Jordan, Petra - Qasr al-Bint

It’s known locally by the name of Qasr al-Bint al-Faroun, ‘the Palace of Pharaoh’s Daughter’, but it’s really a Nabataean temple, probably originally dedicated to Dushrat. The Qasr al-Bint is one of the best preserved free-standing buildings in Petra and stands in a sacred precinct at the far end of the city’s Cardo. In front of the temple steps is a substantial open-air altar platform. The area still further in the foreground of the picture is now used as a Bedouin taxi rank, where the tired tourist who no longer wishes to walk can hire a camel or donkey for the trip back to the start of the Siq.