Map of the Roman Empire - Palmyra
Palmyra
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Palmyra (Tadmor): Tudmur oasis in desert between Syria and Iraq. Perhaps O.T. Tadmor (Tamar), q.v. Important trading city.
Palmyra
(???µ??a; the O. T. Tadmor). A celebrated city of Syria, standing in an oasis of
the great Syrian Desert, which from its position was a halting-place for the
caravans between Syria and Mesopotamia. Here Solomon built a city, which was
called in Hebrew Tadmor—that is, “a city of palm-trees.” Of this name the Greek
Palmyra is a translation. Under Hadrian and the Antonines it was highly favoured,
and reached its greatest splendour. The history of its temporary elevation to
the rank of a capital, in the third century of the Christian era, is related
under Odenathus and Zenobia. After its capture by Aurelian in A.D. 270 it was
partly destroyed, but was made a frontier fortress, and under Justinian was
strongly fortified. When the Arabs overran the country it was taken by them, and
in the year 1400 was plundered by the Tartars under Tamerlane. Its splendid
ruins, which form a most striking object in the midst of the desert, are of the
Roman period. They resemble those of Heliopolis (q.v.), though less fine. Among
them are the remains of a temple of the Sun (or Baal), a great colonnade which
originally consisted of some 1500 columns of the Corinthian order, and was
nearly a mile in length. There are also a number of square sepulchral towers of
much interest; and the streets can still be traced. Several inscriptions in
Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and the Palmyrean dialect are still extant. See Wood,
Bouverie, and Dawkins, The Ruins of Palmyra (1753); Seiff, Reisen in der
asiatischen Türkei (1875); and Wright, An Account of Palmyra and Zenobia
(London, 1895). - Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary
of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898.
Palmyra (Greek: Παλμύρα; Hebrew: תדמור, Tadmor; Arabic: تدمر, Tadmur)
was an ancient Syrian city.[1][2][3] In the age of antiquity, it was an
important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of
Damascus[4] and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had 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 Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (which means "the town that repels"
in Amorite and "the indomitable town" in Aramaic.[5]) is recorded in Babylonian
tablets found in Mari.[6]
Though the ancient site fell into disuse after the 16th century, it is still
known as Tadmor in Arabic, and there is a newer town 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.
Ancient History of Palmyra
The exact etymology of the name "Palmyra" 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 in the second millennium BC. It was another trading city in the
extensive trade network that linked Mesopotamia and northern Syria. Tadmor is
mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Second Book of Chronicles 8:4) as a desert city
built (or fortified) by the King Solomon of Judea:
There had been a temple at Palmyra 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.
—Terry Jones and Alan Ereira, Terry Jones' Barbarians, p. 183
Flavius Josephus also attributes the founding of Tadmor to Solomon in his
Antiquities of the Jews (Book VIII), along with the Greek name of Palmyra.
Several citations in the tractates of the Talmud and of the Midrash also refer
to the city in the Syrian desert (sometimes interchanging the letters "d" and
"t" - "Tatmor" instead of "Tadmor").
Greco-Roman periods of Palmyra
Detail of a Parthian cavalryman escorting a camel caravan. Rubbing of a relief
at Palmyra Inscription of Queen Zenobia at Palmyra.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
BCE, Mark Antony sent a raiding party to Palmyra but the Palmyrans had received
intelligence of their approach and escaped to the other side of the Euphrates,
demonstrating that at that time Palmyra was still a nomadic settlement and its
valuables could be removed at short notice.[7]
In the mid 1st century AD, 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 Aramaean, Bedouin and other inhabitants of Palmyra adopted
customs and modes of dress from both the Parthian world to the east and the
Graeco-Roman west.
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 during the reign of
Tiberius (14 –37 AD.). 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. Septimius Odaenathus, a Prince of Palmyra, was
appointed by 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 Septimia Zenobia took power, ruling Palmyra on the behalf of her son,
Vabalathus.
Zenobia rebelled against Roman authority with the help of Cassius Longinus and
took over Bosra and lands as far to the west as Egypt, establishing the
short-lived Palmyrene Empire. Next, she took Antioch and large sections of Asia
Minor to the north. In 272, the Roman Emperor Aurelian finally restored Roman
control and Palmyra was besieged and sacked, never to recover her former glory.
Aurelian captured Zenobia, bringing her back to Rome. He paraded her in golden
chains but allowed her to retire to a villa in Tibur, where she took an active
part in society for years. A legionary fortress was established in Palmyra and
although no longer an important trade center, it nevertheless remained an
important junction of Roman roads in the Syrian desert.[8]
Diocletian expanded it to harbor even more legions and walled it in to try and
save it from the Sassanid threat. The Byzantine period following the Roman
Empire only resulted in the building of a few churches; much of the city turned
to ruin. - Wikipedia
Palmyra
PALMY´RA
PALMY´RA (?a?µ??a, Ptol. 5.15. § § 19, 24, 8.20.10; Appian, App. BC 5.9: ?a?µ??a,
J. AJ 8.2; and Palmira, Plin. Nat. 5.25. s. 21: Eth. Palmyrenus, or Palmirenus,
Id. l.c.), a city of Syria, situated in 34° 24' N. lat., and 38° 20' E. long.
