Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
PALMYRA
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: PAI-PAS
del.icio.us it!
|
PALMYRA , the See also:Greek and Latin name of a famous See also:city of the See also:East, now a See also:mere collection of Arab hovels, but still an See also:object of See also:interest on See also:account of its wonderful ruins. In 2 Chron.
$ For curious instances of the See also:part played by the See also:ass in See also:medieval See also: The Chronicler, we must suppose, altered the name because Tadmor was a city more See also:familiar and renowned in his day, or possibly because he wished to increase the extent of Solomon's See also:kingdom. The date of the Chronicler may be placed about 300 B.C., so Palmyra must have been in existence Iong before then. There is See also:reason to believe that before the 6th See also:century B.C. the caravans reached Damascus without coming near the oasis of Tadmor; probably, therefore, we may connect the origin of the city with the See also:gradual forward See also:movement of the See also:nomad Arabs which followed on the overthrow of the ancient nationalities of See also:Syria by the Babylonian See also:Empire (6th century B.C.). The Arabian tribes began to take See also:possession of the partly cultivated lands east of See also:Canaan, became masters of the Eastern trade, gradually acquired settled habits, and learned to speak and write in Aramaic, the See also:language which was most widely current throughout the region See also:west of the Euphrates in the See also:time of the Persian Empire (6th–4th century B.e.). It is not till much later that Palmyra first appears in Western literature. We learn from See also:Appian (See also:Bell. civ. v. 9) that in 42–41 B.C. the city was See also:rich enough to excite the cupidity of M. See also:Antonius (See also:Mark Antony), while the See also:population was not too large to See also:save itself by timely See also:flight. The See also:series of native inscriptions, written in Aramaic, begins a few years after; the earliest bears the date 304 of the Seleucid era, i.e. 9 B.C. (See also:Cooke, See also:North-Semitic Inscriptions No. 141 = See also:Vogue, Syrie Centrale No. 3oa); by this time Palmyra had become an important trade-See also:post between the See also:Roman and the See also:Parthian states. Its characteristic See also:civilization See also:grew out of a mixture of various elements, Arabic, Aramaic, Greek and Roman. The bulk of the population was of Arab See also:race, and though Aramaic was used as the written language, in See also:common intercourse Arabic had by no means disappeared. The proper names and the names of deities, while partly Aramaic, are also in part unmistakably Arabic: it is suggestive that a purely Arabic See also:term (fand, See also:NSI. No. 136) was used for the septs into which the citizens were divided. Originally an Arab See also:settlement, the oasis was transformed in the course of time from a mere halting-See also:place for caravans to a city of the first See also:rank. The true Arab despises See also:agriculture; but the pursuit of See also:commerce, the organization and conduct of trading caravans, cannot be carried on without widespread connexions of See also:blood and hospitality between the See also:merchant and the leading sheiks on the route. An Arabian merchant city is thus necessarily aristocratic, and its chiefs can hardly be other than pure Arabs of See also:good blood. Palmyra also possessed the See also:character of a religious centre, with the See also:worship of the See also:Sun-See also:god dominating that of inferior deities. The See also:chief luxuries of the ancient See also:world, silks, jewels, pearls, perfumes, See also:incense and the like, were See also:drawn from See also:India, See also:China and See also:southern Arabia. See also:Pliny (N. H. xii. 41) reckons the yearly import of these wares into See also:Rome at not less than three-quarters of a million of See also:English See also:money. The trade followed two routes: 1 How the name Palmyra arose is obscure. The Greek for a