File:Petra Qasr al-Bint Temple Complex 1691.jpg

English: One of some pictures of the Qasr al-Bint. Qasr Bint Farun (Palace of the Pharaoh’s Daughter) is Petra’s oldest and most venerable temple complex. Its name derived from a local legend that the same pharaoh who hid his treasure in the urn of the Treasury promised his daughter’s hand in marriage to the engineer who could develop a system to bring water to the palace. Several water channels have been found near it. The monument is almost square and is set on a podium. It was the main temple of Petra and it still stands to a height of 23 meters. Qasr al-Bint is a typical Hellenistic temple where only priests could enter inside and worshippers remained outside in the open temenos or holy area, where they may have olffered animal sacrifices. It is approached by a flight of 26 marble steps and four stucco-covered Corinthian columns between pilasters decorated the northern façade. Inside the temple, at the rear of the sanctuary, there are three compartments: the middle one protects an altar platform that housed images of the deity, and the two others were supplied with balcony terraces. It is believed that this temple was dedicated to Dushara, the main Nabatean god. The temple is dated to the first half of the 1st century AD and it is possible that it was a pilgrim destination. Text from notice on site.