Occurrence of Attributes in Original Text
The text related to the cultural heritage 'Site of Palmyra' has mentioned 'Palmyra' in the following places:
| Occurrence Sentence | Text Source |
|---|---|
| This article is about the ancient city of Palmyra. | WIKI |
| For the modern city, also known as Tadmur, see Palmyra (modern). | WIKI |
| For other uses, see Palmyra (disambiguation). | WIKI |
| Palmyra xd8xaaxd9x8exd8xafxd9x92xd9x85xd9x8fxd8xb1xe2x80x8e The ruins of Palmyra in 2010Shown within SyriaAlternativexc2xa0nameTadmorLocationTadmur, Homs Governorate, SyriaRegionSyrian DesertCoordinates34xc2xb033xe2x80xb205xe2x80xb3N 38xc2xb016xe2x80xb205xe2x80xb3Exefxbbxbf / xefxbbxbf34.55139xc2xb0N 38.26806xc2xb0Exefxbbxbf / 34.55139; 38.26806Coordinates: 34xc2xb033xe2x80xb205xe2x80xb3N 38xc2xb016xe2x80xb205xe2x80xb3Exefxbbxbf / xefxbbxbf34.55139xc2xb0N 38.26806xc2xb0Exefxbbxbf / 34.55139; 38.26806TypeSettlementPartxc2xa0ofPalmyrene EmpireArea80xc2xa0ha (200 acres)HistoryFounded3rd millennium BCAbandoned1932xc2xa0(1932)PeriodsMiddle Bronze Age to ModernCulturesAramaic, Arabic, Greco-RomanSite notesConditionRuinedOwnershipPublicManagementSyrian Ministry of CulturePublicxc2xa0accessInaccessible (in a war zone) UNESCO World Heritage SiteOfficial nameSite of PalmyraTypeCulturalCriteriai, ii, ivDesignated1980 (4th Session)Referencexc2xa0no.23RegionArab statesEndangered2013xc2xa0(2013)xe2x80x93present | WIKI |
| Palmyra (/xcbx8cpxc3xa6lxcbx88maxc9xaarxc9x99/; Palmyrene: Tadmor; Arabic: xd8xaaxd9x8exd8xafxd9x92xd9x85xd9x8fxd8xb1xe2x80x8e Tadmur) is an ancient Semitic city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. | WIKI |
| Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires before becoming a subject of the Roman Empire in the first century AD. | WIKI |
| Palmyra's wealth enabled the construction of monumental projects, such as the Great Colonnade, the Temple of Bel, and the distinctive tower tombs. | WIKI |
| Greco-Roman culture influenced the culture of Palmyra, which produced distinctive art and architecture that combined eastern and western traditions. | WIKI |
| By the third century AD Palmyra had become a prosperous regional center. | WIKI |
| 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 model during the first two centuries AD. | WIKI |
| Following its destruction in 273, Palmyra became a minor center under the Byzantines and later empires. | WIKI |
| Contents 1 Etymology 2 Region and city layout 2.1 Layout 3 People, language, and society 3.1 Ethnicity of classical Palmyra 3.2 Language 3.3 Social organization 4 Culture 4.1 Art and architecture 5 Site 5.1 Cemeteries 5.2 Notable structures 5.2.1 Public buildings 5.2.2 Temples 5.2.3 Other buildings 5.3 Destruction by ISIL 5.3.1 Restoration 6 History 6.1 Early period 6.2 Hellenistic and Roman periods 6.2.1 Autonomous Palmyrene region 6.2.2 Palmyrene kingdom 6.2.2.1 Persian wars 6.2.2.2 Palmyrene empire 6.2.3 Later Roman and Byzantine periods 6.3 Arab caliphates 6.3.1 Umayyad and early Abbasid periods 6.3.2 Decentralization 6.4 Mamluk period 6.4.1 Al Fadl principality 6.5 Ottoman era 6.6 20th Century 6.7 Syrian Civil War 7 Government 7.1 Military 7.1.1 Relations with Rome 8 Religion 8.1 Malakbel and the Roman Sol Invictus 9 Economy 9.1 Commerce 10 Research and excavations 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 13.1 Citations 13.2 Sources 14 External links | WIKI |
| The Greek name xcexa0xcexb1xcexbbxcexbcxcfx8dxcfx81xcexb1 (Latinized Palmyra) was first recorded by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century AD. | WIKI |
| [7] 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. | WIKI |
| [7] 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"),[1] in reference to the city's palm trees, then the name reached its final form "Palmyra". | WIKI |
| [10] The second view, supported by some philologists, such as Jean Starcky, holds that Palmyra is a translation of "Tadmor" (assuming that it meant palm), which had derived from the Greek word for palm, "palame". | WIKI |
| [9] Michael Patrick O'Connor (1988) suggested that the names "Palmyra" and "Tadmor" originated in the Hurrian language. | WIKI |
