Palmyra (;
Palmyrene: (
![Tdmr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Tdmr.png)
) ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day
Homs Governorate
Homs Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حمص / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its area differs in various sources, from to . It is thus geographical ...
,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. Archaeological finds date back to the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
period, and documents first mention the city in the early second millennium BC. Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires before becoming a subject of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
in the first century AD.
The city grew wealthy from
trade caravans; the Palmyrenes became renowned as merchants who established colonies along the
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
and operated throughout the Roman Empire. Palmyra's wealth enabled the construction of monumental projects, such as the
Great Colonnade, the
Temple of Bel
The Temple of Bel ( ar, معبد بعل), sometimes also referred to as the "Temple of Baal", was an ancient temple located in Palmyra, Syria. The temple, consecrated to the Mesopotamian god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar g ...
, and the distinctive tower tombs. Ethnically, the Palmyrenes combined elements of
Amorites
The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian language, Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic-speaking people ...
,
Arameans
The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean ...
, and
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
. The city's social structure was tribal, and its inhabitants spoke
Palmyrene Aramaic
Palmyrene Aramaic was a Western Aramaic dialect spoken in the city of Palmyra, Syria, in the early centuries AD. It is solely known from inscriptions dating from the 1st century BC to 273.
The dual had disappeared from it.
The development of ...
, a variety of
Western Middle Aramaic, while using
Koine Greek
Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...
for commercial and diplomatic purposes.
Greco-Roman culture
The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...
influenced the
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
of Palmyra, which produced distinctive art and architecture that combined eastern and western traditions. The city's inhabitants worshiped
local Semitic,
Mesopotamian
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
, and
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
deities.
By the third century, Palmyra had become a prosperous regional center. It reached the apex of its power in the 260s, when the Palmyrene King
Odaenathus
Septimius Odaenathus ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; ar, أذينة, translit=Uḏaina; 220 – 267) was the founder king ( ''Mlk'') of the Palmyrene Kingdom who ruled from Palmyra, Syria. He elevated the status of his kingdom from a r ...
defeated the
Sasanian emperor Shapur I
Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...
. The king was succeeded by
queen regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...
Zenobia
Septimia Zenobia (Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city, ...
, who rebelled against Rome and established the
Palmyrene Empire
The Palmyrene Empire was a short-lived breakaway state from the Roman Empire resulting from the Crisis of the Third Century. Named after its capital city, Palmyra, it encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Arabia Petraea, and Egypt, ...
. In 273, Roman emperor
Aurelian
Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited t ...
destroyed the city, which was later restored by
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
at a reduced size. The Palmyrenes converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
during the fourth century and to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
in the centuries following the conquest by the 7th-century
Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...
, after which the Palmyrene and Greek languages were replaced by
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
.
Before AD 273, Palmyra enjoyed autonomy and was attached to the Roman
province of Syria, having its political organization influenced by the
Greek city-state
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
model during the first two centuries AD. The city became a
Roman colonia
A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term ''colony''.
Characteri ...
during the third century, leading to the incorporation of Roman governing institutions, before becoming a monarchy in 260. Following its destruction in 273, Palmyra became a minor center under the
Byzantines and later empires. Its destruction by the
Timurids
The Timurid Empire ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani ( Chagatai: کورگن, ''Küregen''; fa, , ''Gūrkāniyān''), was a PersianateB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006 Turco-Mongol empire ...
in 1400 reduced it to a small village. Under
French Mandatory rule in 1932, the inhabitants were moved into the new village of
Tadmur
Palmyra (; ar, تَدْمُر, Tadmor; Palmyrene: ''Tadmor'') is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in an oasis in the middle of the Syrian Desert northeast of Damascus and southwest of the Eu ...
, and the ancient site became available for excavations. During the
Syrian civil war in 2015, the
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
(IS) destroyed large parts of the ancient city, which was recaptured by the
Syrian Army
" (''Guardians of the Homeland'')
, colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive
* Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki
, anniversaries = August 1st
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Six ...
on 2 March 2017.
Etymology
Records of the name "Tadmor" date from the early second millennium BC; eighteenth century BC tablets from
Mari written in
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
record the name as "Ta-ad-mi-ir", while Assyrian inscriptions of the eleventh century BC record it as "Ta-ad-mar". Aramaic Palmyrene inscriptions themselves showed two variants of the name; ''TDMR'' (''i.e.'', Tadmar) and ''TDMWR'' (''i.e.'', Tadmor). The etymology of the name is unclear; the standard interpretation, supported by
Albert Schultens
Albert Schultens (; 168626 January 1750) was a Dutch philologist.
Biography
He was born at Groningen, where he studied for the church. He went on to the University of Leiden, applying himself specially to Hebrew and the cognate tongues. His thes ...
, connects it to the Semitic word for "
date palm
''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...
", ''tamar'' (), thus referring to the palm trees that surrounded the city.
The Greek name (Latinized ''Palmyra'') was first recorded by
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
in the 1st century AD. It was used throughout the
Greco-Roman
The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...
world. It is generally believed that "Palmyra" derives from "Tadmor" and linguists have presented two possibilities; one view holds that Palmyra was an alteration of Tadmor. According to the suggestion by Schultens, "Palmyra" could have arisen as a corruption of "Tadmor", via an unattested form "Talmura", changed to "Palmura" by the influence of the Latin word ''
palma'' (date "
palm
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm (ba ...
"), in reference to the city's palm trees, then the name reached its final form "Palmyra". The second view, supported by some philologists, such as
Jean Starcky
Abbé Jean Starcky (3 February 1909 – 9 October 1988) was a French priest who was one of the early editors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in ...
, holds that Palmyra is a translation of "Tadmor" (assuming that it meant palm), which had derived from the Greek word for palm, "''palame''".
An alternative suggestion connects the name to the
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
''tedmurtā'' (ܬܕܡܘܪܬܐ) "miracle", hence ''tedmurtā'' "object of wonder", from the root ''dmr'' "to wonder"; this possibility was mentioned favourably by
Franz Altheim
Franz Altheim (6 October 1898 – 17 October 1976) was a German classical philologist and historian who specialized in the history of classical antiquity. During the 1930s and 1940s, Altheim served the Nazi state as a member of Ahnenerbe, a ...
and Ruth Altheim-Stiehl (1973), but rejected by Jean Starcky (1960) and Michael Gawlikowski (1974).
Michael Patrick O'Connor
Michael Patrick O'Connor (1950, Lackawanna, New York – June 16, 2007, Silver Spring, Maryland) was an American scholar of the Ancient Near East and a poet. With the field of ANE studies he was a linguist of Semitic languages, with a focus o ...
(1988) suggested that the names "Palmyra" and "Tadmor" originated in the
Hurrian language
Hurrian is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language spoken by the Hurrians (Khurrites), a people who entered northern Mesopotamia around 2300 BC and had mostly vanished by 1000 BC. Hurrian was the language of the Mitanni kingdom in northern Mesopota ...
. As evidence, he cited the inexplicability of alterations to the theorized roots of both names (represented in the addition of ''-d-'' to ''tamar'' and ''-ra-'' to ''palame''). According to this theory, "Tadmor" derives from the Hurrian word ''tad'' ("to love") with the addition of the typical Hurrian
mid vowel
A mid vowel (or a true-mid vowel) is any in a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned midway between an open vowel and a close vowel.
Other names for a mid ...
rising (mVr)
formant
In speech science and phonetics, a formant is the broad spectral maximum that results from an acoustic resonance of the human vocal tract. In acoustics, a formant is usually defined as a broad peak, or local maximum, in the spectrum. For harmoni ...
''mar''. Similarly, according to this theory, "Palmyra" derives from the Hurrian word ''pal'' ("to know") using the same mVr formant (''mar'').
Region and city layout
The city of Palmyra lies northeast of the Syrian capital,
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
; along with an expanded hinterland of several settlements, farms and forts, the city forms part of the region known as the Palmyrene. The city is located in an
oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
surrounded by
palms (of which twenty varieties have been reported). Two mountain ranges overlook the city: the northern
Palmyrene mountain belt from the north and the southern Palmyrene mountains from the southwest. In the south and the east Palmyra is exposed to the
Syrian Desert
The Syrian Desert ( ar, بادية الشام ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert and steppe covering of the Middle East, including parts of sou ...
. A small
wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...
, al-Qubur, crosses the area, flowing from the western hills past the city before disappearing in the eastern gardens of the oasis. South of the wadi is a spring,
Efqa. Pliny the Elder described the town in the 70s AD as famous for its desert location, for the richness of its soil, and for the springs surrounding it, which made agriculture and herding possible.
Layout
While the site, located near the Efqa Spring on the southern bank of Wadi al-Qubur, was occupied by at least the neolithic, early buildings only remain from later occupation. Remains of the
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
city are found beneath the Hellenistic settlement. The latter was located near the Efqa Spring on the southern bank of Wadi al-Qubur; it had its residences expanding to the wadi's northern bank during the first century. Although the city's walls originally enclosed an extensive area on both banks of the wadi, the walls rebuilt during Aurelian's reign surrounded only the northern-bank section. Most of the city's monumental projects were built on the wadi's northern bank, among them is the
Temple of Bel
The Temple of Bel ( ar, معبد بعل), sometimes also referred to as the "Temple of Baal", was an ancient temple located in Palmyra, Syria. The temple, consecrated to the Mesopotamian god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar g ...
, on a
tell which was the site of an earlier temple (known as the Hellenistic temple). However, excavation supports the theory that the tell was originally located on the southern bank, and the wadi was diverted south of the tell to incorporate the temple into Palmyra's late first and early second century urban organization on the north bank.
