Today I will take on a new trip to Petra, this time we will go to visit a monastery and a temple. First stop it will be at Ad Deir, the beautiful monastery that was made almost 2000 years ago. Time does fly quick. Like the others beautiful places that we been in Petra, this one is also beautiful carved in stone.

The Nabataeans used to be skillful carvers as you can see from what still stands after so long. This old beauty is almost 50m of carved stone, dates since I AD when the Nabataeans used to live in this area.

The name Ad Deir, comes from the hermits cell name which  unfortunately nobody knows from where exactly came.  We can admire how beautiful the stone was carved, all seems so huge, just the door is 8 m and it is beautiful. It is few times our height.

Let’s go inside! As we enter there is a huge chamber  so be careful and don’t get lost in, it is a bit dark as the light comes just from that huge door.

Look, there seems to be an altar.On the walls  are carved some crosses, they are probably made it by Christians. You know 2000 years ago, Nabataeans used to  have their own god. They used worship king Obodas as a god after he won a big war for them. In 1990- 1991  were discovered some inscription related to the worshiping of this god. Archeologist think that Ad Deir was created as a place for  gathering, for those who worshiped god Obodas. Others think Ad Deir was created as a tomb and monument used by the family and descendants of king Obodas.

After we admire the inside and the outside of the Ad Deir we can go to another place. We shall meet now the lord of the mountain the Temple Dushara. Dushara used to be a deity in Nabataeans times. He used to be like Zeus for Greeks.

The temple was carved in the same period as the monastery Ad Deir.While we walk and admire it I will tell you a bit about it. It seems that this temple has the largest facade, it is 4 m wider  than the Khazneh and AD Deir. The temple has two staircases giving access to a flat roof. The columns drums probably weighted around 7 tons. Inside the masonry is secured with wooden courses which gives elasticity to the walls.

If you look in front of the temple, it was an altar. The offerings were made here rather than inside the temple, from what we can see. Well, I hope your legs don’t hurt too much and that you enjoyed this walk with me.

Pictures are not mine they are gather from internet!

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.