| [11] Similarly, according to this theory, "Palmyra" derives from the Hurrian word pal ("to know") using the same mVr formant (mar). | WIKI |
| The city of Palmyra lies 215xc2xa0km (134xc2xa0mi) northeast of the Syrian capital, Damascus;[12] along with an expanded hinterland of several settlements, farms and forts, the city forms part of the region known as the Palmyrene. | WIKI |
| [15] In the south and the east Palmyra is exposed to the Syrian Desert. | WIKI |
| The Hellenistic settlement of Palmyra [22] had its residences expanding to the wadi's northern bank during the first century. | WIKI |
| [25] 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. | WIKI |
| Also north of the wadi was the Great Colonnade, Palmyra's 1.1-kilometre-long (0.68xc2xa0mi) main street,[27] which extended from the Temple of Bel in the east,[28] to the Funerary Temple no.86 in the city's western part. | WIKI |
| [33] Nearby were residences,[34] the Temple of Baalshamin,[35] and the Byzantine churches, which include "Basilica IV", Palmyra's largest church. | WIKI |
| At its height during the reign of Zenobia, Palmyra had more than 200,000 residents. | WIKI |
| [48] Sheikh 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";[49] 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. | WIKI |
| [54] During the Umayyad Caliphate, Palmyra was mainly inhabited by the Banu Kalb. | WIKI |
| [56] Palmyra declined after its destruction by Timur in 1400,[57] and was a village of 6,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century. | WIKI |
| Ethnicity of classical Palmyra[edit] | WIKI |
| Palmyra's population was a mixture of the different peoples inhabiting the city,[59][60] which is seen in Aramaic, Arabic and Amorite names of Palmyrene clans,[note 4][61] but the ethnicity of Palmyra is a matter of debate. | WIKI |
| [note 5][66] 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. | WIKI |
| Seland concluded that in the case of Palmyra, the people perceived themselves different from their neighbours and a real Palmyrene ethnicity existed. | WIKI |
| [67] Aside from the existence of a Palmyrene ethnicity, Aramean or Arab are the two main ethnic designations debated by historians;[62] 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. | WIKI |
| [68] 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. | WIKI |
| 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. | WIKI |
| [note 6][79] By the time of Nero Palmyra had four tribes, each residing in an area of the city bearing its name. | WIKI |
| [83] Women seem to have been active in Palmyra's social and public life. | WIKI |
| 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. | WIKI |
| [86] 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. | WIKI |
| 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. | WIKI |
| [87] Following its destruction by Timur, Palmyra maintained the life of a small settlement until its relocation in 1932. | WIKI |
| The scarce artifacts found in the city dating to the Bronze Age reveal that, culturally, Palmyra was most affiliated with western Syria. | WIKI |
| [89] Classical Palmyra had a distinctive culture,[90] based on a local Semitic tradition,[91] and influenced by Greece and Rome. | WIKI |
| [94] The extent of Greek influence on Palmyra's culture is debated. | WIKI |
| [96] 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). | WIKI |
| [97] Others view Palmyra's culture as a fusion of local and Greco-Roman traditions. | WIKI |
| [99] Palmyra had no large libraries or publishing facilities, and it lacked an intellectual movement characteristic of other Eastern cities such as Edessa or Antioch. | WIKI |
| Palmyra had a large agora. | WIKI |
| [note 10] However, unlike the Greek Agoras (public gathering places shared with public buildings), Palmyra's agora resembled an Eastern caravanserai more than a hub of public life. | WIKI |
| [110] According to Michael Rostovtzeff, Palmyra's art was influenced by Parthian art. | WIKI |
| [116] 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 replaced idealized classicism with frontal, hieratic and simplified figures (as believed by Josef Strzygowski and others). | WIKI |