Also north of the wadi was the
Great Colonnade, Palmyra's main street, which extended from the Temple of Bel in the east, to the Funerary Temple no.86 in the city's western part. It had a
monumental arch in its eastern section, and a
tetrapylon
A tetrapylon ( el, τετράπυλον, "four gates"), plural ''tetrapyla'', known in Latin as a ''quadrifrons'' (literally "four fronts") is a type of ancient Roman monument of cubic shape, with a gate on each of the four sides, generally built ...
stands in the center. The Baths of Diocletian were on the left side of the colonnade. Nearby were residences, the
Temple of Baalshamin
The Temple of Baalshamin was an ancient temple in the city of Palmyra, Syria, dedicated to the Canaanite sky deity Baalshamin. The temple's earliest phase dates to the late 2nd century BC; its altar was built in 115 AD, and the temple was substa ...
, and the Byzantine churches, which include "Basilica IV", Palmyra's largest church. The church is dated to the
Justinian age, its columns are estimated to be high, and its base measured .
The Temple of
Nabu
Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom.
Etymology and meaning
The Akkadian "nab ...
and the
Roman theater were built on the colonnade's southern side. Behind the theater were a small senate building and the large
agora
The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
, with the remains of a ''
triclinium
A ''triclinium'' (plural: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to accommodate a diner who ...
'' (banquet room) and the Tariff Court. A cross street at the western end of the colonnade leads to the
Camp of Diocletian, built by
Sosianus Hierocles (the Roman governor of Syria in the reign of
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
). Nearby are the
Temple of Al-lāt and the Damascus Gate.
People, language, and society
At its height during the reign of Zenobia, Palmyra had more than 200,000 residents. The earliest known inhabitants were the
Amorites
The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian language, Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic-speaking people ...
in the early second millennium BC, and by the end of the millennium
Arameans
The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean ...
were mentioned as inhabiting the area.
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
arrived in the city in the late first millennium BC.
Sheikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
Zabdibel, who aided the Seleucids in the battle of Raphia (217 BC), was mentioned as the commander of "the arabs and neighbouring tribes to the number of ten thousands"; Zabdibel and his men were not actually identified as Palmyrenes in the texts, but the name "Zabdibel" is a Palmyrene name leading to the conclusion that the sheikh hailed from Palmyra. The Arab newcomers were assimilated by the earlier inhabitants, used Palmyrene as a mother tongue, and formed a significant segment of the aristocracy. The classical city also had a Jewish community; inscriptions in Palmyrene from the necropolis of
Beit She'arim in
Lower Galilee The Lower Galilee (; ar, الجليل الأسفل, translit=Al Jalil Al Asfal) is a region within the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The Lower Galilee is bordered by the Jezreel Valley to the south; the Upper Galilee to t ...
confirm the burial of Palmyrene Jews. During the Roman period, occasionally and rarely, members of the Palmyrene families took Greek names while ethnic Greeks were few; the majority of people with Greek names, who did not belong to one of the city's families, were freed slaves. The Palmyrenes seem to have disliked the Greeks, considered them foreigners, and restricted their settlement in the city. During the
Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
, Palmyra was mainly inhabited by the
Banu Kalb
The Banu Kalb ( ar, بنو كلب) was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert between northwestern Arabia and central Syria. The Kalb was involved in the tribal politics of the eastern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire, possibly as early ...
.
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela ( he, בִּנְיָמִין מִטּוּדֶלָה, ; ar, بنيامين التطيلي ''Binyamin al-Tutayli''; Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre, 1130 Castile, 1173) was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, an ...
recorded the existence of 2000 Jews in the city during the twelfth century. Palmyra declined after its destruction by Timur in 1400, and was a village of 6,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century.
Ethnicity of classical Palmyra
Palmyra's population was a mixture of the different peoples inhabiting the city, which is seen in Aramaic, Arabic and Amorite names of Palmyrene clans, but the ethnicity of Palmyra is a matter of debate. Some scholars, such as Andrew M. Smith II, consider ethnicity a concept related to modern nationalism, and prefer not to describe the Palmyrenes with ethnic designations they themselves did not know, concluding that there is a lack of evidence regarding what ethnicity the Palmyrenes perceived themselves. On the other hand, many scholars, such as Eivind Seland, contend that a distinctive Palmyrene ethnicity is apparent in the available contemporary evidence. The second century work ''
De Munitionibus Castrorum
''De Munitionibus Castrorum'' ("Concerning the fortifications of a military camp") is a work by an unknown author. Due to this work formerly being attributed to Hyginus Gromaticus, its author is often called "Pseudo-Hyginus". This work is the most ...
'' mentioned the Palmyrenes as a ''natio'', the Latin equivalent of the Greek ἔθνος (éthnos). Seland noted the epigraphic evidence left by the Palmyrenes outside the city. The inscriptions reveal the existence of a real diaspora satisfying the three criteria set by the sociologist
Rogers Brubaker. Palmyrene diaspora members always made clear their Palmyrene origin and used the Palmyrene language, and maintained their distinct religion even when the host society's religion was close to that of Palmyra. Seland concluded that in the case of Palmyra, the people perceived themselves different from their neighbours and a real Palmyrene ethnicity existed. Aside from the existence of a Palmyrene ethnicity, Aramean or Arab are the two main ethnic designations debated by historians; Javier Teixidor stated that "Palmyra was an Aramaean city and it is a mistake to consider it as an Arab town", while Yasamin Zahran criticized this statement and argued that the inhabitants considered themselves Arabs. In practice, according to several scholars such as Udo Hartmann and Michael Sommer, the citizenry of Palmyra were mainly the result of Arab and Aramaean tribes merging into a unity with a corresponding consciousness; they thought and acted as Palmyrenes.
Language
![Palmyrenisch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Palmyrenisch.jpg)
Until the late third century AD, Palmyrenes spoke
Palmyrene Aramaic
Palmyrene Aramaic was a Western Aramaic dialect spoken in the city of Palmyra, Syria, in the early centuries AD. It is solely known from inscriptions dating from the 1st century BC to 273.
The dual had disappeared from it.
The development of ...
and used the
Palmyrene alphabet
The Palmyrene alphabet was a historical Semitic alphabet used to write Palmyrene Aramaic.
It was used between 100 BCE and 300 CE in Palmyra in the Syrian desert.
The oldest surviving Palmyrene inscription dates to 44 BCE.
The last surviving in ...
. The use of
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
was minimal, but Greek was used by wealthier members of society for commercial and diplomatic purposes, and it became the dominant language during the Byzantine era. There are several theories explaining the disappearance of the Palmyrene language shortly after the campaigns of Aurelian. The linguist Jean Cantineau assumed that Aurelian suppressed all aspects of Palmyrene culture, including the language, but the last Palmyrene inscription dates to 279/280, after the death of the Roman emperor in 275, thus refuting such a theory. Many scholars ascribe the disappearance of the language to a change in society resulting from the reorganization of the Eastern Roman frontier following the fall of Zenobia. The archaeologist Karol Juchniewicz ascribed it to a change in the ethnic composition of the city, resulting from the influx of people who did not speak Aramaic, probably a Roman legion. Hartmann suggested that it was a Palmyrene initiative by nobles allied to Rome attempting to express their loyalty to the emperor; Hartmann noted that Palmyrene disappeared in the written form, and that this does not mean its extinction as spoken language. After the Arab conquest, Greek was replaced by
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
, from which, although the city was surrounded by Bedouins, a Palmyrene dialect evolved.
Social organization
![PalmyraWoman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/PalmyraWoman.JPG)
Classical Palmyra was a tribal community, but due to the lack of sources, an understanding of the nature of Palmyrene tribal structure is not possible. Thirty clans have been documented; five of which were identified as tribes (''Phylai'' Φυλαί; pl. of
''Phyle'' Φυλή) comprising several sub-clans. By the time of
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
Palmyra had four tribes, each residing in an area of the city bearing its name. Three of the tribes were the
Komare, Mattabol and
Ma'zin; the fourth tribe is uncertain, but was probably the Mita. In time, the four tribes became highly civic and tribal lines blurred; by the second century clan identity lost its importance, and it disappeared during the third century. Even the four tribes ceased to be important by the third century as only one inscription mentions a tribe after the year 212; instead, aristocrats played the decisive role in the city's social organization. Women seem to have been active in Palmyra's social and public life. They commissioned inscriptions, buildings or tombs, and in certain cases, held administrative offices. Offerings to gods in the names of women are documented.
The last Palmyrene inscription of 279/280 refers to the honouring of a citizen by the Maththabolians, which indicates that the tribal system still carried weight after the fall of Zenobia. A noticeable change is the lack of development of aristocratic residences, and no important public buildings were constructed by locals, indicating that the elite diminished following the campaign of Aurelian. The social change and the reduction of the aristocratic elite is hard to explain. It could be a result of the aristocracy suffering many casualties in the war against Rome, or fleeing to the countryside. According to the historians Emanuele Intagliata, the change can be ascribed to the Roman reorganization following Zenobia's fall, as Palmyra ceased to be a rich caravan city and became a frontier fortress, leading the inhabitants to focus on satisfying the needs of a garrison instead of providing the empire with luxurious oriental items. Such a change in functions would have made the city less attractive for an aristocratic elite. Palmyra benefited from the Umayyad rule since its role as a frontier city ended and the East-West trade route was restored, leading to the re-emergence of a merchant class. Palmyra's loyalty to the Umayyads led to an aggressive military retaliation from their successors, the Abbassids, and the city diminished in size, losing its merchant class. Following its destruction by Timur, Palmyra maintained the life of a small settlement until its relocation in 1932.
Culture
The scarce artifacts found in the city dating to the Bronze Age reveal that, culturally, Palmyra was most affiliated with western Syria.
