Palmyra

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Current World Archaeology 111

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ABOVE The religious heart of Palmyra was the Sanctuary of Bel (TOP), while a fine colonnaded street led through the centre of the city (BOTTOM). Both are seen here in 2008, before elements of the ancient city were destroyed in 2015.

Facing the Palmyrenes: exploring life and death in a desert city

What can an extraordinary group of sculptures commemorating the dead reveal about ancient life in Palmyra? Thousands of ancient inhabitants’ portraits once graced lavish family tombs in cemeteries just beyond the desert city. Studying this artistry can reveal much about wealth, power, family, and even the balance between local tradition and outside influences in a major trading hub, as Eva Mortensen and Rubina Raja reveal.

Herbert Schmalz Zenobia

Palmyra Quiz

An oasis city surrounded by Syrian desert, Palmyra was an important stop on which trade route?

Palmyra, 1864

What remains of Palmyra’s substantial ruins, stretching across 3km, gives a sense of the city’s prosperity and grandeur, especially between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.

Above Painted sculptures sealed burial shafts in grand tombs, some of them towers, outside the ancient city of Palmyra. Here, a range of portraits of men and women, young and old, are presented in rows to give an idea of how they were arranged in the tower tombs.

The Road to Palmyra

Halfway between the Mediterranean and the River Euphrates, the Efqu spring offered refreshing respite for ancient traders crossing the dusty Syrian desert. The city of Palmyra flourished at the oasis, its merchants amassing their wealth through trade networks that brought…