Khirbet edh-Dharih
Preserved Nabataean temple on the King’s Highway. Site of the elaborately carved façade displayed in the Jordan Museum. The village ruins include: pilgrim hostel, residential villa, monumental tomb, Byzantine houses.
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This columned podium (7 x 7 m, height 1.40 m) is accessed through two narrow stairways in the front. In the central slab of its pavement is a rectangular hole flanked by two small circular ones. Beneath the slab, a stone basin was found. The excavators interpret this as a system for sticking a betyl, and collecting the offering liquid after the ritual libations. It is not clear if this would have been wine, oil, or even blood. In a later phase, further two betyl holes were added in diagonal, which indicates a cult of a triad of gods.
A narrow U-shaped corridor surrounds the podium on three sides to circumambulate it in ritual processions.
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
Preserved Nabataean temple on the King’s Highway. Site of the elaborately carved façade displayed in the Jordan Museum. The village ruins include: pilgrim hostel, residential villa, monumental tomb, Byzantine houses.