesh, were exhumed in order to coat the skulls with plaster.