Australia Returns Prehistoric Sculpture Fragment to Jordan

AMMAN, JORDAN—According to a Menafn report, Australian officials handed over a carved stone slab unearthed in northern Jordan at Wadi Al Hammah to Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. The artifact is one of three pieces of a large, 14,000-year-old sculpture uncovered during an excavation conducted by archaeologists from Jordan and Australia. One piece of the sculpture was transferred to the National Gallery of Australia in 1985. The other two pieces are held at the Jordan Museum in Amman and Dar Al Saraya Museum in Irbid. To read about a Neolithic necklace excavated in southern Jordan, go to “Child’s Play.”