Classical Palmyra had a distinctive culture, based on a
local Semitic tradition, and influenced by Greece and Rome. To appear better integrated into the Roman Empire, some Palmyrenes adopted Greco-Roman names, either alone or in addition to a second native name. The extent of Greek influence on Palmyra's culture is debated. Scholars interpreted the Palmyrenes' Greek practices differently; many see those characters as a superficial layer over a local essence. Palmyra's senate was an example; although Palmyrene texts written in Greek described it as a "
boule" (a Greek institution), the senate was a gathering of non-elected tribal elders (a Near-Eastern assembly tradition). Others view Palmyra's culture as a fusion of local and Greco-Roman traditions.
The culture of
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
influenced Palmyrene military tactics, dress and court ceremonies. Palmyra had no large libraries or publishing facilities, and it lacked an intellectual movement characteristic of other Eastern cities such as
Edessa
Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
or Antioch. Although Zenobia opened her court to academics, the only notable scholar documented was
Cassius Longinus.
Palmyra had a large
agora
The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
. However, unlike the Greek Agoras (public gathering places shared with public buildings), Palmyra's agora resembled an Eastern
caravanserai
A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...
more than a hub of public life. The Palmyrenes buried their dead in elaborate family mausoleums, most with interior walls forming rows of burial chambers (
loculi
Loculi ( sc, Lòcula) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari and about northeast of Nuoro. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 538 and an area of . ...
) in which the dead, lying at full length, were placed. A
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
of the person interred formed part of the wall's decoration, acting as a headstone.
Sarcophagi
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a cadaver, corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from ...
appeared in the late second century and were used in some of the tombs. Many burial monuments contained
mummies
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...
embalmed in a method similar to that used in
Ancient Egypt.
Art and architecture
Although Palmyrene art was related to
that of Greece, it had a distinctive style unique to the middle-Euphrates region. Palmyrene art is well represented by the
bust reliefs which seal the openings of its burial chambers. The reliefs emphasized clothing, jewelry and a frontal representation of the person depicted, characteristics which can be seen as a forerunner of
Byzantine art
Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted ...
. According to
Michael Rostovtzeff
Mikhail Ivanovich Rostovtzeff, or Rostovtsev (russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Росто́вцев; – October 20, 1952), was a Russian historian whose career straddled the 19th and 20th centuries and who produced important works ...
, Palmyra's art was influenced by
Parthian art
Parthian art was Persian art, Iranian art made during the Parthian Empire from 247 BC to 224 AD, based in the Near East. It has a mixture of Persian and Hellenistic art, Hellenistic influences. For some time after the period of the Parthian Empi ...
. However, the origin of frontality that characterized Palmyrene and Parthian arts is a controversial issue; while Parthian origin has been suggested (by
Daniel Schlumberger
Daniel Théodore Schlumberger (19 December 1904 – 21 October 1972) was a French archaeologist and Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Strasbourg and later Princeton University.
Biography
After having been invited by ...
),
Michael Avi-Yonah
Dr. Michael Avi-Yonah (September 26, 1904 – March 26, 1974) was an Israeli archaeologist and historian. During his career he was a Professor of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and served as secretary of Israel's Department of ...
contends that it was a local Syrian tradition that influenced Parthian art. Little painting, and none of the bronze statues of prominent citizens (which stood on brackets on the main columns of the Great Colonnade), have survived. A damaged
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
and other sculptures from the Temple of Bel, many removed to museums in Syria and abroad, suggest the city's public monumental sculpture.
Many surviving funerary busts reached Western museums during the 19th century. Palmyra provided the most convenient Eastern examples bolstering an art-history controversy at the turn of the 20th century: to what extent Eastern influence on
Roman art
The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be mi ...
replaced idealized classicism with frontal, hieratic and simplified figures (as believed by
Josef Strzygowski
Josef Rudolph Thomas Strzygowski (March 7, 1862 – January 2, 1941) was a Polish-Austrian art historian known for his theories promoting influences from the art of the Near East on European art, for example that of Early Christian Armenian arch ...
and others). This transition is seen as a response to cultural changes in the
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
, rather than artistic influence from the East. Palmyrene bust reliefs, unlike Roman sculptures, are rudimentary portraits; although many reflect high quality individuality, the majority vary little across figures of similar age and gender.
Like its art, Palmyra's architecture was influenced by the Greco-Roman style, while preserving local elements (best seen in the Temple of Bel). Enclosed by a massive wall flanked with traditional Roman columns, Bel's sanctuary plan was primarily Semitic. Similar to the
Second Temple
The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...
, the sanctuary consisted of a large courtyard with the deity's main shrine off-center against its entrance (a plan preserving elements of the temples of
Ebla
Ebla ( Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', ar, إبلا, modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was an important center t ...
and
Ugarit
)
, image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg
, image_size=300
, alt =
, caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit
, map_type = Near East#Syria
, map_alt =
, map_size = 300
, relief=yes
, location = Latakia Governorate, Syria
, region = F ...
).
Site
Cemeteries
West of the ancient walls, the Palmyrenes built a number of large-scale funerary monuments which now form the
Valley of Tombs, a
necropolis
A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead".
The term usually im ...
. The more than 50 monuments were primarily tower-shaped and up to four stories high. Towers were replaced by funerary temples in the first half of the second century AD, as the most recent tower is dated to AD 128. The city had other cemeteries in the north, southwest and southeast, where the tombs are primarily
hypogea
A hypogeum or hypogaeum (plural hypogea or hypogaea, pronounced ; literally meaning "underground", from Greek language, Greek ''hypo'' (under) and ''ghê'' (earth)) is an underground temple or tomb.
Hypogea will often contain niche (archite ...
(underground).
Notable structures
Public buildings
* The senate building is largely ruined. It is a small building that consists of a peristyle courtyard and a chamber that has an apse at one end and rows of seats around it.
* Much of the Baths of Diocletian are ruined and do not survive above the level of the foundations. The complex's entrance is marked by four massive Egyptian granite columns each in diameter, high and weigh 20 tonnes. Inside, the outline of a bathing pool surrounded by a colonnade of Corinthian columns is still visible in addition to an octagonal room that served as a dressing room containing a drain in its center. Sossianus Hierocles, a governor under Emperor
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
, claimed to have built the baths, but the building was probably erected in the late second century and Sossianus Hierocles renovated it.
* The Agora of Palmyra is part of a complex that also includes the tariff court and the triclinium, built in the second half of the first century AD. The agora is a massive structure with 11 entrances. Inside the agora, 200 columnar bases that used to hold statues of prominent citizens were found. The inscriptions on the bases allowed an understanding of the order by which the statues were grouped; the eastern side was reserved for senators, the northern side for Palmyrene officials, the western side for soldiers and the southern side for caravan chiefs.
* The Tariff Court is a large rectangular enclosure south of the agora and sharing its northern wall with it. Originally, the entrance of the court was a massive vestibule in its southwestern wall. However, the entrance was blocked by the construction of a defensive wall and the court was entered through three doors from the Agora. The court gained its name by containing a stone slab that had the Palmyrene tax law inscribed on it.
* The Triclinium of the Agora is at the northwestern corner of the Agora and can host up to 40 people. It is a small hall decorated with Meander (art), Greek key motifs that run in a continuous line halfway up the wall. The building was probably used by the rulers of the city; the French general director of antiquities in Syria, Henri Seyrig, proposed that it was a small temple before being turned into a
triclinium
A ''triclinium'' (plural: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to accommodate a diner who ...
or banqueting hall.
Temples
* The
Temple of Bel
The Temple of Bel ( ar, معبد بعل), sometimes also referred to as the "Temple of Baal", was an ancient temple located in Palmyra, Syria. The temple, consecrated to the Mesopotamian god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar g ...
was dedicated in AD 32; it consisted of a large religious precinct, precinct lined by porticos; it had a rectangular shape and was oriented north-south. The exterior wall was long with a propylaea, and the cella stood on a podium in the middle of the enclosure.
* The
Temple of Baalshamin
The Temple of Baalshamin was an ancient temple in the city of Palmyra, Syria, dedicated to the Canaanite sky deity Baalshamin. The temple's earliest phase dates to the late 2nd century BC; its altar was built in 115 AD, and the temple was substa ...
dates to the late 2nd century BC in its earliest phases; its altar was built in AD 115, and it was substantially rebuilt in AD 131. It consisted of a central cella and two colonnaded courtyards north and south of the central structure. A Vestibule (architecture), vestibule consisting of six columns preceded the cella which had its side walls decorated with pilasters in Corinthian order.
* The Temple of Nabu is largely ruined. The temple was Eastern in its plan; the outer enclosure's propylaea led to a podium through a portico of which the bases of the columns survives. The peristyle cella opened onto an outdoor altar.
* The Temple of Al-Lat is largely ruined with only a podium, a few columns and the door frame remaining. Inside the compound, a giant lion relief (Lion of Al-lāt) was excavated and in its original form, was a relief protruding from the temple compound's wall.
* The ruined Temple of Baal-hamon was located on the top of Jabal al-Muntar hill which oversees the spring of Efqa. Constructed in AD 89, it consisted of a cella and a vestibule with two columns. The temple had a defensive tower attached to it; a mosaic depicting the sanctuary was excavated and it revealed that both the cella and the vestibule were decorated with merlons.
Other buildings
* The Great Colonnade was Palmyra's main street; most of the columns date to the second century AD and each is high.
* The Funerary Temple no. 86 (also known as the House Tomb) is located at the western end of the Great Colonnade. It was built in the third century AD and has a portico of six columns and vine patterns carvings. Inside the chamber, steps leads down to a vault crypt. The shrine might have been connected to the royal family as it is the only tomb inside the city's walls.