| Like its art, Palmyra's architecture was influenced by the Greco-Roman style, while preserving local elements (best seen in the Temple of Bel). | WIKI |
| [note 12][131] 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. | WIKI |
| The Great Colonnade was Palmyra's 1.1-kilometre-long (0.68xc2xa0mi) main street; most of the columns date to the second century AD and each is 9.50 metres (31.2xc2xa0ft) high. | WIKI |
| [38] 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. | WIKI |
| See also: Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL xc2xa7xc2xa0Palmyra | WIKI |
| [162] Following the March 2017 capture of Palmyra by the Syrian Army, Maamoun Abdulkarim, director of antiquities and museums at the 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. | WIKI |
| Digital reconstruction of the Temple of Bel (New Palmyra project) | WIKI |
| In response to the destruction, on 21 October 2015, Creative Commons started the 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. | WIKI |
| [165][166] Consultations with UNESCO, UN specialized agencies, archaeological associations and museums produced plans to restore Palmyra; the work is postponed until the violence in Syria ends as many international partners fear for the safety of their teams as well as ensuring that the restored artifacts will not be damaged again by further battles. | WIKI |
| Regarding the restoration, the discoverer of Ebla, Paolo Matthiae, stated that: "The archaeological site of Palmyra is a vast field of ruins and only 20xe2x80x9330% of it is seriously damaged. | WIKI |
| While the area had paleolithic settlements,[172] the Efqa spring site at Palmyra had a Neolithic settlement[20] with stone tools dated to 7500xc2xa0BC. | WIKI |
| [174] King Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria passed through the area on his way to the Mediterranean at the beginning of the 18th century BC;[175] by then, Palmyra was the easternmost point of the kingdom of Qatna,[176] and it was attacked by the Suteans who paralyzed the traffic along the trade routes. | WIKI |
| [177] Palmyra was mentioned in a 13th-centuryxc2xa0BC tablet discovered at Emar, which recorded the names of two "Tadmorean" witnesses. | WIKI |
| [59] At the beginning of the 11th centuryxc2xa0BC, King Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria recorded his defeat of the "Arameans" of "Tadmar";[59] according to the king, Palmyra was part of the land of Amurru. | WIKI |
| The Hebrew Bible (Second Book of Chronicles 8:4) records a city by the name "Tadmor" as a desert city built (or fortified) by King Solomon of Israel;[180] Flavius Josephus mentions the Greek name "Palmyra", attributing its founding to Solomon in Book VIII of his Antiquities of the Jews. | WIKI |
| [181] 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). | WIKI |
| [143] 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 centuryxc2xa0BC. | WIKI |
| [143] The Elephantine Jews, a diaspora community established between 650-550 BC in Egypt, might have come from Palmyra. | WIKI |
| 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. | WIKI |
| 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. | WIKI |
| During the Hellenistic period under the Seleucids (between 312 and 64 BC), Palmyra became a prosperous settlement owing allegiance to the Seleucid king. | WIKI |
| [143][184] Evidence for Palmyra's urbanisation in the Hellenistic period is rare; an important piece is the Laghman II inscription found in Laghman, modern Afghanistan, and commissioned by the Indian emperor Ashoka c. 250 BC. | WIKI |
| The reading is contested, but according to semitologist Andrxc3xa9 Dupont-Sommer, the inscription records the distance to "Tdmr" (Palmyra). | WIKI |
| [48] In the middle of the Hellenistic era, Palmyra, formerly south of the al-Qubur wadi, began to expand beyond its northern bank. | WIKI |
| [48] Palmyra was left independent,[48] trading with Rome and Parthia but belonging to neither. | WIKI |
| [193] The earliest known inscription in Palmyrene is dated to around 44xc2xa0BC;[51] Palmyra was still a minor sheikhdom, offering water to caravans which occasionally took the desert route on which it was located. | WIKI |