See also:palm is ¢oivi. , and the Greek ending -yea could not have been affixed to the Latin See also:Palma. See also:Schultens (Vita Sal., See also:Index geogr.) cites Tatmur as a variant of the Arabic name; this might mean"abounding in palms " (from the See also:root See also:Lamar) ; otherwise Tadmor may have been originally an See also:Assyrian name. See See also:Lagarde, Bildung der Nomina, p. 125 n.one by the Red Sea, See also:Egypt and See also:Alexandria, the other from the Persian Gulf through the Syro-Arabian desert. The latter, when the Nabataean kingdom of Petra (q.v.) came to an end (A.D. 105), passed into the hands of the Palmyrene merchants. Their caravans (ovvoblat) travelled right across the desert to the great entrep6ts on the Euphrates, Vologesias, about 55 M. south-east of See also:Babylon, or Forath or Charax See also:close to the Persian Gulf (NSI. Nos. 113–115). The trade was enormously profitable, not only to the merchants but to the See also:town, which levied a rigorous See also:duty on all exports and imports; at the same time formidable risks had to be faced both from the desert-tribes and from the Parthians, and successfully to See also:plan or See also:convoy a great See also:caravan came to be looked upon as a distinguished service to the See also:state, often recognized by public monuments erected by " See also:council and See also:people " or by the merchants interested in the venture. These monuments, a conspicuous feature of Palmyrene See also:architecture, took the See also:form of statues placed on brackets projecting from the upper part of the pillars which lined the See also:principal thoroughfares. Thus arose, beside See also:minor streets, the imposing central See also:avenue which, starting from a triumphal See also:arch near the great See also:temple of the Sun, formed the See also:main See also:axis of the city from south-east to north-west for a length of 1240 yards, and at one time consisted of not less than 750 columns of rosy-See also: The capable performance of these functions, which often involved considerable pecuniary sacrifices, ensured public esteem, honorary inscriptions and statues; and to these honours the See also:head of a great See also:house was careful to add the See also:glory of a splendid See also:tomb, consecrated as the " See also:long See also:home " (lit. " house of eternity," cf. See also:Eccles. xii. 5) of himself, his sons and his sons' sons for ever. These tombs, which See also:lie outside the city and overlook it from the surrounding hills, a feature characteristically Arabic, remain the most interesting monuments of Palmyra. Some are lofty towers containing sepulchral See also:chambers in stories; 3 others are house-like buildings with a single chamber and a richly ornamented See also:portico; the sides of these chambers within are adorned with the names and sculptured portraits of the dead. As a See also:rule the buildings of Palmyra do not possess any architectural individuality, but these tombs are an exception. The See also:style of all the ruins is See also:late classic and highly ornate, but without refinement. The rise of Palmyra to a position of See also:political importance may be dated from the time when the See also:Romans established themselves on the Syrian See also:coast. As See also:early as the first imperial See also:period the city must have admitted the See also:suzerainty of Rome, for decrees respecting its See also:custom-dues were issued by Germanicus (A.D. 17–19) and Cn. Domitius See also:Corbulo (A.D. 57–66). At the same time the city had by no means surrendered its See also:independence, for even in the days of See also:Vespasian (A.D. 69–79) the distinctive
2 " The See also:soil of this See also:marsh [east of Palmyra] is so impregnated with salt that a See also:trench or See also:pit sunk in it becomes filled in a See also:short time with concentrated brine, the water of which evaporates in the intense See also:sunshine and leaves an incrustation of excellent salt." Post, Narrative of a Second Journey to Palmyra in See also:Pal. Expl. Fund's Qtly. St. (1892), p. 324.
