Qasr al-Bint Interior

View looking south at the interior of the Qasr al-Bint.  The picture was taken from the large doorway that leads to the cult chamber (cella) of the sanctuary.

The central cult room—slightly left of center in the shade—is flanked by two side rooms.  The side rooms may have been used for the consumption of sacred meals.

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Qasr al-Bint (the "Palace of Pharaoh's Daughter") is located in the Petra basin at the west end of the Colonnaded Street on the south side of the Wadi Musa.  It faces north.  It was constructed during the reign of Aretas IV (r. 9 B.C.-A.D. 40; 2 Corinthians 11:32) and refurbished after Trajan annexed Nabataea into a Roman Province in A.D. 106.

It is debated what deity was worshiped there.  The majority say that it was Dushara — the chief deity of the Nabataean pantheon because the large altar to the north of Qasr al-Bint was dedicated to him. Al-'Uzza (Aphrodite) may have been worshipped there as well.