| [194] However, according to Appian Palmyra was wealthy enough for Mark Antony to send a force to conquer it in 41 BC. | WIKI |
| Palmyra's theater (damaged in 2017) | WIKI |
| The monumental arch in the eastern section of Palmyra's colonnade (destroyed in 2015) | WIKI |
| Palmyra became part of the Roman Empire when it was conquered and paid tribute early in the reign of Tiberius, around 14xc2xa0AD. | WIKI |
| [note 15][48][196] The Romans included Palmyra in the province of Syria,[195] and defined the region's boundaries. | WIKI |
| [note 16][200][201] This boundary probably ran northwards to Khirbet al-Bilaas on Jabal al-Bilas where another marker, laid by the Roman governor Silanus, has been found, 75 kilometres (47xc2xa0mi) northwest of Palmyra, probably marking a boundary with the territory of Epiphania. | WIKI |
| [202][197] Meanwhile, Palmyra's eastern border extended to the Euphrates valley. | WIKI |
| [note 19][210] Roman authority was minimal during the first century AD, although tax collectors were resident,[211] and a road connecting Palmyra and Sura was built in AD 75. | WIKI |
| [212] Palmyra saw intensive construction during the first century, including the city's first walled fortifications,[214] and the Temple of Bel (completed and dedicated in 32xc2xa0AD). | WIKI |
| [139] During the first century Palmyra developed from a minor desert caravan station into a leading trading center,[note 21][194] with Palmyrene merchants establishing colonies in surrounding trade centers. | WIKI |
| [217] The second was the Roman conquest of the Nabataean capital Petra in 106,[48] shifting control over southern trade routes of the Arabian Peninsula from the Nabataeans to Palmyra. | WIKI |
| [note 22][48] In 129 Palmyra was visited by Hadrian, who named it "Hadriane Palmyra" and made it a free city. | WIKI |
| [219][220] Hadrian promoted Hellenism throughout the empire,[221] and Palmyra's urban expansion was modeled on that of Greece. | WIKI |
| [221] Roman garrisons are first attested in Palmyra in 167, when the cavalry Ala I Thracum Herculiana was moved to the city. | WIKI |
| In the 190s, Palmyra was assigned to the province of Phoenice, newly created by the Severan dynasty. | WIKI |
| [226] 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;[227] the Severan ascension to the imperial throne in Rome played a major role in Palmyra's transition:[225] | WIKI |
| [228] Bandits began attacking caravans by 199, leading Palmyra to strengthen its military presence. | WIKI |
| [229] Caracalla made Palmyra a colonia between 213 and 216, replacing many Greek institutions with Roman constitutional ones. | WIKI |
| [227] Severus Alexander, emperor from 222 to 235, visited Palmyra in 229. | WIKI |
| [232] In an inscription dated to 252 Odaenathus appears bearing the title of exarchos (lord) of Palmyra. | WIKI |
| [242][243] 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. | WIKI |
| [244] In practice, Palmyra shifted from a provincial city to a de facto allied kingdom. | WIKI |
| [269] Palmyra invaded Anatolia the following year, reaching Ankara and the pinnacle of its expansion. | WIKI |
| [277] According to one account, Roman general Marcus Aurelius Probus regained Egypt from Palmyra;[note 29][278] Aurelian entered Issus and headed to Antioch, where he defeated Zenobia in the Battle of Immae. | WIKI |
| [280] When the Romans besieged Palmyra, Zenobia refused their order to surrender in person to the emperor. | WIKI |
| [283] In 273 Palmyra rebelled under the leadership of Septimius Apsaios,[276] declaring Antiochus (a relative of Zenobia) as Augustus. | WIKI |
| [284] Aurelian marched against Palmyra, razing it to the ground and seizing the most valuable monuments to decorate his Temple of Sol. | WIKI |
| Palmyra was reduced to a village and it largely disappeared from historical records of that period. | WIKI |
| [286] Palmyra became a Christian city in the decades following its destruction by Aurelian. | WIKI |
| [287] In late 527, Justinian I ordered the restoration of Palmyra's churches and public buildings to protect the empire against raids by Lakhmid king Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man. | WIKI |