2 One of these tomb-towers, called Kasr eth-Thuniyeh, is 111 ft. high, 332 ft. square at the See also:base, 25 ft. 8 in. square above the See also:basement; it contains six stories and places for 48o bodies. Opposite the entrance within is a See also: The splendid period of Palmyra (A.D. 130-270), to which the greater part of the inscribed monuments belong, started from the overthrow of Petra (A.D. 105), which See also:left Palmyra without a competitor for the Eastern trade. See also:Hadrian treated the city with See also:special favour, and on the occasion of his visit in A.C. 130, granted it the name of Hadriana Palmyra (men H1--n NSI. p. 322). Under the same See also:emperor the customs were revised and a new tariff promulgated (See also:April, A.D. 137), cancelling the loose system of See also:taxation " by custom " which formerly had prevailed.' The great fiscal inscription, which still remains where it was set up, gives the fullest picture of the life and commerce of the city. The See also:government was vested in the council ((3ov).i7) and people (Sij,uor), and administered by See also:civil See also:officers with Greek titles, the proedros (president), the grammateus (secretary), the archons, syndics and dekaproloi (a fiscal council of ten), following the See also:model of a Greek See also:municipality under the Roman Empire. At a later date, probably under Septimius See also:Severus or See also:Caracalla (beginning of 3rd century), Palmyra received the See also:Jus italicum and the status of a See also:colony; the executive officials of the council and people were called strategoi, See also:equivalent to the Roman duumviri (NSI. Nos. 121, 127); and Palmyrenes who became Roman citizens began to take Roman names, usually Septimius or See also:Julius Aurelius, in addition to their native names. It was the Parthian See also:wars of the 3rd century which brought Palmyra to the front, and for a brief period raised her to an almost dazzling position as See also:mistress of the Roman East. A new career of ambition was opened to her citizens in the Roman honours that rewarded services to the imperial armies during their frequent expeditions in the East. One house which was thus distinguished had risen to a leading place in the city and before long played no small part in the world's See also:history. Its members, as we learn from the inscriptions, prefixed to their Semitic names the Roman gentilicium of Septimius, which shows that they received the citizenship under Septimius Severus (A.D. 193-211), presumably in recognition of their services in connexion with his Parthian expedition. In the next See also:generation Septimius Odainath or Odenathus, son of Hairan, had attained the rank of Roman senator (alyK)^nTLKOS, Vogue No. 21, NSI. p. 285 n.). conferred no doubt when See also: No. 126). The East was then agitated by the advance of the Parthian Empire under the Sassanidae, and the Palmyrenes, in spite of their Roman honours and their Roman civilization, which did not really go much below the See also:surface, were by no means prepared to commit them-selves altogether to the Roman See also:side.2 But Parthian ambitions made it necessary for the Palmyrenes to choose one side or other, and their choice leaned towards Rome, both because they dreaded interference with their religious freedom and because the Roman emperor was further off than the Persian See also: The Persians swept victoriously over See also:Asia Minor and North Syria; not however without resistance on the part of Odenathus, who inflicted considerable losses on the bands returning home from the pillage of See also:Antioch. It was prcbably not long after this that Odenathus, with a keen See also:eye for his See also:advantage, made an See also:attempt to attach himself to See also:Shapur I. (q.v.) the Persian king; 3 his gifts and letters, however, were contemptuously rejected, and from that time, as it seems, he threw himself warmly into the Roman cause. After the captivity and See also:death of Valerian, See also:Gallienus succeeded to a merely nominal rule in the East, and was too careless and self-indulgent to take any active See also:measures to recover the lost provinces. Thereupon the two leading generals of the Roman army, Macrianus and Callistus, renounced their allegiance and See also:pro-claimed the two sons of the former as emperors (A.D. 261). During the crisis Odenathus remained loyal to Gallienus, and was rewarded for his fidelity by the See also: Nos. 127-129). Then in the See also:zenith of his success Odenathus was assassinated at Iioms (Emesa) along with his eldest son Herodes (A.D. 266-267). The fortunes of