Petra, Jordan
Coordinates: 30.329533, 35.440183
The Qasr al-Bint also known as Temple of Dushares is a religious temple in the Nabataean city of Petra.
It was dedicated to the main Nabataean false god Dushara.
It faces the Wadi Musa and is located to the northwest of the Great Temple and to the southwest of the Temple of the Winged Lions.
It stands near the monumental gate and was a key focal point on the colonnaded street, as well as a focus of religious worship.
This is the only freestanding building left in Jordan. The reason for this is down to it’s very clever design. On each wall there are three courses of wood in the walls. The wood acts as a damper in times of earthquakes. None of the other freestanding buildings in Petra had this feature and that is why they fell.
The most noticeable feature of this temple are the tall side walls with a few carvings and features at the top. The views of this temple and the colonnaded street while climbing up to the Treasury Viewpoint are spectacular.
Name
The full modern Arabic name of the ruin is Qasr al-Bint Fir’aun, or “the palace of Pharaoh’s daughter.”
This name derives from a local folktale according to which the virtuous daughter of a wicked Pharaoh determined to decide between her suitors by setting them the task of providing a water supply for her palace.
Two suitors completed the task simultaneously by directing water to the palace from different springs in the hills surrounding it. The princess accepted the more modest of the two suitors who ascribed his success to Allah.
Know This
You cannot enter as it is intrinsically unsafe, but it is easily seen from the Colonnaded Street and worth a stop to view.
