Palmyra
1548606
224240970
2008-07-07T23:18:31Z
Singinglemon
5356294
/* Greco-Roman & Persian Periods */ Cassius Dionysius Longinus -> Cassius Longinus
{{for|places named Palmyra after this city|Palmyra (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:PalmyraPanoramaZoom.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Early morning panorama of Palmyra.]]
{{Infobox World Heritage Site
| WHS = Site of Palmyra
| Image = [[Image:Palmyre Vue Generale.jpg|300px|A general view of the site]]
| State Party = {{SYR}}
| Type = Cultural
| Criteria = i, ii, iv
| ID = 23
| Region = [[Arab States]]
| Year = 1980
| Session = 4th
| Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/23
}}
'''Palmyra''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: تدمر '''Tadmor''') was in ancient times an important city of central [[Syria]], located in an [[oasis]] 215 km northeast of [[Damascus]] and 120 km southwest of the [[Euphrates]]. It has long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the ''Bride of the Desert''. The earliest documented reference to the city by its pre-Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur, [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9058157/Palmyra] is recorded in [[Babylonian]] tablets found in [[Mari]] [http://www.syriagate.com/Syria/about/cities/Homs/palmyra.htm]. Though the ancient site fell into disuse after the 16th century, it is still known as Tadmor in Arabic, and there is a small newer settlement next to the ruins of the same name. The Palmyrenes constructed a series of large-scale monuments containing [[funerary art]] such as limestone slabs with human busts representing the deceased.
==History==
===Ancient===
[[Image:PalmyraCloseup.JPG|thumb|left|Close-up of ancient Palmyra.]]
In the mid-first century, Palmyra, a wealthy and elegant city located along the caravan routes linking [[Persia]] with the [[Mediterranean]] ports of Roman Syria and Phoenicia, came under Roman control. During the following period of great prosperity, the [[Aramaeans|Aramaean]] inhabitants of Palmyra adopted customs and modes of dress from both the [[Iran]]ian Parthian world to the east and the [[Graeco-Roman]] west.
[[Image:Temple of Bel in Palmyra.JPG|thumb|200px|right|Temple of [[Bel (mythology)|Bel]].]]
Tadmor is mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]] ([[Books of Chronicles|Second Book of Chronicles]] 8:4) as a desert city built (or fortified) by the King [[Solomon]] of [[Judea]], the son of [[David (biblical king)|David]].
In the [[Books of Kings|First Book of Kings]] (9:18) is mentioned the city of תמר Tamor or Tamar, also built by [[Solomon]]. But it is traditionally read (see [[Qere]]) as ''Tadmor'', and several citations in the [[Tract (literature)|tractates]] of the [[Talmud]] and of the [[Midrash]] refer to that city in the Syrian desert (sometimes interchanging the letters "d" and "t" - "Tatmor" instead of "Tadmor"). (Some modern scholars wrote that it could refer to a place near the [[Dead Sea]].)
Tadmor is also mentioned as built by Solomon in [[Flavius Josephus]] ''Antiquities of the Jews'' - Book VIII, along with the Greek name of Palmyra.
''Tadmor'' is the name of Palmyra in modern Hebrew. The exact etymology of the name "Palmyra" in this case is unknown, although some scholars believe it was related to the palm trees in the area. Others, however, believe it may have come out of an incorrect translation of the name "Tadmor" (cf. Colledge, Seyrig, Starcky, and others).
The city was first mentioned in the archives of [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] in the 2nd millennium BC. It was another trading city in the extensive trade network that linked Mesopotamia and northern Syria. [[Terry Jones]] and [[Alan Ereira]] write in ''Terry Jones' Barbarians'', p. 183:
{{quote|There had been a temple at Palmyra, for instance, for 2000 years before the Romans ever saw it. Its form, a large stone-walled chamber with columns outside, is much closer to the sort of thing attributed to Solomon than to anything Roman. It is mentioned in the Bible as part of Solomon's Kingdom. In fact, it says he built it (2 Chronicles 8 v. 4).}}
===Greco-Roman & Persian Periods===
[[Image:PalmyreneDeities.jpg|thumb|right|Palmyrene deities. From left to right: the lunar god [[Aglibol|Aglibôl]], the supreme god [[Beelshamen|Beelshamên]], the sun god [[Malakbel|Malakbêl]], 1st century, found near [[Bir Wereb]], [[Wadi Miyah]], [[Syria]]. [[Louvre Museum]].]]
[[Image:PalmyraParthianCavalryman.jpg|thumb|Parthian cavalryman (escorting a camel caravan, detail). He wears large [[chaps]] over decorated trousers, as well as a polylobed [[dagger]] ([[Akinakes]]) on the right side. Palmyra relief.]]
When the [[Seleucids]] took control of Syria in 323 BC, the city was left to itself and it became independent. The city flourished as a caravan halt in the [[1st century BC]]. In 41 BC, the Romans under [[Mark Antony]] tried to occupy Palmyra but failed as the Palmyrans escaped to the other side of the Euphrates. The Palmyrans had received intelligence of the Roman approach. This proves that at that time Palmyra was still a nomadic settlement and its valuables could be removed at short notice.
