Painted Biclinium 

Siq al-Barid, Jordan

 

This biclinium(A Roman dining room with two benches.), from the 1st century AD, contains the only surviving example of Nabataean painting (next page). The interior wall is protected, understandably, by a wire grid. Several baetyl (or betyl [pronounced "beetle"]  a sacred standing stone ("god block") that represents a divinity. Schematic indications of eyes, nose, and sometimes mouth may be carved on the face of the block.) niches surround the outside of the chamber. 

Siq al-Barid, Jordan   Siq al-Barid, sometimes called "Little Petra," is located about 6-7km north of Petra itself. This mausoleum is perched above a short flight of steps near the entrance of the siq. It consists of a triangular pediment with urn finial resting on two engaged Nabataean horned columns. The mausoleum's entrance is surmounted by an arched pediment, with raised disks in the metopes (The square spaces, reserved for sculpture, between the triglyphs of a doric frieze). The facade is dated 1st century BC - 1st century AD

East Wall

Qasr al-Abd, Jordan

 

Qasr al-Abd is a rare example of Hellenistic building in the Transjordan. Perhaps intended as a pleasure palace, it was erected about 200 BC by a Tobiad notable, Hyrcanus of Jerusalem, as part of a much larger estate that is now covered by the village of Iraq al-Emir. The Qasr was originally surrounded by a large excavated reflecting pool (or moat, according to the 1st century AD Jewish historian Josephus, who considered the Qasr to be a fortress; its tentative identification as a pleasure palace is due to the contemporary Israeli archaeologist, Ehud Netzer.)

Hyrcanus took his own life in 175 BC, having come out on the wrong side of the conflict between Ptolemies and Seleucids for control of the area. The Qasr was unfinished at his death, as indicated by several incomplete carvings and columns on site. The building has two storys, and is about 125 feet long, 62 feet wide, and 40 feet high. It is located 17km (10mi) west of Amman.