| Palmyra was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate after its 634 capture by the Muslim general Khalid ibn al-Walid, who took the city on his way to Damascus; an 18-day march by his army through the Syrian Desert from Mesopotamia. | WIKI |
| [289] By then Palmyra was limited to the Diocletian camp. | WIKI |
| Palmyra prospered as part of the Umayyad Caliphate, and its population grew. | WIKI |
| [292] During this period, Palmyra was a stronghold of the Banu Kalb tribe. | WIKI |
| [55] After being defeated by Marwan II during a 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. | WIKI |
| In 750 a revolt, led by Majza'a ibn al-Kawthar and Umayyad pretender Abu Muhammad al-Sufyani, against the new Abbasid Caliphate swept across Syria;[295] the tribes in Palmyra supported the rebels. | WIKI |
| [302] Earthquakes devastated Palmyra in 1068 and 1089. | WIKI |
| By the twelfth century, the population moved into the courtyard of the Temple of Bel which was fortified;[299] Palmyra was then ruled by Toghtekin, the Burid atabeg of Damascus, who appointed his nephew governor. | WIKI |
| [307] Palmyra was given to Toghtekin's grandson, Shihab-ud-din Mahmud,[307] 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. | WIKI |
| During the mid-twelfth century, Palmyra was ruled by the Zengid king Nur ad-Din Mahmud. | WIKI |
| [313] Homs region was conquered by the Ayyubid sultanate in 1174;[314] the following year, Saladin gave Homs (including Palmyra) to his cousin Nasir al-Din Muhammad as a fiefdom. | WIKI |
| [315] After Saladin's death, the Ayyubid realm was divided and Palmyra was given to Nasir al-Din Muhammad's son Al-Mujahid Shirkuh II (who built the castle of Palmyra known as Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle around 1230). | WIKI |
| [316][317] Five years earlier, Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described Palmyra's residents as living in "a castle surrounded by a stone wall". | WIKI |
| Palmyra was used as a refuge by Shirkuh II's grandson, al-Ashraf Musa, who allied himself with the Mongol king Hulagu Khan and fled after the Mongol defeat in the 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut against the Mamluks. | WIKI |
| Palmyra's gardens | WIKI |
| The Al Fadl clan (a branch of the Tayy tribe) were loyal to the Mamluks, and in 1281, Prince Issa bin Muhanna of the Al Fadl was appointed lord of Palmyra by sultan Qalawun. | WIKI |
| [327] In 1400 Palmyra was attacked by Timur; the Fadl prince Nu'air escaped the battle and later fought Jakam, the sultan of Aleppo. | WIKI |
| Syria became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1516,[329] and Palmyra was a center of an administrative district (sanjak). | WIKI |
| [note 30][330] After 1568 the Ottomans appointed the Lebanese prince Ali bin Musa Harfush as governor of Palmyra's sanjak,[331] dismissing him in 1584 for treason. | WIKI |
| [332] In 1630 Palmyra came under the authority of another Lebanese prince, Fakhr-al-Din II,[333] who renovated Shirkuh II's castle (which became known as Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle). | WIKI |
| [340] In 1919, as the British and French argued over the borders of the planned mandates,[338] the British permanent military representative to the Supreme War Council Henry Wilson suggested adding Palmyra to the British mandate. | WIKI |
| [338] Syria (including Palmyra) became part of the French Mandate after Syria's defeat in the Battle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920. | WIKI |
| With Palmyra gaining importance in the French efforts to pacify the Syrian Desert, a base was constructed in the village near the Temple of Bel in 1921. | WIKI |
| [343] The relocation was completed in 1932;[344] ancient Palmyra was ready for excavation as its villagers settled into the new village of Tadmur. | WIKI |
| [345][343] During World War II, the Mandate came under the authority of Vichy France,[346] who gave permission to Nazi Germany to use the airfield at Palmyra;[347] forces of Free France, backed by British forces, invaded Syria in June 1941,[346] and on 3 July 1941, the British took control over the city in the aftermath of a battle. | WIKI |
