Metal Detecting Laws in Jordan

Jordan's Antiquities Law gives the Department of Antiquities alone the right to excavate for antiquities and bans anyone else from doing it anywhere in the Kingdom, even on their own land. And the law defines excavation as digging, sounding and investigation aimed at finding antiquities, not digging alone.

• excavation for antiquities (التنقيب عن الآثار) means digging, sounding and investigation (الحفر والسبر والتحري) aimed at finding movable or immovable antiquities; a chance discovery is not excavation (art. 2(11))
• the Department alone may excavate; with the minister's approval it may let scientific institutions, bodies and societies and archaeological missions excavate under a special licence, after confirming their capability and competence (art. 16(a))
• an antiquity is, in general, anything people made, built, inscribed or modified before 1750 CE, later objects the minister declares antiquities in the official gazette, and human, animal and plant remains from before 600 CE (art. 2(7))
• excavating for antiquities without a licence carries 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine of at least 3,000 dinars, scaled to the antiquity's value, and the devices and tools used are confiscated (arts. 26(a)(1), 28(a)(1))
• courts may not cut the penalty below the legal minimum for mitigating circumstances (art. 30)
• the law does not mention metal detectors; the text read is the Department's consolidated version through amending Law No. 23 of 2004, and later amendments were not checked
• the rule covers antiquities; no source read addresses detecting for modern lost items

There's no beach exception: the law counts antiquities under Jordan's inland and territorial waters as immovable antiquities, and its excavation ban covers anywhere in the Kingdom.

• the national rule: only the Department of Antiquities, and the scientific bodies and archaeological missions it licenses, may excavate for antiquities, and nobody else may do so anywhere in the Kingdom, even on their own land (art. 16)
• excavation for antiquities (التنقيب عن الآثار) means digging, sounding and investigation (الحفر والسبر والتحري) aimed at finding movable or immovable antiquities; a chance discovery is not excavation (art. 2(11))
• excavating for antiquities without a licence carries 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine of at least 3,000 dinars, scaled to the antiquity's value, and the devices and tools used are confiscated (arts. 26(a)(1), 28(a)(1))
• no beach-specific detecting rule was found in the sources read
• the law is written about searching for heritage; it doesn't address hunting for modern lost items

Treasure hunting at archaeological sites is banned outright: whatever any other law says, no person or organization may dig at an archaeological site in search of gold hoards or any other buried treasure.

• an archaeological site is an area treated as a historic site under earlier laws, or one the minister decides, by notice in the official gazette, contains antiquities or is linked to important historical events (art. 2(8))
• damaging, defacing or altering antiquities is prohibited (art. 9) and carries 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine of at least 3,000 dinars (art. 26(a)(4))
• the director can ask the court to hold the devices, tools and machines used in an attack on an archaeological site until it rules (art. 28(c))
• excavation for antiquities (التنقيب عن الآثار) means digging, sounding and investigation (الحفر والسبر والتحري) aimed at finding movable or immovable antiquities; a chance discovery is not excavation (art. 2(11))
• the national rule: only the Department of Antiquities, and the scientific bodies and archaeological missions it licenses, may excavate for antiquities, and nobody else may do so anywhere in the Kingdom, even on their own land (art. 16)
• the law is written about searching for heritage; it doesn't address hunting for modern lost items

National parks and nature reserves follow the national rule: nobody but the Department of Antiquities and its licensees may excavate for antiquities anywhere in the Kingdom.

• excavation for antiquities (التنقيب عن الآثار) means digging, sounding and investigation (الحفر والسبر والتحري) aimed at finding movable or immovable antiquities; a chance discovery is not excavation (art. 2(11))
• excavating for antiquities without a licence carries 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine of at least 3,000 dinars, scaled to the antiquity's value, and the devices and tools used are confiscated (arts. 26(a)(1), 28(a)(1))
• no park- or reserve-specific detecting rule was found in the sources read
• the law is written about searching for heritage; it doesn't address hunting for modern lost items

State forests follow the national rule: excavating for antiquities, which the law defines to include sounding and investigation aimed at finding them, is for the Department of Antiquities and its licensees only.

• the national rule: only the Department of Antiquities, and the scientific bodies and archaeological missions it licenses, may excavate for antiquities, and nobody else may do so anywhere in the Kingdom, even on their own land (art. 16)
• excavating for antiquities without a licence carries 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine of at least 3,000 dinars, scaled to the antiquity's value, and the devices and tools used are confiscated (arts. 26(a)(1), 28(a)(1))
• no forest-specific detecting rule was found in the sources read
• the law is written about searching for heritage; it doesn't address hunting for modern lost items

Your own land is no loophole: owning land gives you no right to the antiquities on or under it and no right to excavate for them, and the excavation ban applies even on land you own.

• the national rule: only the Department of Antiquities, and the scientific bodies and archaeological missions it licenses, may excavate for antiquities, and nobody else may do so anywhere in the Kingdom, even on their own land (art. 16)
• excavation for antiquities (التنقيب عن الآثار) means digging, sounding and investigation (الحفر والسبر والتحري) aimed at finding movable or immovable antiquities; a chance discovery is not excavation (art. 2(11))
• excavating for antiquities without a licence carries 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine of at least 3,000 dinars, scaled to the antiquity's value, and the devices and tools used are confiscated (arts. 26(a)(1), 28(a)(1))
• antiquities found during any work by anyone are State property (art. 21(a))
• the law is written about searching for heritage; it doesn't address hunting for modern lost items