Palmyra now passed into the vigorous hands of ZENOBIA (q.v.), who had been actively supporting her husband in his policy. Zenobia seems to have ruled on hehalf of her See also:young son Wahab-allath or See also:Athenodorus as the name is Graecized, who See also:counts the years of his reign from the date of his See also:father's death. Under Odenathus Palmyra htd extended her sway over Syria and Arabia, perhaps also over See also:Armenia, See also:Cilicia and See also:Cappadocia; but now the troops of Zenobia, numbering it is said 70,000, proceeded to occupy Egypt; the Romans under See also:Probus resisted vigorously but without avail, and by the beginning of A.D. 270, when See also:Aurelian succeeded See also:Claudius as emperor, Wahab-allath was governing Egypt with the title of " king." His coins of 270 struck at Alexandria See also:bear the See also:legend v(ir) c(onsularis) R(omanorum) See also:im(perator) d(ux) R(omanorum) and display his head beside that of Aurelian, but the latter alone is styled See also:Augustus. Meanwhile the Palmyrenes were pushing their See also:influence not only in Egypt but in Asia Minor; they contrived to establish garrisons as far west as See also:Ancyra and even See also:Chalcedon opposite See also:Byzantium, while still professing to act under the terms of the See also:joint rule conferred by Gallienus. Then in the course of the See also:year A.D. 270-271 came the inevitable and open See also:breach. In Palmyra Zenobia is still called "See also:queen" (/3ao-D wo•a, NSI. No. 131; cf. Wadd. 2628), but in distant quarters, such as Egypt, she and her son claim the dignity of Augustus; 3 Petrus Patricius. Fragm. hist. graec. iv. 187. ' The Palmyrene archers were especially famous. Appian mentions them in connexion with M. Antony's See also:raid in 41 B.c. (Bell. civ. v. 9). Later on a contingent served with the Roman army in See also:Africa, See also:Britain, See also:Italy, See also:Hungary, where See also:grave-stones with Palmyrene and Latin inscriptions have been found; see Lidzbarski, Nordsem. epigr. p. 481 seq. ; See also:Ephemeris, ii. 92 (a Latin inscription of the time of See also:Marcus Aurelius), and NSI. p. 312. The South See also:Shields inscription, now in the See also:Free Library of the town, was found in the neighbouring Roman See also:camp; it is given in NSI. p. 25o. The Palmyrene soldier who set it up was no doubt an See also:archer. Jewish tradition had reason to remember these formidable Palmyrenes in the Roman armies; according to the See also:Talmud 80,000 of them assisted at the destruction of the first temple, 8000 at that of the second ! Taint. Jerus. Taanith, fol. 68 a, See also:Midrash Ekha, ii. 2. For other references to Palmyra (called Tarmod) in the Talmud see Neubauer Geogr. du Talm. 301 sqq. Wahab-allath(5th year)begins to issue coins at Alexandria without the head of Aurelian and bearing the imperial title; and Zenobia's coins bear the same. It was at this time (A.D. 271) that the two chief Palmyrene generals Zabda and Zabbai, set up a statue to the deceased Odenathus and gave him the See also:sounding designation of " king of kings and restorer of the whole city " (NSI. No. 13o). These assumptions marked a definite rejection of all allegiance to Rome. Aurelian, the true Augustus, quickly grasped the situation, and took strenuous measures to See also:deal with it. At the close of A.D. 270 Probus brought back Egypt into the empire, not without a considerable struggle; then in 271 Aurelian made preparations for a great See also:campaign against the seat of the See also:mischief itself. He approached by way of Cappadocia, where he reduced the Palmyrene garrisons, and thence through Cilicia he entered Syria. At Antioch the Palmyrene forces under Zabda attempted to resist his advances, but they were compelled to fall back upon the great route which leads from Antioch through Emesa (mod. IIomO to their native city. At Emesa the Palmyrenes were defeated in a stiffly contested See also:battle. At length Aurelian arrived before the walls of Palmyra, which was captured probably in the See also:spring of A.D. 272. In accordance with the judicious policy which he had observed in Asia Minor and at Antioch, he granted full See also:pardon to the citizens; only the chief officials and advisers were put to death; Zenobia and her son were captured and reserved for his See also:triumph when he returned to Rome. But the final See also:stage in the See also:conquest of the city was yet to come. A few months later, in the autumn of 272—the latest inscription is dated See also:August 272 (Vogue, No. 116) —the Palmyrenes revolted, killed the Roman See also:garrison quartered in the city, and proclaimed one See also:Antiochus as their chief. Aurelian heard of it just when he had crossed the See also:Hellespont on his way home. He returned instantly before any one expected him, and took the city by surprise. Palmyra was destroyed and the population put to the See also:sword. Aurelian restored the walls and the great Temple of the Sun (A.D. 273); but the city never recovered its splendour or importance. Language.