Qasr al-Bint

About Qasr al-Bint

The Qasr al-Bint is a religious temple in the Nabataean city of Petra. It faces the Wadi Musa and is located to the northwest of the Great Temple and the southwest of the Temple of the Winged Lions. One of the best preserved ancient structures surviving in Petra today, it stands near the monumental gate and was a key focal point on the colonnaded street, as well as a focus of religious worship.

Qasr al-Bint is the principal temple of Nabataean Petra and one of the very few buildings in the city that was built of dressed stone rather than carved from the cliff; it still stands about 23 m high despite the earthquakes that flattened almost everything else. It stands at the end of the Colonnaded Street beyond the massive Temenos Gate, where the street becomes a sacred precinct, and faces north towards an open-air altar dedicated to Dushara, the chief Nabataean god, although some scholars think al-Uzza was worshipped here too. The temple is dated to the early 1st century AD, a date confirmed in 2014 by radiocarbon dating of the timber beams set into the walls to strengthen them, a construction trick thought to explain its survival. A second phase of rebuilding followed the Roman annexation of 106 AD and lasted into the late 3rd century. A marble staircase of 27 steps led up to a porch of Corinthian columns, of which only stumps remain. The name comes from a folk tale about the "Palace of Pharaoh's Daughter", a princess who challenged her suitors to bring water to her palace. It lies in the heart of the city about 4 km from the Visitor Centre, usually the last stop on the main trail and the starting point for the climb to Ad-Deir and for the Temple of the Winged Lions opposite on the north bank of Wadi Musa. Next to it is the rest area known as the Basin, with restaurants and toilets.

Where:

Petra, Jordan