Qasr al-Abd’s massive white ruins contrast against an ochre rocky backdrop, looking onto the steep-sided valley of Wadi Sir. According to Flavius Josephus, Prince Hyrcan of the region’s Tobiad dynasty, ruling from Amman in the 5C BC, had a palace surrounded by an artificial lake built prior to his death. It is today accepted that Qasr al-Abd at Iraq al-Amir (the interior of which is closed to visitors) must be this monument described by the 1C AD Jewish historian.