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Qasr al-Bint Plekhov, Daniel
Description
The Qasr al-Bint is a free-standing temple structure built at Petra by the Nabataeans, likely sometime around the first century BCE. The structure is one of the most prominent and centrally located at Petra, standing at the western end of the main colonnaded street and nearby to other notable buildings, such as the Great Temple. Even so, the Qasr al-Bint is structurally set apart from these other buildings, both in terms of its unique alignment as well as by a temenos enclosure and gate structure that separates it from the rest of Petra's city center. Within this sanctuary enclosure are other associated structures, most notably an altar directly across from the entrance to the Qasr al-Bint. This altar was dedicated to the principal Nabataean deity Dushara, and it has been proposed that the Qasr al-Bint itself was also dedicated to this deity (alternatives include Al-Uzza/Aphrodite). With the Roman annexation of the Nabataean kingdom in 106 CE, remodeling took place of much of Petra's principal monuments, including the Qasr al-Bint, and it is possible that the temple was rededicated to other deities at this time. Little else is known about the use or functions of the Qasr al-Bint during the Nabataean and Roman periods. Given its prominent location and size, it likely functioned as one of the principal religious structures of Petra and the Nabataeans, but little else can be said about what kinds of rituals or activities took place at the temple, who participated in them, or how frequently they occurred. We do not even know what name the temple originally had. The modern Arabic name today is translated as "the palace of (Pharaoh’s) daughter," in reference to local folklore. By the third century CE, the structure seems to have been largely abandoned and in disrepair, perhaps as a result of earthquakes, the Palmyrene revolt, or general lack of maintenance.
Item Metadata
| Title |
Qasr al-Bint
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| Creator | |
| Contributor | |
| Publisher |
Database of Religious History (DRH)
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| Date Issued |
2022-02-14
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| Description |
The Qasr al-Bint is a free-standing temple structure built at Petra by the Nabataeans, likely sometime around the first century BCE. The structure is one of the most prominent and centrally located at Petra, standing at the western end of the main colonnaded street and nearby to other notable buildings, such as the Great Temple. Even so, the Qasr al-Bint is structurally set apart from these other buildings, both in terms of its unique alignment as well as by a temenos enclosure and gate structure that separates it from the rest of Petra's city center. Within this sanctuary enclosure are other associated structures, most notably an altar directly across from the entrance to the Qasr al-Bint. This altar was dedicated to the principal Nabataean deity Dushara, and it has been proposed that the Qasr al-Bint itself was also dedicated to this deity (alternatives include Al-Uzza/Aphrodite). With the Roman annexation of the Nabataean kingdom in 106 CE, remodeling took place of much of Petra's principal monuments, including the Qasr al-Bint, and it is possible that the temple was rededicated to other deities at this time. Little else is known about the use or functions of the Qasr al-Bint during the Nabataean and Roman periods. Given its prominent location and size, it likely functioned as one of the principal religious structures of Petra and the Nabataeans, but little else can be said about what kinds of rituals or activities took place at the temple, who participated in them, or how frequently they occurred. We do not even know what name the temple originally had. The modern Arabic name today is translated as "the palace of (Pharaoh’s) daughter," in reference to local folklore. By the third century CE, the structure seems to have been largely abandoned and in disrepair, perhaps as a result of earthquakes, the Palmyrene revolt, or general lack of maintenance.
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| Subject | |
| Genre | |
| Type | |
| Language |
eng
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| Date Available |
2022-07-05
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| Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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| Rights |
Attribution 4.0 International
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| DOI |
10.14288/1.0416068
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| URI | |
| Affiliation | |
| Citation |
Daniel Plekhov. (2022). Qasr al-Bint. Database of Religious History, Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia.
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| Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
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| Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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| Rights URI | |
| Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International