Fodor's Expert Review High Place of Sacrifice

An ancient flight of stairs cut into the rock—and restored by the Jordanian Department of Antiquities—leads to the summit of Jabal Madhbah, or the Mount of the Altar. Its peak, besides offering spectacular views of Petra below, contains a rectangular court surrounded on three sides by benches in the triclinium style of the Roman dining room. In the center of the court is a raised block of stone, upon which the priest may have stood. To the west are two altars accessed by steps, as well as a channel into which the blood of sacrificial animals drained.