Little Petra, Archaeological site in Ma'an Governorate, Jordan.

Little Petra, or Siq al-Barid, is a Nabataean site of three open areas linked by a 450-metre sandstone canyon entered from an unpaved car park west of the Wadi Musa road. Squared and arched openings cut into the tan cliffs served as dwellings; the south face holds a colonnaded triclinium with a projecting pedimented portico, and a smaller open area contains four large triclinia and the Painted Room.

Archaeologists believe Little Petra was established in the 1st century CE, at the height of Nabataean power, as a suburb of Petra where merchants lived and entertained visiting traders. It was likely sited near the older Neolithic settlement of Beidha. After the Nabataean decline it lay vacant, used only by Bedouin nomads, and whether it was still inhabited when Petra was abandoned in the 7th century is unknown. Diana Kirkbride excavated here from the late 1950s until 1983.

The Painted Room, a small biclinium on the south side of the second open area, keeps Nabataean paintings on its rear wall: grapes, vines and putti in a varied palette, probably honouring Dionysus and wine drinking. The 2,000-year-old Hellenistic ceiling frescoes were restored after their 2010 discovery. Opposite the room stands a large cistern from the Nabataean water system.

The site is open to visitors year-round, and local guides are available to explain the architecture and history. Good footwear and water are recommended since exploring the canyon involves walking over uneven ground.

The site holds the only known surviving Nabataean figurative paintings inside, created in Hellenistic style on ceiling frescoes roughly 2,000 years ago. These artworks are found nowhere else in the Nabataean realm and offer rare glimpses into ancient artistic techniques.