* The Tetrapylon was erected during the renovations of Diocletian at the end of the third century. It is a square platform and each corner contains a grouping of four columns. Each column group supports a 150-ton cornice and contains a pedestal in its center that originally carried a statue. Out of sixteen columns, only one is original while the rest are from reconstruction work by the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities in 1963, using concrete. The original columns were brought from Egypt and carved out of pink granite.
* The Walls of Palmyra started in the first century as a protective wall containing gaps where the surrounding mountains formed natural barriers; it encompassed the residential areas, the gardens and the oasis. After 273, Aurelian erected the rampart known as the wall of Diocletian; it enclosed about 80 hectares, a much smaller area than the original pre-273 city.
Destruction by IS
According to eyewitnesses, on 23 May 2015
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
militants destroyed the Lion of Al-lāt and other statues; this came days after the militants had gathered the citizens and promised not to destroy the city's monuments. IS destroyed the Temple of Baalshamin on 23 August 2015. On 30 August 2015, IS destroyed the cella of the Temple of Bel. On 31 August 2015, the United Nations confirmed the temple was Temple of Bel#Destruction, destroyed; the temple's exterior walls and entrance arch remain.
It became known on 4 September 2015 that IS had destroyed three of the best preserved tower tombs including the Tower of Elahbel. On 5 October 2015, news media reported that IS was destroying buildings with no religious meaning, including the monumental arch. On 20 January 2017, news emerged that the militants had destroyed the tetrapylon and part of the theater. Following the March 2017 capture of Palmyra by the Syrian Army, Maamoun Abdulkarim, director of antiquities and museums at the Ministry of Culture (Syria), Syrian Ministry of Culture, stated that the damage to ancient monuments may be lesser than earlier believed and preliminary pictures showed almost no further damage than what was already known. Antiquities official Wael Hafyan stated that the Tetrapylon was badly damaged while the damage to the facade of the Roman theatre was less serious.
Restoration
In response to the destruction, on 21 October 2015, Creative Commons started the NEWPALMYRA, New Palmyra project, an online repository of three-dimensional models representing the city's monuments; the models were generated from images gathered, and released into the public domain, by the Syrian internet advocate Bassel Khartabil between 2005 and 2012. Minor restorations took place; two Palmyrene funerary busts, damaged and defaced by IS, were sent off to Rome where they were restored and sent back to Syria. The restoration of the Lion of Al-lāt took two months and the statue was displayed on 1 October 2017; it will remain in the National Museum of Damascus.
Regarding the restoration, the discoverer of Ebla, Paolo Matthiae, stated that: "The archaeological site of Palmyra is a vast field of ruins and only 20–30% of it is seriously damaged. Unfortunately these included important parts, such as the Temple of Bel, while the Arc of Triumph can be rebuilt." He added: "In any case, by using both traditional methods and advanced technologies, it might be possible to restore 98% of the site".
History
![Efqa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Efqa.png)
The area had paleolithic settlements. In the Efqa Spring site, a
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
settlement existed, with Stone tool#Neolithic industries, stone tools dated to 7500 BC. Stratigraphy, Archaeological sounding in the tell beneath the Temple of Bel uncovered a mud-brick structure built around 2500 BC, followed by structures built during the Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Early period
The city entered the historical record during the Bronze Age around 2000 BC, when Puzur-Ishtar the Tadmorean (Palmyrene) agreed to a contract at an Assyria#Dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, 2025–1809 BC, Old Assyrian Empire, Assyrian trading colony in Kultepe. It was mentioned next in the Mari, Syria#Mari tablets, Mari tablets as a stop for trade caravans and nomadic tribes, such as the Suteans, and was conquered along with its region by Yahdun-Lim of Mari. King Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria passed through the area on his way to the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean at the beginning of the 18th century BC; by then, Palmyra was the easternmost point of the kingdom of Qatna, and it was attacked by the Suteans who paralyzed the traffic along the trade routes. Palmyra was mentioned in a 13th-century BC tablet discovered at Emar, which recorded the names of two "Tadmorean" witnesses. At the beginning of the 11th century BC, King Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria recorded his defeat of the "Arameans" of "Tadmar"; according to the king, Palmyra was part of the land of Amurru. The city became the eastern border of Aram-Damascus which was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 732 BC.
The Hebrew Bible (Books of Chronicles, Second Book of Chronicles 8:4) records a city by the name "Tadmor" as a desert city built (or fortified) by King Solomon of Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Israel; Flavius Josephus mentions the Greek name "Palmyra", attributing its founding to Solomon in Book VIII of his ''Antiquities of the Jews''. Later Arabic traditions attribute the city's founding to Solomon's Jinn#Solomon and the Jinn, Jinn. The association of Palmyra with Solomon is a conflation of "Tadmor" and a city built by Solomon in Judea and known as "Tamar" in the Books of Kings (1 Kings 9:18). The biblical description of "Tadmor" and its buildings does not fit archaeological findings in Palmyra, which was a small settlement during Solomon's reign in the 10th century BC. The Elephantine papyri, Elephantine Jews, a diaspora community established between 650-550 BC in Egypt, might have come from Palmyra. Papyrus Amherst 63 indicates that the ancestors of the Elephantine Jews were Samarians. The historian Karel van der Toorn suggested that these ancestors took refuge in Judea after the destruction of their kingdom by Sargon II of Assyria in 721 BC, then had to leave Judea after Sennacherib devastated the land in 701 BC and headed to Palmyra. This scenario can explain the usage of Aramaic by the Elephantine Jews, and Papyrus Amherst 63, while not mentioning Palmyra, refers to a "fortress of palms" that is located near a spring on a trade route in the fringes of the desert, making Palmyra a plausible candidate.
Hellenistic and Roman periods
![Royal inscription Palmyra](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Royal_inscription_Palmyra.png)
During the Hellenistic period under the Seleucids (between 312 and 64 BC), Palmyra became a prosperous settlement owing allegiance to the Seleucid king. Evidence for Palmyra's urbanisation in the Hellenistic period is rare; an important piece is the Aramaic Inscription of Laghman, Laghman II inscription found in Laghman Province, Laghman, modern Afghanistan, and commissioned by the Indian emperor Ashoka c. 250 BC. The reading is contested, but according to semitologist André Dupont-Sommer, the inscription records the distance to "Tdmr" (Palmyra). In 217 BC, a Palmyrene force led by Zabdibel joined the army of King Antiochus III in the Battle of Raphia which ended in a Seleucid defeat by Ptolemaic Kingdom, Ptolemaic Egypt. In the middle of the Hellenistic era, Palmyra, formerly south of the al-Qubur wadi, began to expand beyond its northern bank. By the late second century BC, the tower tombs in the Palmyrene Valley of Tombs and the city temples (most notably, the temples of Baalshamin, Al-lāt and the Hellenistic temple) began to be built. A fragmentary inscription in Greek from the Temple of Bel's foundations mentions a king titled Epiphanes, a title used by the Seleucid kings.
In 64 BC, the Roman Republic conquered the Seleucid kingdom, and the Roman general Pompey established the
province of Syria. Palmyra was left independent, trading with Rome and Parthian empire, Parthia but belonging to neither. The earliest known inscription in Palmyrene is dated to around 44 BC; Palmyra was still a minor sheikhdom, offering water to caravans which occasionally took the desert route on which it was located. However, according to Appian Palmyra was wealthy enough for Mark Antony to send a force to conquer it in 41 BC. The Palmyrenes evacuated to Parthian lands beyond the eastern bank of the Euphrates, which they prepared to defend.
Autonomous Palmyrene region
![Palmyra, Syria, Monumental Arch and Columns](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Palmyra%2C_Syria%2C_Monumental_Arch_and_Columns.jpg)
Palmyra became part of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
when it was conquered and paid tribute early in the reign of Tiberius, around 14 AD. The Romans included Palmyra in the province of Syria, and defined the region's boundaries.
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
asserted that both the Palmyrene and Homs#Emesene dynasty and Roman rule, Emesene regions were contiguous; a marker at the Palmyrene's southwestern border was found in 1936 by
Daniel Schlumberger
Daniel Théodore Schlumberger (19 December 1904 – 21 October 1972) was a French archaeologist and Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Strasbourg and later Princeton University.
Biography
After having been invited by ...
at Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, dating from the reign of Hadrian or one of his successors, which marked the boundary between the two regions. This boundary probably ran northwards to Khirbet al-Bilaas on Jabal al-Bilas where another marker, laid by the Roman governor Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus Silanus, Silanus, has been found, northwest of Palmyra, probably marking a boundary with the territory of Hama, Epiphania. Meanwhile, Palmyra's eastern border extended to the Euphrates valley. This region included numerous villages subordinate to the center, including large settlements such as al-Qaryatayn. The Roman imperial period brought great prosperity to the city, which enjoyed a privileged status under the empire—retaining much of its internal autonomy, being ruled by a council, and incorporating many Greek city-state (polis) institutions into its government.
The earliest Palmyrene text attesting a Roman presence in the city dates to 18 AD, when the Roman general Germanicus tried to develop a friendly relationship with Parthia; he sent the Palmyrene Alexandros to Characene, Mesene, a Parthian vassal kingdom. This was followed by the arrival of the Roman legion Legio X Fretensis the following year. Roman authority was minimal during the first century AD, although tax collectors were resident, and a road connecting Palmyra and Sura, Syria, Sura was built in AD 75. The Romans used Palmyrene soldiers, but (unlike typical Roman cities) no local Roman magistrate, magistrates or Prefect#Ancient Rome, prefects are recorded in the city. Palmyra saw intensive construction during the first century, including the city's first walled fortifications, and the Temple of Bel (completed and dedicated in 32 AD). During the first century Palmyra developed from a minor desert caravan station into a leading trading center, with Palmyrene merchants establishing colonies in surrounding trade centers.