| Further information: Palmyra offensive (May 2015), Palmyra offensive (March 2016), Palmyra offensive (December 2016), and Palmyra offensive (2017) | WIKI |
| Destructions in PalmyraSculpture in the Palmyra Museum, before and after the conflict. | WIKI |
| As a result of the Syrian Civil War, Palmyra experienced widespread looting and damage by combatants. | WIKI |
| On 13 May 2015, ISIL launched an attack on the modern town of Tadmur, sparking fears that the iconoclastic group would destroy the adjacent ancient site of Palmyra. | WIKI |
| [350] 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. | WIKI |
| [351] ISIL forces entered Palmyra the same day. | WIKI |
| [353] 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. | WIKI |
| [354][355] 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. | WIKI |
| Syrian government forces supported by Russian airstrikes recaptured Palmyra on 27 March 2016 after intense fighting against ISIL fighters. | WIKI |
| From the beginning of its history to the first century AD Palmyra was a petty sheikhdom,[363] and by the first century BC a Palmyrene identity began to develop. | WIKI |
| [364] During the first half of the first century AD, Palmyra incorporated some of the institutions of a Greek city (polis);[206] the notion of an existing citizenship first appears in an inscription, dated to AD 10, mentioning the "people of Palmyra". | WIKI |
| [206] 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. | WIKI |
| [367][368] Palmyra's military was led by strategoi (generals) appointed by the council. | WIKI |
| [369][370] Roman provincial authority set and approved Palmyra's tariff structure,[371] 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. | WIKI |
| [372] An imposition of direct provincial administration would have jeopardized Palmyra's ability to conduct its trading activities in the East, especially in Parthia. | WIKI |
| With the elevation of Palmyra to a colonia around 213xe2x80x93216, the city ceased being subject to Roman provincial governors and taxes. | WIKI |
| [373] Palmyra incorporated Roman institutions into its system while keeping many of its former ones. | WIKI |
| [368] 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. | WIKI |
| [376] In 258 Odaenathus began extending his political influence, taking advantage of regional instability caused by Sasanian aggression;[376] this culminated in the Battle of Edessa,[235] Odaenathus' royal elevation and mobilization of troops, which made Palmyra a kingdom. | WIKI |
| [383][384] After the Roman destruction of the city, Palmyra was ruled directly by Rome,[385] and then by a succession of other rulers, including the Burids and Ayyubids,[307][315] and subordinate Bedouin chiefsxe2x80x94primarily the Fadl family, who governed for the Mamluks. | WIKI |
| Due to its military character and efficiency in battle, Palmyra was described by Irfan Shahxc3xaed as the "Sparta among the cities of the Orient, Arab and other, and even its gods were represented dressed in military uniforms. | WIKI |
| "[387] 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. | WIKI |
| [18] Palmyra's recruiting system is unknown; the city might have selected and equipped the troops and the strategoi led, trained and disciplined them. | WIKI |
| [note 35][395][396] Palmyra's infantry was armed with swords, lances and small round shields;[213] the clibanarii were fully armored (including their horses), and used heavy spears (kontos) 3.65 metres (12.0xc2xa0ft) long without shields. | WIKI |
| Palmyra's gods were primarily part of the northwestern Semitic pantheon, with the addition of gods from the Mesopotamian and Arab pantheons. | WIKI |
| [407][408] Palmyra had unique deities,[409] such as the god of justice and Efqa's guardian Yarhibol,[410][411] the sun god Malakbel,[412] and the moon god Aglibol. | WIKI |
| [420] Palmyra hosted an Akitu (spring festival) each Nisan. | WIKI |
| The priests of Palmyra were selected from the city's leading families,[423] 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. | WIKI |