Jones and Erieira note that Palmyran merchants owned ships in Italian waters and controlled the Indian silk trade. "Palmyra became one of the richest cities of the Near East.""The Palmyrans had really pulled off a great trick, they were the only people who managed to live alongside Rome without being Romanized. They simply pretended to be Romans."
Palmyra was made part of the [[Roman province]] of [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]] during the reign of [[Tiberius]] ([[14]]–[[37]]). It steadily grew in importance as a trade route linking Persia, India, China, and the Roman empire. In 129, [[Hadrian]] visited the city and was so enthralled by it that he proclaimed it a free city and renamed it ''Palmyra Hadriana''.
Beginning in 212, Palmyra's trade diminished as the [[Sassanids]] occupied the mouth of the [[Tigris]] and the [[Euphrates]]. [[Odaenathus|Septimius Odaenathus]], a Prince of Palmyra, was appointed by [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]] as the governor of the province of Syria. After Valerian was captured by the Sassanids and died in captivity in [[Bishapur]], [[Odaenathus]] campaigned as far as [[Ctesiphon]] (near modern-day [[Baghdad]]) for revenge, invading the city twice. When Odaenathus was assassinated by his nephew Maconius, his wife [[Zenobia|Septimia Zenobia]] took power, ruling Palmyra on the behalf of her son, [[Vabalathus]]. Zenobia rebelled against Roman authority with the help of [[Cassius Longinus (philosopher)|Cassius Longinus]] and took over [[Bosra]] and lands as far to the west as [[Egypt]], establishing the short-lived [[Palmyrene Empire]]. Next, she attempted to take [[Antioch]] to the north. In [[272]], the Roman Emperor [[Aurelian]] finally retaliated and captured her and brought her back to Rome. He paraded her in golden chains but allowed her to retire to a villa in [[Tivoli, Italy|Tibur]], where she took an active part in society for years. This rebellion greatly disturbed Rome, and so Palmyra was forced by the empire to become a military base for the Roman legions. [[Diocletian]] expanded it to harbor even more legions and walled it in to try and save it from the Sassanid threat. The [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period only resulted in the building of a few churches and much of the city was in ruin.
===Islamic rule===
[[Image:Palmyrasheikh.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sheikh]] of Palmyra.]]
In [[634]] the first Muslims arrived in Palmyra. The city was taken by the Muslim Arabs under [[Khalid ibn Walid]] in [[634]]. Palmyra was kept intact. After the year [[800]] people started abandoning the city. In 1089 it suffered an earthquake and was completely abandoned.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Palmyra}}</ref>
In the 17th century, Qala'at ibn Maan castle was built on top of a mountain overlooking the oasis by [[Fakhreddine|Fakhr ad-Din al-Maan II]], a Lebanese prince who tried to control the Syrian Desert. The castle was surrounded by a moat, with access only available through a drawbridge. It is possible that earlier fortifications existed on the hill well before then.
Palmyra remains a [[titular see]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. It was revived in 1803 but the see has been vacant since 1983. <ref>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2p35.html Palmyra (Titular See)] - [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org catholic-hierarchy.org]</ref>
==Funerary art==
[[Image:PalmyraWoman.JPG|thumb|Funerary bust of a woman. Palmyra. Mid-late 2nd century. [[British Museum]].]]
Palmyrenes constructed a series of large-scale funerary monuments. These structures, some of which were below ground, had interior walls that were cut away or constructed to form burial compartments in which the deceased, extended at full length, was placed. Limestone slabs with human busts (in Roman and Parthian Iranian fashions) in high relief sealed the rectangular openings of the compartments.
These reliefs represented the "personality" or "soul" of the person interred and formed part of the wall decoration inside the tomb chamber. A banquet scene as depicted on this relief would have been displayed in a family tomb rather than that of an individual.
==Further excavations==
Archaeological teams from various countries have been working on-and-off on different parts of the site. In May 2005, a Polish team excavating at the Lat temple discovered a highly-detailed stone statue of the winged goddess of victory [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]].
==See also==
* [[Zenobia]]
* [[Tadmor Prison]]
* [[Tamara]]
* [[Palmyrene Empire]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{commons|Palmyra}}
* [http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/palm/hd_palm.htm Metropolitan Museum of Art - Palmyra]
===Information===
*http://i-cias.com/e.o/palmyra.htm
===Photography===
*[http://www.zeledi.com/public/Photography/SyriaWinter03/Palmyra/ A collection of pictures] made in 2003 about Palmyra
*[http://www.zeledi.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=31 A Palmyra gallery] dated spring 2005
* Gallery of pictures of [http://web.mac.com/dwb217/iWeb/WorldViewBender/Palmyra.html Palmyra]
*[http://www.WHTour.org/23 Palmyra World Heritage Site in panographies] - 360 degree interactive imaging
{{World Heritage Sites in Syria}}
{{coor title dms|34|33|36|N|38|16|2|E|region:SY_type:city}}
[[Category:Palmyra| ]]
[[Category:Aramaean cities]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Syria]]
[[Category:Cities, towns and villages in Syria]]
[[Category:Crisis of the Third Century]]
[[Category:History of Syria]]
[[Category:Roman sites in Syria]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible places]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Syria]]
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