The Museum at the Lowest Point on Earth (with an acronym such as MuLPE) is one of the main cultural proposals for those who visit the Dead Sea area. So if you are going to travel here and want to know what is interesting about this venue, pay attention to everything we tell you in this post.
What is Museum at the Lowest Point on Earth?
Opened in 2006, this museum undoubtedly has a very unique name and refers to its location: it is located about 405 meters below sea level, in the southern sector of the Dead Sea, which is precisely the lowest point on the planet. However, the name acts more as a claim about this curiosity, but its collection has little to do with the geological reality that gives it this record, except for a small space that deals with the geomorphology of the area.
In reality, it is more of a typical archaeological museum, since it shows the extraordinary wealth recovered from the environment. In fact, it was originally going to be a thematic museum dedicated to the biblical Cave of Lot (Deir ‘Ain ‘Abata), located a few meters from the enclosure: it shows architectural and decorative elements from the Byzantine monastery built in the fifth century AD, but later it was decided that it was also worth showing many other paleontological and archaeological pieces later, made by civilizations as different as those of the Metal Age, the Nabataeans or the Romans.
The great promoter of the museum was the Greek archaeologist Dr. Konstantinos D. Politis, who in the 90s was excavating the aforementioned Cave of Lot, an idea that was later supported by the Jordanian Department of Antiquities. The building is the work of Jordanian architect George Hakim and is circular in shape because it is inspired by the fossil ammonite shells, present in the area tens and even hundreds of millions of years ago.
What to see: the MuLPE collection
The permanent collection of the Museum of the Lowest Point on Earth is organized chronologically and thematically, from prehistory to the present day, with exhibition spaces dedicated to the different civilizations that inhabited the Dead Sea, with the respective paleontological or archaeological pieces found in the area.
Among the most remarkable and interesting things to see are:
- Ceramics from the Bronze Age, third millennium BC, found in Lot’s Cave and related to the cities of Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, usually identified with Sodom and Gomorrah
- Tombstones with Nabataean inscriptions, of great value to know the writing of this civilization that became an empire in the first century B.C
- Nabataean fabrics, which is a great opportunity to learn more about textile activity 2,000 years ago
- Byzantine mosaic pavement from the nearby Cave of Lot
- Objects for the processing of sugar, as this ingredient was known and popular in the area as early as the Middle Ages thanks to the Egyptian Mamluks, long before its spread throughout Europe. A space in the museum is about the history of sugar
- Objects and way of life of the local Bedouin tribes
In addition, the MuLPE has a small room for temporary exhibitions, as well as a multimedia room and other spaces for research and to serve visitors, such as a cafeteria and a craft and souvenir shop.
Practical information for the visit
This is the basic information to visit the MuLPE:
- Address: Gawr as-Safi, Jordan
- Opening hours: open every day, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Price: 2 JD. Jordan Pass holders enter for free
Photo: Ana al’ain, CC 4.0 license
