PALMYRA

Ancient and modern caravan center of the Syrian Desert between Damascus (150 miles SW) or Homs (100 miles W) and Deir ez-Zor (130 miles E). "Palmyra" is apparently (Greek via Latin) from the Semitic "date palm" (Hebrew tāmār; Aramaic tamrā’; Arabic tamrun ); the modern name Tadmor may be a variant (or another Semitic root with common prefix t -); but it is scarcely solomon's Tadmor that is mentioned in 2 Chr8.4, where the reading should be Tamar (Thamar), a town in southern Juda (Ez 47.9; 48.28), as in 1 Kgs 9.18 [see J. Starcky, Dictionnaire de la Bible, suppl. ed. L. Pirot, 5:1068]. The only mention of a pre-Hellenistic Tadmor may be in Mari documents (c. 1750 b.c.) or in inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser I (1116–1078 b.c.); see P. Dhorme, Revue biblique 53 (1924) 106.

The far-flung surviving ruins, cleared by T. Wiegand's German expedition, come from a period beginning c. 200 b.c.. In 44 a.d. the settlement was already "monumental" as known from the visit of Tiberius' nephew Germanicus and from a Bel temple inscription of 32 (Stoneman, p. 52), but still with a mostly unstable nomadic population (Browning, p. 28). But colonnaded Palmyra's magnificence is chiefly due to Hadrian's visit (a.d. 129)—especially the major temple of Bel (baal), distinct from a smaller temple of Belšamin (Baal-šamayim); see A. Collart, Annales archéologiques de Syrie 7 (1957) 67–94. Several hundred of the original 750 sandstone columns are still erect, stretching 1,240 yards from a monumental gateway (now partly reconstructed) past a theater (built c. a.d. 140) in the heart of the city—unlike most Roman-Syrian parallels; see E. Frezouls, Syria 36 (1959) 202.

Palmyra's most characteristic contribution to world culture is its funerary sculpture, showing the whole family of the deceased reunited around a festive banquet table, framed by rows of busts of near relatives that seal their respective burials [see Parlasca; E. Ruprechtsberger, Ausstellung Linz 1987 ; H. Ingholt, Studier (Copenhagen 1928)]. These sculptured burials were arranged either in several stories of a tower, of which a good number survive, notably those of Elahbel (a.d. 103) and Jamblichus (a.d. 80)—see E. Will, Syria 26 (1949) 87–116, 258–312; cf. 34 (1957) 262–277—or in underground chambers, most of which have been transferred to museums, especially Yarhai's (a.d. 108), reconstructed in Damascus [see R. Amy and H. Seyrig, Syria 17 (1936) 229; Annales archéologiques de Syrie 1 (1951) 32–40]. Some of the tombs contain inscriptions in the Palmyrene language (see bibliography), closely related to Nabataean and the Aramaic of the dead sea scrolls (see aramaic language, 1).

Rome built up Palmyra's strength to a maximum under the local ruler Odeinat; but after his death (a.d.268) his widow Zenobia declared her independence and successfully resisted sporadic attacks by the Roman legions until a strong army was sent against her. She was captured and made to grace Aurelian's triumph in Rome (thus earning him the bad name of "general who conquered a woman"), then comfortably ended her days in a villa at Tivoli.

The desert ruins of Palmyra are now dominated by a castle named for Ibn Ma‘an but really built by Fakhr-al-Dīn II al-Ma'nī (c. a.d. 1600).

See Also: arabia, 3

Bibliography: r. stoneman, Palmyra and Its Empire: Zenobia's Revolt against Rome (Ann Arbor 1992). i. browning, Palmyra (1979). m. gawlikowski, "Palmyra," Anchor Bible Dictionary 5 (1992) 136–137. p. parlasca, "Die palmyrenische Grabkunst," Mitteilungen der archäologischen Gesellschaft Steyermark 94 (1989–90) 112–136. m. colledge, The Art of Palmyra (1976). h. j. w. drijvers and m. versteegh, "Palmyra," Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römische Welt 2.8 (1977) 837–863; h. drijvers, The Religion of Palmyra (Leiden 1976). j. teixidor, The Pantheon of Palmyra (Leiden 1974). w. macdonald, Architecture of the Roman Empire (New Haven 1965). e. will, Les Palmyreniens (Paris 1992). j. starcky, Palmyre (Paris 1952); Dictionnaire de la Bible, suppl. ed. l. pirot, et al. (Paris 1928– ) 6:1066–1103. h. leclercq, Dictionnaire d'archéololgie chrétienne et de liturgie 13 (1957) 962. t. wiegand, ed., Palmyra: Ergebnisse der Expedition von 1902–1917, 2 v. (Berlin 1932). m. i. rostovtsev, Caravan Cities, tr. d. and t. talbot rice (Oxford 1932) 91–152. Palmyrene language. d. hillers, Zeitschrift für Althebraistik 8 (1995) 55–62. j. cantineau, Grammaire du palmyrénien épigraphique (Cairo 1935). f. rosenthal, Die Sprache der palmyrenischen Inschriften… (Leipzig 1936).

[r. north]