The archaeological remains of Palmyra predominantly date to its heyday and reflect a monumental building programme based on the city’s privileged position in the eastern Roman Empire. At first glance, many of the constructions are typically Greco-Roman. However, closer observation of many of the remains reveals distinctly unique details and embellishments that make Palmyra’s architecture uniquely it’s own.

The city contains many fragmented remains of Roman public buildings, such as the Baths of Diocletian, Semitic temples like the Temple of Allat and byzantine churches. Some of the most striking and well-preserved remains are:

The Colonnaded Street, Palmyra

The Colonnaded Street was the chief road in Palmyra, with many of its main monuments and buildings set about it. It runs for 1km across the city, stretching from east to west.

Built in the Roman period, it appears to be a typically classical feature with its continuous portico of columns running the length of both sides of the street. Yet a number of its features show that it was not a typically Roman road.

Unlike the main streets of most Roman cities, the collonaded street is not straight. This is because it was a late addition to the city’s plan. Several monuments were used to mark bends in the road and attempt to correct the visual axis.

The street’s most easterly point is marked by a monumental arch built during Septimius Severus’s reign. This is, in fact, not one but two arches, hinged together at a 30-degree angle. This device tied the Temple of Bel with the commencement of the city’s main street, which was impossible to do physically because the temple’s orientation did not match the road’s route. The hinged angle of the two arches guides links up the two features visually so that on leaving the street, the temple appears immediately in front of the onlooker instead of off to one side.

The tetrapylon, destroyed by ISIL in 2017, fulfils a similar function, marking and disguising a bend in the street. Built of Egyptian pink granite, it consists of a square platform with a cluster of four columns at each corner. Each series of columns held a cornice, which in its turn held a statue.

The street also has another more subtle difference. Two-thirds of the way up each of the street’s columns is a small platform. This was a uniquely Palmyran feature. Each platform was designed to hold the statue of a local notable who had donated towards the upkeep of the city.

The Agora

Established in the Hellenistic period, this was the centre of business in Palmyra. Here all desert caravans congregated to trade. It was also the site of Palmyra’s market and the city’s administrative centre.

What remains today is an 84×71 metre courtyard. In its heyday, it was surrounded by colonnaded porticos. Dedicatory remains indicate these columns were adorned with statues of Palmyran and Roman officials, senators and merchants.

Surrounding the agora were various buildings relevant to its commercial function. As well as a banqueting hall and what may have been a council chamber, there was a tariff hall where duties were paid on goods brought to the city. The main evidence for this comes from the stone tariff tablets dating to 137AD found on the spot. The tablets set out taxes paid on goods that passed through the city.

Temple of Baal Shamin

Although the remains of this small temple, situated slightly to the north of the Colonnaded Street, were rebuilt to commemorate the visit of Emperor Hadrian to the city, it represents pre-Roman Palmyran traditions. Baal Shamin was a Semitic deity, the god of storms and fertility, representing the unique concerns of a desert oasis town. Before its destruction by ISIL in 2015, the temple was closed to the public. But it was possible to view the temple forecourt with its six columns through an iron grill. Once again, these columns would have carried statues of local dignitaries.

Camp of Diocletian

Dating to the late third, early fourth century AD and postdating Zenobia’s rebellion, this is one of the latest additions to the city. Despite its name, it is not a simple Roman fort but consists of a monumental gateway, a further tetrapylon and a temple of standards. The camp may have been constructed on the site of Zenobia’s palace. For this reason alone, of all the archaeological remains of Palmyra, it represents the mark of Rome’s dominance on the city.

However, the most strikingly Semitic of Palmyra’s remains were its tombs and its spectacular temple of Bel.

Resources

Gates, Charles (2003) Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome. Routledge: London and New York.