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PALMYRA
At distance of 210km northeast of Damascus
and 155 km east of Homs, Palmyra (Tadmor) is the bride of the Syrian
Desert.
The capital of Zenobia is a beautiful oasis
in which the green and brown of palm- trees contrast with the gold and
yellow of desert sand and with the blueness of the sky. It tells up a
story as old as Man himself through its Paleolithic and Neolithic caves
of: Jarf Al-Ajleh” and “thaniet Al-Bayda” and shows us the splendor of
ancient Middle East civilizations.
Palmyra (Tadmor) is mentioned in clay
tables from the Kingdom of Mari*(Euphrates Basin) and in Assyrian tablets.
It fell victim to its geographical situation between two huge empire, the
Parthian (the Persian) Empire in the East and the Roman (then Byzantine_
empire in the west.
It stands witness to great architectural
achievements, uniting majesty and beauty, and to the ancient history of
Amorites, Arameans and Arabs in their relations with Hellenistic, Roman
and Byzantine cultures. Even after the dawn of Islam, Palmyra was still an
important town during the Umayyad period, a meeting place of the
conquering Arab and a stopping place on the desert road between Syria and
the conquering Arab tribes and a stopping place on the desert road between
Syria and Mesopotamia.
It flourished more than ever during the
first three centuries of the Christian era, when its most beautiful and
awe-inspiring monuments were built. The emperor Hadrian declared it a free
city allied to Rome, it witnessed a golden age under the Severus Emperors
due to their Syrian origin and to the proximity of their town of origin,
Emesa (Homs). Caracalla declared it a free Roman colony in 217.
Zenobia, widow of the local king Odhainat
who protected the Roman East from Parthian invasion after the collapse of
the Roman army, declared herself and her infant son Wahab AL-latt Roman
Emperors in 270 AD. And made Palmyra its capital. She struck coins bearing
her image and that of her son, and her armies occupied Egypt and Asia
Minor, beside Syria. At the end, the Roman Empire proved to be however,
stronger than Zena\obia. It remains the many splendid monuments and more
than 400 tombs of various designs spread in the desert around the city on
an area of more than 6 km. The most important monuments the remains of
which may be seen today are:
Baal (Bel) Temple:
A huge monument and one of the main
sanctuaries of the ancient East.
It is surrounded by a very high outside
wall, and has in its middle a courtyard of 205x210m. Surrounded by a
smaller wall. Stone very beautifully decorates the entrance gate. The
porch contains rows of truncated columns of the Corinthian style bearing,
as it is believed, the statues of Palmyra god. On the altar ceiling are
engraved the seven planets.
Other important monuments at Palmyra are
“Nabo Temple” “Baal Shamin Temple”, in addition to surrounding walls,
beautifully arranged streets and a relatively small amphitheatre. On hill
in the neighborhood, stands the middle Age fortress of Fakhreddin. Palmyra
is also famous for it is museum.
It is one of the most important provincial
museum in the Syrian Arab republic.
It contains sculptures, glass, ceramic and
metal wares, and coins and jewels from various period and especially from
the classical period. It contains also two well-preserved mummies. The
upper floor shows scenes of traditional desert life in the tents together
with local handicrafts made of leather of camel and goat hairs. There are
also specimens of desert dresses, samples of phosphate, and other minerals
found in the desert, types of desert birds, folk, and jewels. Etc.
There is a project to build a popular arts
museum at Palmyra. The souks and markets of Palmyra are also worth seeing,
and to end the tour let us bathe in the sulphurous spring of afqa, and
rest under the palm- trees looking at the sands of the desert.
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