| [425] 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. | WIKI |
| [287] After the Muslim conquest in 634 Islam gradually replaced Christianity, and the last known bishop of Palmyra was consecrated after 818. | WIKI |
| In 274, following his victory over Palmyra, Aurelian dedicated a large temple of Sol Invictus in Rome;[427] most scholars consider Aurelian's Sol Invictus to be of Syrian origin,[428] either a continuation of emperor Elagabalus cult of Sol Invictus Elagabalus, or Malakbel of Palmyra. | WIKI |
| Aurelian) embellished with votive gifts from Palmyra, setting up statues of Helios and Bel". | WIKI |
| [431] Three deities from Palmyra exemplified solar features: Malakbel, Yarhibol and xc5xa0ams, hence the identification of the Palmyrene Helios appearing in Zosimus' work with Malakbel. | WIKI |
| Palmyra's Agora; the two front entrances lead to the interior, the city's marketplace | WIKI |
| Palmyra's economy before and at the beginning of the Roman period was based on agriculture, pastoralism, and trade;[18] the city served as a rest station for the caravans which sporadically crossed the desert. | WIKI |
| The classicist Andrew M. Smith II suggested that most land in Palmyra was owned by the city, which collected grazing taxes. | WIKI |
| After Palmyra's destruction in 273, it became a market for villagers and nomads from the surrounding area. | WIKI |
| [447] Palmyra was a minor trading center until its destruction in 1400;[448] according to Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi, Timur's men took 200,000 sheep,[449] and the city was reduced into a settlement on the desert border whose inhabitants herded and cultivated small plots for vegetables and corn. | WIKI |
| Palmyra caravan. | WIKI |
| Palmyra Archaeological Museum | WIKI |
| 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. | WIKI |
| [188] During the first centuries AD, Palmyra's main trade route ran east to the Euphrates where it connected at the city of Hxc4xabt. | WIKI |
| Since Palmyra was not on the main trading route (which followed the Euphrates),[18] the Palmyrenes secured the desert route passing their city. | WIKI |
| [460] Commerce made Palmyra and its merchants among the wealthiest in the region. | WIKI |
| [459] For its domestic market Palmyra imported a variety of goods including slaves, prostitutes, olive oil, dyed goods, myrrh and perfume. | WIKI |
| Palmyra's first scholarly description appeared in a 1696 book by Abednego Seller. | WIKI |
| [462] In 1751, an expedition led by Robert Wood and James Dawkins studied Palmyra's architecture. | WIKI |
| [463] French artist and architect Louis-Franxc3xa7ois Cassas conducted an extensive survey of the city's monuments in 1785, publishing over a hundred drawings of Palmyra's civic buildings and tombs. | WIKI |
| Excavations at Palmyra, 1962, Polish archaeologist Kazimierz Michaxc5x82owski | WIKI |
| Palmyra's first excavations were conducted in 1902 by Otto Puchstein and in 1917 by Theodor Wiegand. | WIKI |
| [471] 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. | WIKI |
| [34] Excavation expeditions left Palmyra in 2011 due to the Syrian Civil War. | WIKI |
| An oasis in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world. | UNESCO |
| From the 1st to the 2nd century, the art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, married Graeco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences. | UNESCO |
| First mentioned in the archives of Mari in the 2nd millennium BC, Palmyra was an established caravan oasis when it came under Roman control in the mid-first century AD as part of the Roman province of Syria. | UNESCO |
| Criterion (i): The splendour of the ruins of Palmyra, rising out of the Syrian desert north-east of Damascus is testament to the unique aesthetic achievement of a wealthy caravan oasis intermittently under the rule of Rome from the Ier to the 3rd century AD. | UNESCO |
| Criterion (ii): Recognition of the splendour of the ruins of Palmyra by travellers in the 17th and 18th centuries contributed greatly to the subsequent revival of classical architectural styles and urban design in the West. | UNESCO |