The leopardess fountain
Carved suckling her cub.
Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Rantisi.lafe — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mohammad hajeer — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mohammad hajeer — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mohammad hajeer — CC BY-SA 4.0
A rare Hellenistic palace in a green valley west of Amman, built by Hyrcanus, a prince of the Tobiad family, in the early 2nd century BC; it is among the oldest standing buildings in Jordan and one of the very few from that age. It is made of enormous blocks, the largest weighing about twenty tonnes, among the largest stones used in building anywhere in the region. Its animal carving is the delight: great lions at the corners of the upper storey, and a fountain in the form of a leopardess suckling her cub, water once flowing from her mouth. The palace was never finished and was brought down by the earthquake of 362 AD; French archaeologists raised and restored its stones in the last century. On the hill nearby are caves cut into the rock that gave the area its name, Iraq al-Amir, the caves of the prince, and in the village a craft project run by local women makes handmade paper, pottery and weaving. The road from Amman through Wadi as-Sir is lovely, among olive groves and springs, and a car is the best way there.
Carved suckling her cub.
Among the region's largest.
That named the place.
Wadi as-Sir, Iraq al-Amir, about 20 km west of Amman
Hyrcanus of the Tobiad family, in the early 2nd century BC; it was never finished and was toppled by the earthquake of 362 AD.
About half an hour by car through Wadi as-Sir, a lovely drive past orchards and springs.