Palmyrene trade reached its acme during the second century, aided by two factors; the first was a trade route built by Palmyrenes, and protected by garrisons at major locations, including a garrison in Dura-Europos manned in 117 AD. The second was the Arabia Petraea#Roman conquest, Roman conquest of the Nabataean kingdom, Nabataean capital Petra in 106, shifting control over southern trade routes of the Arabian Peninsula from the Nabataeans to Palmyra. In 129 Palmyra was visited by Hadrian, who named it "Hadriane Palmyra" and made it a Free city (antiquity), free city. Hadrian promoted Hellenization, Hellenism throughout the empire, and Palmyra's urban expansion was modeled on that of Greece. This led to new projects, including the theatre, the colonnade and the Temple of Nabu. Roman garrisons are first attested in Palmyra in 167, when the cavalry Auxilia#Alae, Ala I Thracum Herculiana was moved to the city. By the end of the second century, urban development diminished after the city's building projects peaked.
In the 190s, Palmyra was assigned to the province of Phoenice (Roman province), Phoenice, newly created by the Severan dynasty. Toward the end of the second century, Palmyra began a steady transition from a traditional Greek city-state to a monarchy due to the increasing militarization of the city and the deteriorating economic situation; the Severan ascension to the imperial throne in Rome played a major role in Palmyra's transition:
* The Severan-led Roman–Parthian Wars, Roman–Parthian War, from 194 to 217, influenced regional security and affected the city's trade. Banditry, Bandits began attacking caravans by 199, leading Palmyra to strengthen its military presence.
* The new dynasty favored the city, stationing the Auxilia#Cohortes, Cohors I Flavia Chalcidenorum garrison there by 206. Caracalla made Palmyra a Colonia (Roman), colonia between 213 and 216, replacing many Greek institutions with Roman constitutional ones. Severus Alexander, emperor from 222 to 235, visited Palmyra in 229.
Palmyrene kingdom
The rise of the Sasanian Empire in Persia considerably damaged Palmyrene trade. The Sasanians disbanded Palmyrene colonies in their lands, and began a war against the Roman Empire. In an inscription dated to 252
Odaenathus
Septimius Odaenathus ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; ar, أذينة, translit=Uḏaina; 220 – 267) was the founder king ( ''Mlk'') of the Palmyrene Kingdom who ruled from Palmyra, Syria. He elevated the status of his kingdom from a r ...
appears bearing the title of exarchos (lord) of Palmyra. The weakness of the Roman Empire and the constant Persian danger were probably the reasons behind the Palmyrene council's decision to elect a lord for the city in order for him to lead a strengthened army. Odaenathus approached
Shapur I
Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...
of Persia to request him to guarantee Palmyrene interests in Persia, but was rebuffed. In 260 the Emperor Valerian (emperor), Valerian fought Shapur at the Battle of Edessa, but was defeated and captured. One of Valerian's officers, Macrianus Major, his sons Quietus and Macrianus Minor, Macrianus, and the Praetorian prefect, prefect Balista rebelled against Valerian's son Gallienus, usurping imperial power in Syria.
=Persian wars
=
![Tessera from Palmyra 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Tessera_from_Palmyra_2.png)
Odaenathus formed an army of Palmyrenes and Syrian peasants against Shapur. According to the ''Augustan History'', Odaenathus declared himself king prior to the battle. The Palmyrene leader won a decisive victory near the banks of the Euphrates later in 260 forcing the Persians to retreat. In 261 Odaenathus marched against the remaining usurpers in Syria, defeating and killing Quietus and Balista. As a reward, he received the title ''Imperator Totius Orientis'' ("Governor of the East") from Gallienus, and ruled Syria, Mesopotamia (Roman province), Mesopotamia, Arabia Petraea, Arabia and Anatolia's eastern regions as the imperial representative. Palmyra itself remained officially part of the empire but Palmyrene inscriptions started to describe it as a "metrocolonia", indicating that the city's status was higher than normal Roman colonias. In practice, Palmyra shifted from a provincial city to a de facto allied kingdom.
In 262 Odaenathus launched a new campaign against Shapur, reclaiming the rest of Roman Mesopotamia (most importantly, the cities of Nisibis and Carrhae), sacking the Jewish city of Nehardea, and Battle of Ctesiphon (263), besieging the Persian capital Ctesiphon. Following his victory, the Palmyrene monarch assumed the title King of Kings. Later, Odaenathus crowned his son Hairan I as co-King of Kings near Antioch in 263. Although he did not take the Persian capital, Odaenathus drove the Persians out of all Roman lands conquered since the beginning of Shapur's Siege of Nisibis (252), wars in 252. In a second campaign that took place in 266, the Palmyrene king reached Ctesiphon again; however, he had to leave the siege and move north, accompanied by Hairan I, to repel Asia (Roman province)#Decline, Gothic attacks on Asia Minor. The king and his son were assassinated during their return in 267; according to the ''Augustan History'' and Joannes Zonaras, Odaenathus was killed by a cousin (Zonaras says nephew) named in the ''History'' as Maeonius. The ''Augustan History'' also says that Maeonius was proclaimed emperor for a brief period before being killed by the soldiers. However, no inscriptions or other evidence exist for Maeonius' reign.
![ZENOBIA - RIC V 2 - 80000750](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/ZENOBIA_-_RIC_V_2_-_80000750.jpg)
Odaenathus was succeeded by his son; the ten-year-old Vaballathus.
Zenobia
Septimia Zenobia (Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city, ...
, the mother of the new king, was the ''de facto'' ruler and Vaballathus remained in her shadow while she consolidated her power. Gallienus dispatched his prefect Aurelius Heraclianus, Heraclian to command military operations against the Persians, but he was marginalized by Zenobia and returned to the West. The queen was careful not to provoke Rome, claiming for herself and her son the titles held by her husband while guaranteeing the safety of the borders with Persia and pacifying the Tanukhids in Hauran. To protect the borders with Persia, Zenobia fortified different settlements on the Euphrates including the citadels of Halabiye and Zalabiye. Circumstantial evidence exist for confrontations with the Sasanians; probably in 269 Vaballathus took the title ''Persicus Maximus'' ("The great victor in Persia") and the title might be linked with an unrecorded battle against a Persian army trying to regain control of Northern Mesopotamia.
=Palmyrene empire
=
![Palmyra imposed](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Palmyra_imposed.png)
Zenobia began her military career in the spring of 270, during the reign of Claudius Gothicus. Under the pretext of attacking the Tanukhids, she conquered Roman Arabia. This was followed in October by an Palmyrene invasion of Egypt, invasion of Egypt, ending with a Palmyrene victory and Zenobia's proclamation as queen of Egypt. Palmyra invaded Anatolia the following year, reaching Ankara and the pinnacle of its expansion. The conquests were made behind a mask of subordination to Rome. Zenobia issued coins in the name of Claudius' successor
Aurelian
Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited t ...
, with Vaballathus depicted as king; since Aurelian was occupied with repelling insurgencies in Europe, he tolerated the Palmyrene coinage and encroachments. In late 271, Vaballathus and his mother assumed the titles of Augustus (honorific), Augustus (emperor) and List of Augustae, Augusta.
The following year, Aurelian crossed the Bosphorus and advanced quickly through Anatolia. According to one account, Roman general Marcus Aurelius Probus regained Egypt from Palmyra; Aurelian entered Issus (town), Issus and headed to Antioch, where he defeated Zenobia in the Battle of Immae. Zenobia was defeated again at the Battle of Emesa, taking refuge in Homs before quickly returning to her capital. When the Romans besieged Palmyra, Zenobia refused their order to surrender in person to the emperor. She escaped east to ask the Persians for help, but was captured by the Romans; the city capitulated soon afterwards.
Later Roman and Byzantine periods
![Diocletian's Camp, Palmyra 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Diocletian%27s_Camp%2C_Palmyra_01.jpg)
Aurelian spared the city and stationed a garrison of 600 archers, led by Sandarion, as a peacekeeping force. In 273 Palmyra rebelled under the leadership of Septimius Apsaios, declaring Septimius Antiochus, Antiochus (a relative of Zenobia) as Augustus. Aurelian marched against Palmyra, razing it to the ground and seizing the most valuable monuments to decorate his Sol Invictus#Aurelian, Temple of Sol. Palmyrene buildings were smashed, residents massacred and the Temple of Bel pillaged.
Palmyra was reduced to a village and it largely disappeared from historical records of that period. Aurelian repaired the Temple of Bel, and the List of Roman legions#Late Empire legions, Legio I Illyricorum was stationed in the city. Shortly before 303 the Camp of Diocletian, a ''castrum'' in the western part of the city, was built. The camp was a base for the Legio I Illyricorum, which guarded the trade routes around the city. Palmyra became a Christian city in the decades following its destruction by Aurelian. In late 527, Justinian I ordered the restoration of Palmyra's churches and public buildings to protect the empire against raids by Lakhmids, Lakhmid king Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man.
Arab caliphates
Palmyra was conquered by the
Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...
after its 634 capture by the Muslim general Khalid ibn al-Walid, who took the city on his way to
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
; an 18-day march by his Rashidun army, army through the
Syrian Desert
The Syrian Desert ( ar, بادية الشام ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert and steppe covering of the Middle East, including parts of sou ...
from Mesopotamia. By then Palmyra was limited to the Diocletian camp. After the conquest, the city became part of Jund Hims, Homs Province.
