Before you are the remains of a nymphaeum, or public drinking fountain, which sits at the eastern end of Petra's Colonnaded Street. Named after the nymphs- female nature spirits of classical mythology –this structure was characteristic of most Graeco-Roman cities; Petra was no exception. As a civic ornament, it functioned both as a repository for water and as a lively meeting place for the city's populace. Although only the lowest levels of its masonry now remain, it is possible to reconstruct the fountain, based upon the more intact remains of other such structures. Elevated upon a stepped podium, this nymphaeum consisted of a freestanding wall decorated with porticos and featuring a large central exedra that contained the fountain proper, whose waters emptied into a shallow pool below, the water tunnel that started at the Siq to divert water into the city passed behind this nymphaeum. Near the nymphaeum is a pistachio atlantica tree ('butom' in Arabic) that is 450 years old. the Bedouin use this type of tree 10 make mortars for grinding coffee as the wood is very hard.