Its Hebrew name, Tadmor, or Thadmor, denotes, like its Greek one, a city of
palms; and this appellation is preserved by the Arabs, who still call it Tedmor.
Tadmor was built, or more probably enlarged, by Solomon in the tenth century
B.C. (1 Kings, 9.18; 2 Chron. 8.4), and its identity with Palmyra is shown in
the passage of Josephus before cited. It is seated in a pleasant and fruitful
oasis of the great Syrian desert, and is well watered by several small streams;
but the river mentioned by Ptolemy is nowhere to be found. Its situation is
fine, under a ridge of hills towards the W., and a little above the level of an
extensive plain, which it commands on the E. (Wood, Ruins of Parlmyra, p. 5), at
a distance of about 140 miles ENE. of Damascus. It is not mentioned by Xenophon,
who must have passed near it, nor in the accounts of the conquests of Alexander
the Great. The first historical notice that we find of it is in Appian, who
tells us that M. Antony, under pretence of punishing its equivocal conduct, but
in reality to enrich his troops with the plunder of a thriving commercial city,
directed his march towards it, but was frustrated of his object by the
inhabitants removing their goods to the other side of the Euphrates. (B. Civ.
5.100.9.) This account shows that it must have been a town of considerable
wealth; and indeed its advantageous situation must have long rendered it an
entrepôt for the traffic between the east and Damascus and the Phoenician cities
on the Mediterranean. Yet its name is not mentioned either by Strabo or Mela.
Under the first Roman emperors it was an independent city; and its situation on
the borders of the Roman and Parthian empires gave it a political importance,
which it seems to have preserved by a well-judged course of policy, though
naturally exposed to much danger in the quarrels of two such formidable
neighbours. ( “Inter duo imperia summa, et prima--in discordia semper utrinque
cura,” Plin. l.c.) It is called a colonia on the coins of Caracalla, and Ulpian
mentioned it in his first book de Censibus as having the Jus Italicum. It
appears, from an inscription, to have assisted the emperor Alexander Severus in
his wars against the Persians. (Wood, Inscr. xix.) It is not, however, till the
reign of Gallienus that we find Palmyra playing any important part in history;
and at this period we have notices of it in the works of Zosimus, Vopiscus, and
Trebellius Pollio. Odenathus, a noble of Palmyra, and according to Procopius (B.
Pers. 2.100.5) prince of the Saracens who inhabited the banks of the Euphrates,
for his great and splendid services against the Persians, received from
Gallienus the title of Augustus, and was acknowledged by him as his colleague in
the empire. After the assassination of Odenathus by his nephew Maeonius, the
celebrated Zenobia, the wife of the former, whose prudence and courage had been
of great assistance to Odenathus in his former successes, ascended the vacant
throne, and, assuming the magnificent title of Queen of the East, ruled with a
manly vigour during a period of five years. Under this extraordinary woman,
whose talents and accomplishments were equalled by her beauty, and whose love of
literature is shown by her patronage of Longinus, Palmyra attained the highest
pitch of its prosperity. She claimed to be descended from the Macedonian kings
of Egypt, and her achievements would not have disgraced her ancestry; though,
according to other accounts, she was a Jewess. (Milman, Hist. of the Jews, iii.
p. 175.) Besides the sovereignty of Syria and Mesopotamia, she is said to have
extended her sway over Egypt (Zosim. 1.100.44); but by some critics this fact
has been questioned. Claudius, the successor of Gallienus, being engaged in the
Gothic War, tacitly acknowledged her authority. But after the termination of the
short reign of that emperor, the progress of Zenobia in Asia Minor was regarded
by Aurelian with jealousy and alarm. Her arms and intrigues already menaced the
security of Bithynia (IB.C. 50), when Aurelian marched against her, and defeated
her in two great battles near Antioch and Emesa, at both of which she commanded
in person. Zenobia now retreated to Palmyra, and prepared to defend her capital
with vigour. The difficulties of the siege are described by Aurelian himself in
an original letter preserved by Vopiscus. (Aurel. 100.26.) After defying for a
long time the arms of the Roman emperor, Zenobia, being disappointed of the
succour which she expected to receive from the Persians, was ultimately
compelled to fly, but was. overtaken on the banks of the Euphrates by the light
horse of Aurelian, and brought back a prisoner. Shortly after this event her
capital surrendered, and was treated with clemency by the conqueror, who,
however, sullied his fame by the cruel execution of Longinus and some of the
principal citizens, whom Zenobia had denounced to him. The personal adventures
of Zenobia we need not pursue, as they will be found related in the Dictionary
of Biography and Mythology. No sooner had Aurelian crossed the Hellespont than
he was recalled by the intelligence that the Palmyrenians had risen against and
massacred the small garrison which he had left in their city. The emperor
immediately marched again to Palmyra, which now paid the full penalty of its
rebellion. In an original letter Aurelian has himself recorded the unsparing
execution, which extended even to old men, women, and children. (Vopisc. Aur.