Umayyad and early Abbasid periods
Palmyra prospered as part of the Umayyad Caliphate, and its population grew. It was a key stop on the East-West trade route, with a large ''souq'' (market), built by the Umayyads, who also commissioned part of the Temple of Bel as a Jama Masjid, mosque. During this period, Palmyra was a stronghold of the
Banu Kalb
The Banu Kalb ( ar, بنو كلب) was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert between northwestern Arabia and central Syria. The Kalb was involved in the tribal politics of the eastern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire, possibly as early ...
tribe. After being defeated by Marwan II during a Third Muslim Civil War, civil war in the caliphate, Umayyad contender Sulayman ibn Hisham fled to the Banu Kalb in Palmyra, but eventually pledged allegiance to Marwan in 744; Palmyra continued to oppose Marwan until the surrender of the Banu Kalb leader al-Abrash al-Kalbi in 745. That year, Marwan ordered the city's walls demolished.
In 750 a revolt, led by Abu al-Ward, Majza'a ibn al-Kawthar and Umayyad pretender Abu Muhammad al-Sufyani, against the new Abbasid Caliphate swept across Syria; the tribes in Palmyra supported the rebels. After his defeat Abu Muhammad took refuge in the city, which withstood an Abbasid assault long enough to allow him to escape.
Decentralization
![Gate of the fortified Temple of Bel Palmyra Syria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Gate_of_the_fortified_Temple_of_Bel_Palmyra_Syria.jpg)
Abbasid power dwindled during the 10th century, when the empire disintegrated and was divided among a number of vassals. Most of the new rulers acknowledged the caliph as their nominal sovereign, a situation which continued until the Siege of Baghdad (1258), Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258.
The population of the city started to decrease in the ninth century and the process continued in the tenth century. In 955 Sayf al-Dawla, the Hamdanid dynasty, Hamdanid prince of Aleppo, defeated the nomads near the city, and built a kasbah (fortress) in response to Arab–Byzantine wars#Byzantine resurgence, 863–11th century, campaigns by the Byzantine emperors Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes. After the early-11th-century Hamdanid collapse, the region of Homs was controlled by the successor Mirdasid dynasty. Earthquakes devastated Palmyra in 1068 and 1089. In the 1070s Syria was conquered by the Seljuk Empire, and in 1082, the district of Homs came under the control of the Arab lord Khalaf ibn Mula'ib. The latter was a brigand and was removed and imprisoned in 1090 by the Seljuq sultan Malik-Shah I. Khalaf's lands were given to Malik-Shah's brother, Tutush I, who gained his independence after his brother's 1092 death and established a List of Seljuk rulers in Syria (1076–1117), cadet branch of the Seljuk dynasty in Syria.
![Qalat ibn maan01(js)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Qalat_ibn_maan01%28js%29.jpg)
By the twelfth century, the population moved into the courtyard of the Temple of Bel which was fortified; Palmyra was then ruled by Toghtekin, the Burid dynasty, Burid atabeg of Damascus, who appointed his nephew governor. Toghtekin's nephew was killed by rebels, and the atabeg retook the city in 1126. Palmyra was given to Toghtekin's grandson, Shihab-ud-din Mahmud, who was replaced by governor Yusuf ibn Firuz when Shihab-ud-din Mahmud returned to Damascus after his father Taj al-Muluk Buri succeeded Toghtekin. The Burids transformed the Temple of Bel into a citadel in 1132, fortifying the city, and transferring it to the Bin Qaraja family three years later in exchange for Homs.
During the mid-twelfth century, Palmyra was ruled by the Zengid dynasty, Zengid king Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo, Nur ad-Din Mahmud. It became part of the district of Homs, which was given as a fiefdom to the Ayyubid general Shirkuh in 1168 and confiscated after his death in 1169. Homs region was conquered by the Ayyubid dynasty, Ayyubid sultanate in 1174; the following year, Saladin gave Homs (including Palmyra) to his cousin Muhammad ibn Shirkuh, Nasir al-Din Muhammad as a fiefdom. After Saladin's death, the Ayyubid realm was divided and Palmyra was given to Nasir al-Din Muhammad's son Al-Mujahid, Al-Mujahid Shirkuh II (who built the castle of Palmyra known as Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle around 1230). Five years earlier, Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described Palmyra's residents as living in "a castle surrounded by a stone wall".
Mamluk period
Palmyra was used as a refuge by Shirkuh II's grandson, Al-Ashraf Musa, Emir of Homs, al-Ashraf Musa, who allied himself with the Mongol Empire, Mongol king Hulagu Khan and fled after the Mongol defeat in the 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut against the Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo), Mamluks. Al-Ashraf Musa asked the Mamluk sultan Qutuz for pardon and was accepted as a vassal. Al-Ashraf Musa died in 1263 without an heir, bringing the Homs district under direct Mamluk rule.
Al Fadl principality
![Palmyra Ruins - Flickr - edbrambley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Palmyra_Ruins_-_Flickr_-_edbrambley.jpg)
The Al Fadl clan (a branch of the Tayy tribe) were loyal to the Mamluks, and in 1281, Prince Isa ibn Muhanna, Issa bin Muhanna of the Al Fadl was appointed lord of Palmyra by sultan Al Mansur Qalawun, Qalawun. Issa was succeeded in 1284 by his son Muhanna ibn Isa, Muhanna bin Issa who was imprisoned by sultan al-Ashraf Khalil in 1293, and restored two years later by sultan al-Adil Kitbugha. Muhanna declared his loyalty to Öljaitü of the Ilkhanate in 1312 and was dismissed and replaced with his brother Fadl ibn Isa, Fadl by sultan an-Nasir Muhammad. Although Muhanna was forgiven by an-Nasir and restored in 1317, he and his tribe were expelled in 1320 for his continued relations with the Ilkhanate, and he was replaced by tribal chief Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr (chief), Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr.
Muhanna was forgiven and restored by an-Nasir in 1330; he remained loyal to the sultan until his death in 1335, when he was succeeded by his son. Contemporary historian Shihab al-Umari, Ibn Fadlallah al-Omari described the city as having "vast gardens, flourishing trades and bizarre monuments". The Al Fadl clan protected the trade routes and villages from Bedouin raids, raiding other cities and fighting among themselves. The Mamluks intervened militarily several times, dismissing, imprisoning or expelling its leaders. In 1400 Palmyra was attacked by Timur; the Fadl prince Muhammad bin Hayyar, Nu'air escaped the battle and later fought List of rulers of Aleppo#Mamluks, Jakam, the sultan of Aleppo. Nu'air was captured, taken to Aleppo and executed in 1406; this, according to Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, ended the Al Fadl clan's power.
Ottoman era
![01 tadmor old village](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/01_tadmor_old_village.jpg)
While most of Syria came under Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule in 1516, Palmyra (Tadmur) does not appear to have been incorporated into the Empire before the conquest of Iraq in 1534-1535. It first appears as the centre of an administrative district (sanjak) around 1560. The region was important to the Ottomans above all for its salt deposits. In 1568, the governor of the sancak restored the medieval citadel. After 1568 the Ottomans appointed the Lebanese people, Lebanese emir Harfush clan, Ali bin Musa Harfush as governor of Palmyra's sanjak, dismissing him in 1584 for insubordination. In 1630 Palmyra came under the tax authority of another Lebanese emir, Fakhr-al-Din II, who renovated Shirkuh II's castle (which became known as Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle). The prince fell from grace with the Ottomans in 1633 and lost control of the village, which remained a separate sanjak until it was absorbed by Zor Sanjak in 1857. The Ottoman governor of Syria Vilayet, Syria, Mehmed Rashid Pasha, established a garrison in the village to control the Bedouin in 1867.
20th century
In 1918, as World War I was ending, the Royal Air Force built an airfield for two planes, and in November the Ottomans retreated from Zor Sanjak without a fight. The Arab Kingdom of Syria#The Arab constitutional government, Syrian Emirate's army entered Deir ez-Zor on 4 December, and Zor Sanjak became part of Syria. In 1919, as the British and French argued over the borders of the planned League of Nations mandate, mandates, the British permanent military representative to the Supreme War Council Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet, Henry Wilson suggested adding Palmyra to the British Mandate for Mesopotamia (legal instrument), British mandate. However, the British general Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, Edmund Allenby persuaded his government to abandon this plan. Syria (including Palmyra) became part of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, French Mandate after Syria's defeat in the Battle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920.
With Palmyra gaining importance in the French efforts to pacify the
Syrian Desert
The Syrian Desert ( ar, بادية الشام ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert and steppe covering of the Middle East, including parts of sou ...
, a base was constructed in the village near the Temple of Bel in 1921. In 1929, Henri Seyrig, began excavating the ruins and convinced the villagers to move to a new, French-built village next to the site. The relocation was completed in 1932; ancient Palmyra was ready for excavation as its villagers settled into the new village of
Tadmur
Palmyra (; ar, تَدْمُر, Tadmor; Palmyrene: ''Tadmor'') is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in an oasis in the middle of the Syrian Desert northeast of Damascus and southwest of the Eu ...
. During World War II, the Mandate came under the authority of Vichy France, who gave permission to Nazi Germany to use the airfield at Palmyra; forces of Free France, backed by British forces, invaded Syria in June 1941, and on 3 July 1941, the British took control over the city in the aftermath of a Battle of Palmyra (1941), battle.
Syrian civil war
As a result of the
Syrian civil war, Palmyra experienced widespread looting and damage by combatants. In 2013, the façade of the Temple of Bel sustained a large hole from Mortar (weapon), mortar fire, and colonnade columns have been damaged by Fragmentation (weaponry), shrapnel. According to Maamoun Abdulkarim, the
Syrian Army
" (''Guardians of the Homeland'')
, colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive
* Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki
, anniversaries = August 1st
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Six ...
positioned its troops in some archaeological-site areas, while Syrian opposition fighters positioned themselves in gardens around the city.
On 13 May 2015, ISIL launched an attack on the modern town of Tadmur, sparking fears that the Iconoclasm, iconoclastic group would destroy the adjacent ancient site of Palmyra. On 21 May, some artifacts were transported from the Palmyra museum to Damascus for safekeeping; a number of Greco-Roman busts, jewelry, and other objects looted from the museum have been found on the international market. ISIL forces entered Palmyra the same day. Local residents reported that the Syrian Air Force bombed the site on 13 June, damaging the northern wall close to the Temple of Baalshamin. During ISIL's occupation of the site, Palmyra's theatre was used as a place of public executions of their opponents and captives; videos were released by ISIL showing the killing of Syrian prisoners in front of crowds at the theatre. On 18 August, Palmyra's retired antiquities chief Khaled al-Asaad was beheaded by ISIL after being tortured for a month to extract information about the city and its treasures; al-Asaad refused to give any information to his captors.
Syrian government forces supported by Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, Russian airstrikes recaptured Palmyra on 27 March 2016 after intense fighting against ISIL fighters. According to initial reports, the damage to the archaeological site was less extensive than anticipated, with numerous structures still standing. Following the recapture of the city, Russian de-mining teams began clearing mines planted by ISIL prior to their retreat. Following heavy fighting, ISIL briefly reoccupied the city on 11 December 2016, prompting an offensive by the Syrian Army which retook the city on 2 March 2017.
Government
![Palmyra Julius Aurelius Zenobius inscription](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Palmyra_Julius_Aurelius_Zenobius_inscription.jpg)
From the beginning of its history to the first century AD Palmyra was a petty sheikhdom, and by the first century BC a Palmyrene identity began to develop. During the first half of the first century AD, Palmyra incorporated some of the institutions of a Greek city (polis); the notion of an existing citizenship first appears in an inscription, dated to AD 10, mentioning the "people of Palmyra". In AD 74, an inscription mentions the city's boule (senate). The tribal role in Palmyra is debated; during the first century, four treasurers representing the four tribes seems to have partially controlled the administration but their role became ceremonial by the second century and power rested in the hands of the council.
The Palmyrene council consisted of about six hundred members of the local elite (such as the elders or heads of wealthy families or clans), representing the city's four-quarters. The council, headed by a president, managed civic responsibilities; it supervised public works (including the construction of public buildings), approved expenditures, collected taxes, and appointed two Eponymous archon, archons (lords) each year. Palmyra's military was led by ''Strategos, strategoi'' (generals) appointed by the council. Roman provincial authority set and approved Palmyra's tariff structure, but the provincial interference in local government was kept minimal as the empire sought to ensure the continuous success of Palmyrene trade most beneficial to Rome. An imposition of direct provincial administration would have jeopardized Palmyra's ability to conduct its trading activities in the East, especially in Parthia.
With the elevation of Palmyra to a Colonia (Roman), colonia around 213–216, the city ceased being subject to Roman provincial governors and taxes. Palmyra incorporated Roman institutions into its system while keeping many of its former ones. The council remained, and the ''strategos'' designated one of two annually-elected magistrates. This ''duumviri'' implemented the new colonial constitution, replacing the archons. Palmyra's political scene changed with the rise of Odaenathus and his family; an inscription dated to 251 describes Odaenathus' son Hairan I as "Ras" (lord) of Palmyra (exarch in the Greek section of the inscription) and another inscription dated to 252 describes Odaenathus with the same title. Odaenathus was probably elected by the council as exarch, which was an unusual title in the Roman empire and was not part of the traditional Palmyrene governance institutions. Whether Odaenathus' title indicated a military or a priestly position is unknown, but the military role is more likely. By 257 Odaenathus was known as a ''consularis'', possibly the ''legatus'' of the province of Phoenice. In 258 Odaenathus began extending his political influence, taking advantage of regional instability caused by Sasanian aggression; this culminated in the Battle of Edessa, Odaenathus' royal elevation and mobilization of troops, which made Palmyra a kingdom.
The monarchy continued most civic institutions, but the duumviri and the council were no longer attested after 264; Odaenathus appointed a governor for the city. In the absence of the monarch, the city was administered by a viceroy. Although governors of the eastern Roman provinces under Odaenathus' control were still appointed by Rome, the king had overall authority. During Zenobia's rebellion, governors were appointed by the queen. Not all Palmyrenes accepted the dominion of the royal family; a senator, Septimius Haddudan, appears in a later Palmyrene inscription as aiding Aurelian's armies during the 273 rebellion. After the Roman destruction of the city, Palmyra was ruled directly by Rome, and then by a succession of other rulers, including the Burids and Ayyubids, and subordinate Bedouin chiefs—primarily the Fadl family, who governed for the Mamluks.
Military
![Syria - Palmyra - Museum - 14753655956](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Syria_-_Palmyra_-_Museum_-_14753655956.jpg)
Due to its military character and efficiency in battle, Palmyra was described by Irfan Shahîd as the "Sparta among the cities of the Orient, Arab and other, and even its gods were represented dressed in military uniforms." Palmyra's army protected the city and its economy, helping extend Palmyrene authority beyond the city walls and protecting the countryside's desert trade routes. The city had a substantial military; Zabdibel commanded a force of 10,000 in the third century BC, and Zenobia led an army of 70,000 in the Battle of Emesa. Soldiers were recruited from the city and its territories, spanning several thousand square kilometers from the outskirts of Homs to the Euphrates valley. Non-Palmyrene soldiers were also recruited; a Nabataeans, Nabatean cavalryman is recorded in 132 as serving in a Palmyrene unit stationed at Anah. Palmyra's recruiting system is unknown; the city might have selected and equipped the troops and the ''strategoi'' led, trained and disciplined them.
The ''strategoi'' were appointed by the council with the approval of Rome. The royal army in the mid 3rd century AD was under the leadership of the monarch aided by generals, and was modeled on the Military of the Sasanian Empire, Sasanians in arms and tactics. The Palmyrenes were noted archers. They used infantry while a heavily armored cavalry (clibanarii) constituted the main attacking force. Palmyra's infantry was armed with swords, lances and small round shields; the clibanarii were fully armored (including their horses), and used heavy spears (Kontos (weapon), kontos) long without shields.
Relations with Rome
Citing the Palmyrenes' combat skills in large, sparsely populated areas, the Romans formed a Palmyrene auxilia to serve in the Imperial Roman army. Vespasian reportedly had 8,000 Palmyrene archers in Judea, and Trajan established the first Palmyrene Auxilia in 116 (a camel cavalry unit, Ala I Ulpia dromedariorum Palmyrenorum). Palmyrene units were deployed throughout the Roman Empire, serving in Roman Dacia, Dacia late in Hadrian's reign, and at El Kantara in Numidia and Moesia under Antoninus Pius. During the late second century Rome formed the Cohors XX Palmyrenorum, which was stationed in Dura-Europos.
Religion
![Relief of the divine trinity-AO 19801-IMG 4334-gradient](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Relief_of_the_divine_trinity-AO_19801-IMG_4334-gradient.jpg)
Palmyra's gods were primarily part of the Canaanite religion, northwestern Semitic Pantheon (religion), pantheon, with the addition of gods from the
Mesopotamian
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
and Arabian mythology, Arab pantheons. The city's chief pre-Hellenistic deity was called Bol, an abbreviation of Baal (a northwestern Semitic honorific). The Babylonian cult of Bel-Marduk influenced the Palmyrene religion and by 217 BC the chief deity's name was changed to Bel (mythology), Bel. This did not indicate the replacing of the northwestern Semitic Bol with a Mesopotamian deity, but was a mere change in the name.
Second in importance, after the supreme deity, were over sixty ancestral gods of the Palmyrene clans. Palmyra had unique deities, such as the god of justice and Efqa's guardian Yarhibol, the sun god Malakbel, and the moon god Aglibol. Palmyrenes worshiped regional deities, including the greater Levantine gods Astarte, Baal-hamon, Baalshamin and Atargatis; the Babylonian gods Nabu and Nergal, and the Arab Azizos, Arsu, Shamash, Šams and Al-lāt.
The deities worshiped in the countryside were depicted as camel or horse riders and bore Arab names. The nature of those deities is uncertain as only names are known, most importantly Abgal (god), Abgal. The Palmyrene pantheon included ginnaye (some were given the designation "Gad (deity), Gad"), a group of lesser deities popular in the countryside, who were similar to the Arab jinn and the Roman Genius (mythology), genius. Ginnaye were believed to have the appearance and behavior of humans, similar to Arab jinn. Unlike jinn, however, the ginnaye could not Demonic possession, possess or injure humans. Their role was similar to the Roman genius: Tutelary deity, tutelary deities who guarded individuals and their caravans, cattle and villages.
Although the Palmyrenes worshiped their deities as individuals, some were associated with other gods. Bel had Astarte-Belti as his consort, and formed a triple deity with Aglibol and Yarhibol (who became a sun god in his association with Bel). Malakbel was part of many associations, pairing with Gad Taimi and Aglibol, and forming a triple deity with Baalshamin and Aglibol. Palmyra hosted an Akitu (spring festival) each Nisan. Each of the city's four-quarters had a sanctuary for a deity considered ancestral to the resident tribe; Malakbel and Aglibol's sanctuary was in the Komare quarter. The Baalshamin sanctuary was in the Ma'zin quarter, the Arsu sanctuary in the Mattabol quarter, and the Atargatis sanctuary in the fourth tribe's quarter.
The priests of Palmyra were selected from the city's leading families, and are recognized in busts through their headdresses which have the shape of a polos adorned with laurel wreath or other tree made of bronze among other elements. The high priest of Bel's temple was the highest religious authority and headed the clergy of priests who were organized into collegia each headed by a higher priest. The personnel of Efqa spring's sanctuary dedicated to Yarhibol belonged to a special class of priests as they were oracles. Palmyra's paganism was replaced with Christianity as the religion spread across the Roman Empire, and a bishop was reported in the city by 325. Although most temples became churches, the Temple of Al-lāt was destroyed in 385 at the order of Maternus Cynegius (the Praetorian prefecture of the East, eastern praetorian prefect). After the Muslim conquest in 634
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
gradually replaced Christianity, and the last known bishop of Palmyra was consecrated after 818.
Malakbel and the Roman Sol Invictus
In 274, following his victory over Palmyra, Aurelian dedicated a large temple of Sol Invictus in Rome; most scholars consider Aurelian's Sol Invictus to be of Syrian origin, either a continuation of emperor Elagabalus cult of Elagabalus (deity), Sol Invictus Elagabalus, or Malakbel of Palmyra. The Palmyrene deity was commonly identified with the Roman god Sol (Roman mythology), Sol and he had a temple dedicated for him on the right bank of the Tiber since the second century. Also, he bore the epithet Invictus and was known with the name Sol "Sanctissimus", the latter was an epithet Aurelian bore on an inscription from Capena.
The position of the Palmyrene deity as Aurelian's Sol Invictus is inferred from a passage by Zosimus (historian), Zosimus reading: "and the magnificent temple of the sun he (i.e. Aurelian) embellished with votive gifts from Palmyra, setting up statues of Helios and Bel". Three deities from Palmyra exemplified solar features: Malakbel, Yarhibol and Šams, hence the identification of the Palmyrene Helios appearing in Zosimus' work with Malakbel. Some scholars criticize the notion of Malakbel's identification with Sol Invictus; according to Gaston Halsberghe, the cult of Malakbel was too local for it to become an imperial Roman god and Aurelian's restoration of Bel's temple and sacrifices dedicated to Malakbel were a sign of his attachment to the sun god in general and his respect to the many ways in which the deity was worshiped. Richard Stoneman suggested another approach in which Aurelian simply borrowed the imagery of Malakbel to enhance his own solar deity. The relation between Malakbel and Sol Invictus can not be confirmed and will probably remain unresolved.
Economy
![Agora of Palmyra](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Agora_of_Palmyra.jpg)
Palmyra's economy before and at the beginning of the Roman period was based on agriculture, pastoralism, and trade; the city served as a rest station for the caravans which sporadically crossed the desert. By the end of the first century BC, the city had a mixed economy based on agriculture, pastoralism, taxation, and, most importantly, the caravan trade. Taxation was an important source of revenue for the Palmyrene government. Caravaneers paid taxes in the building known as the Tariff Court, where a tax law dating to AD 137 was exhibited. The law regulated the tariffs paid by the merchants for goods sold at the internal market or exported from the city.
The classicist Andrew M. Smith II suggested that most land in Palmyra was owned by the city, which collected grazing taxes. The oasis had about of irrigable land, which surrounded the city. The Palmyrenes constructed an extensive irrigation system in the northern mountains that consisted of reservoirs and channels to capture and store the occasional rainfall. The most notable irrigation work is Harbaqa Dam which was constructed in the late first century AD; it is located southwest of the city and can collect of water. Pistacia palaestina, Terebinth trees in the hinterland were an important source of charcoal, resin and oil; although evidence is lacking, it is possible that olive trees were also planted, and dairy products were produced in the villages; it is also apparent that barley was cultivated. However, agriculture could not support the population and food was imported.
After Palmyra's destruction in 273, it became a market for villagers and nomads from the surrounding area. The city regained some of its prosperity during the Umayyad era, indicated by the discovery of a large Umayyad ''souq'' in the colonnaded street. Palmyra was a minor trading center until its destruction in 1400; according to Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi, Timur's men took 200,000 sheep, and the city was reduced into a settlement on the desert border whose inhabitants herded and cultivated small plots for vegetables and corn.
Commerce
![Palmyra trade](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Palmyra_trade.png)
If the Laghman II inscription in Afghanistan is referring to Palmyra, then the city's role in Central Asian overland trade was prominent as early as the third century BC. During the first centuries AD, Palmyra's main trade route ran east to the Euphrates where it connected at the city of Hīt. The route then ran south along the river toward the port of Charax Spasinu on the Persian Gulf, where Palmyrene ships traveled back and forth to India. Goods were imported from India, China and Transoxiana, and exported west to Emesa (or Antioch) then the Mediterranean ports, from which they were distributed throughout the Roman Empire. In addition to the usual route some Palmyrene merchants used the Red Sea#Ancient era, Red Sea, probably as a result of the Roman–Parthian Wars. Goods were carried overland from the seaports to a Nile port, and then taken to the Egyptian Mediterranean ports for export. Inscriptions attesting a Palmyrene presence in Egypt date to the reign of Hadrian.
Since Palmyra was not on the main trading route (which followed the Euphrates), the Palmyrenes secured the desert route passing their city. They connected it to the Euphrates valley, providing water and shelter. The Palmyrene route connected the Silk Road with the Mediterranean, and was used almost exclusively by the city's merchants, who maintained a presence in many cities, including Dura-Europos in 33 BC, Babylon by AD 19, Seleucia by AD 24, Dendera, Qift, Coptos, Bahrain, the Indus River Delta, Merv and Rome.
The caravan trade depended on patrons and merchants. Patrons owned the land on which the caravan animals were raised, providing animals and guards for the merchants. The lands were located in the numerous villages of the Palmyrene countryside. Although merchants used the patrons to conduct business, their roles often overlapped and a patron would sometimes lead a caravan. Commerce made Palmyra and its merchants among the wealthiest in the region. Some caravans were financed by a single merchant, such as Male' Agrippa (who financed Hadrian's visit in 129 and the 139 rebuilding of the Temple of Bel). The primary income-generating trade good was silk, which was exported from the East to the West. Other exported goods included jade, muslin, spices, ebony, ivory and precious stones. For its domestic market Palmyra imported a variety of goods including slaves, prostitutes, olive oil, dyed goods, myrrh and perfume.
Research and excavations
Palmyra's first scholarly description appeared in a 1696 book by Abednego Seller. In 1751, an expedition led by Robert Wood (antiquarian), Robert Wood and James Dawkins (antiquarian), James Dawkins studied Palmyra's architecture. French artist and architect Louis-François Cassas conducted an extensive survey of the city's monuments in 1785, publishing over a hundred drawings of Palmyra's civic buildings and tombs. Palmrya was photographed for the first time in 1864 by Louis Vignes. In 1882, the "Palmyrene Tariff", an inscribed stone slab from AD 137 in Greek and Palmyrene detailing import and export taxation, was discovered by prince Semyon Semyonovich Abamelik-Lazarev in the Tariff Court. It has been described by the historian John F. Matthews as "one of the most important single items of evidence for the economic life of any part of the Roman Empire". In 1901, the slab was gifted by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II to the Russian Tsar and is now in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
![Kazimierz Michałowski, Palmyra](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Kazimierz_Micha%C5%82owski%2C_Palmyra.jpg)
Palmyra's first excavations were conducted in 1902 by Otto Puchstein and in 1917 by Theodor Wiegand. In 1929, French general director of antiquities of Syria and Lebanon Henri Seyrig began large-scale excavation of the site; interrupted by World War II, it resumed soon after the war's end. Seyrig started with the Temple of Bel in 1929 and between 1939 and 1940 he excavated the Agora. Daniel Schlumberger conducted excavations in the Palmyrene northwest countryside in 1934 and 1935 where he studied different local sanctuaries in the Palmyrene villages. From 1954 to 1956, a Swiss expedition organized by UNESCO excavated the Temple of Baalshamin. Since 1958, the site has been excavated by the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities, and Polish expeditions of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw, led by many archaeologists including Kazimierz Michałowski (until 1980) and Michael Gawlikowski (until 2009). The stratigraphic sounding beneath the Temple of Bel was conducted in 1967 by Robert du Mesnil du Buisson, who also discovered the Temple of Baal-hamon in the 1970s. In 1980, the historic site including the necropolis outside the walls was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.
The Polish expedition concentrated its work on the Camp of Diocletian while the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities excavated the Temple of Nabu. Most of the hypogea were excavated jointly by the Polish expedition and the Syrian Directorate, while the area of Efqa was excavated by Jean Starcky and Jafar al-Hassani. The Palmyrene irrigation system was discovered in 2008 by Jørgen Christian Meyer who researched the Palmyrene countryside through ground inspections and satellite images. Most of Palmyra still remains unexplored especially the residential quarters in the north and south while the necropolis has been thoroughly excavated by the Directorate and the Polish expedition. Excavation expeditions left Palmyra in 2011 due to the Syrian Civil War.
See also
* ''Aureliano in Palmira''
* Crisis of the Third Century
* Palmyrene (Unicode block)
* Thirty Tyrants (Roman)
* Septimius Worod
* Zabdas
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External links
Metropolitan Museum of Art – PalmyraPalmyra. Italian-Syrian Archaeological Mission of the University of MilanPolish excavations in Palmyra
Interactive 360° panoramas of Palmyra360° full-screen photospheric visit of PalmyraTower Tombs, Funerary PortraitureKhan Academy
The legacy of ancient Palmyra, exhibitionJ. Paul Getty Museum, Getty.
{{Authority control
Palmyra,
Former populated places in Syria
Hebrew Bible cities
Destroyed cities
Levant
Oases of Syria
Palmyrene Empire
Populated places disestablished in 1932
Populated places established in the 3rd millennium BC
Populated places of the Byzantine Empire
Roman towns and cities in Syria
World Heritage Sites in Danger
World Heritage Sites in Syria
Lost cities and towns