Temple of Dushares, De Ma’an Governorate, Jordan
Qasr el-Bint, the temple of Dushares, has the largest facade in Petra — 4 m wider than the Khazneh and the Great Temple. It belongs to the Parthian ‘flight’ type of temples with two staircases giving access to a flat roof. The central interaxial column spacing of this temple is around 8.00 m, a very impressive span, if one takes into consideration that the same span in the Artemis temple at Jerash is ‘only’ 4.90 m, and in the Hercules temple in Amman it is 5.18 m.
Each of the column drums of the temple must have weighed around 7 tons. The masonry, the craftsmanship and the ergonomics of its construction indicate that Qasr el-Bint was a very costly project. Wooden courses inside the masonry secured the elasticity of its walls.
Epic Jordan Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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