100.31.) To the remnant of the Palmyrenians, [2.537] indeed, he granted a
pardon, with permission to repair and inhabit their ruined city, and especially
discovered much solicitude for the restoration of the Temple of the Sun. But the
effects of the blow were too heavy to be retrieved. From this period (A.D. 273)
Palmyra gradually dwindled into an insignificant town, and at length became only
a place of refuge for a few families of wandering Arabs. It served indeed for
some years as a Roman military station; and Diocletian partially restored some
of its buildings, as appears from an inscription preserved by Wood. About the
year 400 the first Illyrian legion was quartered there (Not. Imp.); and
Procopius tells us that it was fortified by Justinian (de Aed. 2.2). But this is
the last that we hear of Palmyra under the Romans; and the sinking for-tunes of
their empire probably soon led them to abandon it.
The remains of the buildings of Palmyra are chiefly of the Corinthian order,
which was the favourite style of architecture during the two or three centuries
which preceded Diocletian; whence we may infer that the splendour which it once
exhibited was chiefly owing to Odenathus and Zenobia. For many centuries even
the site of Palhyra remained totally unknown except to the roving Arabs of the
desert, whose magnificent accounts of its ruins at length excited the curiosity
of the English merchants settled at Aleppo. Under the auspices of the Levant
Company, an expedition started in 1678 for the purpose of exploring them; but
the persons who composed it were robbed and ill-treated by the Arabs, and
compelled to return without having accomplished their object. In 1691 the
expedition was renewed with better success, and an account of the discoveries
then made was published in the transactions of the Royal Society. (Sellers,
Antiquities of Palmyra, Pref.) Subsequently Palmyra was visited in 1751 by Wood
and Dawkins, who published the results of their journey in a large folio volume
with magnificent engravings. The account in Volney (vol. ii.) is chiefly taken
from this work. Among the more recent descriptions may be mentioned that of Irby
and Mangles (Travels, ch. v.), who visited Palmyra in 1816. According to these
travellers the plates of Wood and Dawkins have done more than justice to the
subject; and although the view of the ruins from a distance, with their line of
dazzling white columns extending between one and two miles, and relieved by the
contrast of the yellow sand of the desert, is very striking, yet, when examined
in detail, they excite but little interest. Taken separately, not a single
column or architectural member is worthy of admiration. None of the former
exceed 40 feet in height and 4 feet in diameter, and in the boasted avenue they
are little more than 30 feet high. The remains of the Ternmple of the Sun form
the most magnificent object, and being of the Ionic order, relieve the monotony
of the prevailing Corinthian style. These columns, which are 40 feet high and 4
feet in diameter, are fluted, and formed of only three or four pieces of stone;
and in former times were surmounted by brazen Ionic capitals. The facade of the
portico consists of 12 columns, like that of the temple of Baalbec, besides
which there are other points of resemblance. On the whole, however, the ruins
are far inferior to those at Baalbec. At the time of Messrs. Irby and Mangles'
visit the peristyle court of the Temple of the Sun was occupied by the Arabian
village of Tadmor; but with this exception, and the Turkish burial ground, the
space was unencumbered, and there was nothing to obstruct the researches of the
antiquary. In some places the lines of the streets and the foundations of the
houses were distinctly visible. The sculptures are uniformly coarse and bad; the
stone is of a perishable description, and scarcely deserves the name of marble.
The sepulchres outside the walls formed perhaps the most interesting part of the
remains. These consist of square towers, from three to five stories high,
forming sepulchral chambers, with recesses for the reception of the bodies. In
these tombs mummies and mummy cloths are found, prepared very much after the
Egyptian manner; but there are no paintings, and on the whole they are far from
being so interesting as the Egyptian sepulchres. There was a sculptured tablet
in bas-relief, with seven or eight figures standing and clothed in long robes,
supposed to represent priests. Several Greek and Palmyrene inscriptions, and two
or three in Latin and Hebrew, have been discovered at Palmyra. They will be
found in Wood's Ruins of Palmyra, and the following works may also be consulted:
Bernard and Smith, Inscriptiones Graecae Palmyrenorum, Utrecht, 1698; Giorgi, De
Inscriptionibus Palmyrenis quae in Musaeo Capitolino adservantur interpretandis
Fpistola, Rome, 1782; Barthélemy, in Mém de l'Académie des Inscr. tom. xxiv.;
and Swinton, in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. xlviii.
With regard to the general history and antiquities of Palmyra, besides the works
already cited in this article, the following may be consulted: Seller,
Antiquities of Palmyra, London, 1696; Huntington in the Philosophical
Transactions, vol. xix. Nos. 217, 218; a Dissertation by Dr. Halley in the same
work; Gibbon's Decline and Fall. ch. xi.; St. Mart, Hist. de Palmyre, Paris,
1823; Addison's Damascus and Palmyra; Richter, Wallfahrt; Cassas, Voyage
Pittoresque de la Syrie; Laborde, Voyage en Orient; &c.
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed.