The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has renovated the historic Hisham bin Abdul-Malik Palace Museum in Ariha, using modern methods to display archaeological artifacts.

The Director-General of the Tourism and Antiquities Office in Jericho, Iyad Hamdan, said the ministry had renovated the museum to facilitate visitors' understanding of the consecutive historical era during the Umayyad Islamic rule.

The museum was provided with modern glass display cases and screens to display its contents, Hamdan told Oman News Agency. He also revealed that the museum had modernized cultural and archaeological materials, such as saddles, animal statues, and decorations.

The educational nature of the museum was taken into account to acquaint students with the cultural materials used in the palace, and the identification panels were updated to provide an explanation of the area in which these antiquities were discovered, in addition to introducing the museum’s holdings.

Hamdan explained that the exhibits contain heads of human and animal statues, drawings, saddles, and tools that were used in cooking. The contents also include pottery jars, glass made in the Islamic era, and metal coins dating back to the Umayyad period.

Hamdan said part of the palace's holdings dating back to the period 743-749 were transferred to the National Museum in the occupied city of al-Quds during excavations in 1930.