The temple of the winged lions, petra reassessing a nabataean ritual complex

The Temple of the Winged Lions (TWL) in Petra is a Nabataean-and Roman-era ritual complex thought to have been founded in the early first century CE (ban-ner photograph and fig. 1). It fell out of use following a major earthquake in 363 CE. This is a contextually rich site for the study of ancient ritual, economy, and society in the Nabataean and Greco-Roman world and part of a larger complex including workshops and domestic spaces. The deity (or deities) once worshiped there remains unknown. The most common suggestion is that the temple was dedicated to Al-‘Uzza, the Arabian divinity whose Greek equivalent was Aphrodite.