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How to Find the Records
Offices to Contact
National Archives in Amman and local government offices
Historical Background
Coverage and Compliance
Time period: 1921-present. Early years only included Europeans. Registration of the general populous became compulsory in 1957.[1]
Population coverage: Before 1957, 5%; after 1957, as high as 80%.[1]
Information Recorded in the Records
Births: Child’s name, birth date and place, parents’ names, residence, and occupation; witnesses’ ages, relationships, residences. Marriages: Bride and groom names, ages, residences, occupations, marriage date and place, sometimes ages and/or birth dates and places, parents' names, residences, occupations; witnesses. Death registers: Name of deceased, age, death date and place, occupation, name of surviving spouse, informant’s name and residence, cause of death, sometimes birth date and place, parents’ names, children’s names. [1]
Marriage contracts
Research use: These records are the only source prior to civil registration of specific marriage information and provide a marriage date. They also provide relationships helpful in lineage linking.
Record type: Legal contracts of marriage are the closest thing in Islamic society to marriage records. In Islamic tradition marriage is considered a legal contract between two families and is not considered a religious sacrament. Islamic law courts [sharia] handled the majority of litigation, particularly in the domain of personal and family status including marriage and divorce.
Time period: 1400-present.
Contents: Names of marriage candidates, dates of contract and marriage, parents (at least the father) of marital partners, details concerning dowry.
Location: At Islamic law court [sharia] archives in various cities.
Population coverage: As high as 75%; these records pertain to Muslim marriages only.
Reliability: Excellent.[1]