—The language spoken at Palmyra was a See also:dialect of western Aramaic, and belongs to the same See also:group as Nabataean and the Aramaic spoken in Egypt. In some important points, however, the dialect was related to the eastern Aramaic or Syrian (e.g. the plur. ending in e'; the dropping of the final i of the pronominal suffix third pers. sing. with .nouns, and of the final u of the third pers. pl. of the verb; the infin. ending u, &c). But the relation to western Aramaic is closer; specially characteristic are the following features: the imperf. beginning with y, not as in See also:Syriac and the eastern dialects with n or l; the plur. ending -ayya'; the forms of the See also:demonstrative pronouns, &c. As the bulk of the population was of Arab race, it is not surprising that many of the proper names are Arabic and that several Arabic words occur in the inscriptions. The technical terms of municipal government are mostly Greek, transliterated into Palmyrene; a few Latin words occur, of course in Aramaic forms. For further characteristics of the dialect see See also:Noldeke, ZDMG. See also:xxiv. 85-109. The See also:writing is a modified form of the old Aramaic character, and especially interesting because it represents almost the last stage through which the ancient See also:alphabet passed before it See also:developed into the Hebrew square character. The names of the months were the same as those used by the See also:Nabataeans, Syrians and later See also:Jews, viz. the Babylonian. The See also:calendar *as the Syro-Macedonian, a See also:solar, as distinct from the See also:primitive lunar, calendar, which Roman influence disseminated throughout Syria; it was practically a See also:reproduction of the See also:Julian calendar. See also:Dates were reckoned by the Seleucid era, which began in See also:October 312 B.C. See also:Religion.—The religion of Palmyra did not differ in essentials from that of the north Syrians and the Arab tribes of the eastern desert. The chief god of the Palmyrenes was a solar deity, called Samas or See also:Shamash (" sun "), or Bel, or Malak-bel,i whose great temple is still the most imposing feature among the ruins of Palmyra. Both Bel and Malak-bel were of Babylonian origin. Sometimes associated with the Sun-god was 'Agli-bol the See also:Moon-god who is represented as a young Roman See also:warrior with a large See also:crescent attached to his shoulders (Rom. 1, and Vogue pl. xii. No. 141). The great goddess of the Aramaeans, 'Athar-`atheh, in Greek See also:Atargatis i Transcribed Mic1`ax/3i7aos, Malagbelus, &c., and in the Palm. inscr. given in NSI., p. 268, translated Sol sanctissimus; he was further identified with Zees. Malak-bel has been explained as " messenger of Bel "; but more probably Malak is the common Babylonian epithet malik given to various gods, and means " counsellor "; Malak-bel will then be the sun as the visible representative of Bel.(q.v.), and Allath, the chief goddess of the ancient Arabs, were also worshipped at Palmyra. Another deity whose name occurs in votive inscriptions, is See also:Baal-shamim, i.e. " B of the heavens," = Zevs si ycoros Kepabvcos, sometimes called " lord of eternity," but he was not included among the See also:national gods of Palmyra, so far as we know, though he probably had a temple there. Another interesting divine name, lately discovered, is that of a distinctly Arabic deity " Sheaalqum the good and bountiful god who does not drink wine " (NSI. No. 140 B); the name means " he who accompanies, the See also:protector of, the people "—the divine See also:patron of the caravan. A common See also:formula in Palmyrene dedications runs " To him whose name is blessed for ever, the good and the compassionate "; out of reverence the name of the deity was not pronounced; was it Bel or Malak-bel? It is See also:worth noticing that this epithet like lord of eternity " (or, " of the world "), has a distinctly Jewish character. Altogether about 22 names of gods are found in Palmyrene; some of them, however, only occur in See also:compound proper names. After its overthrow by Aurelian, Palmyra was partially revived as a military station by See also:Diocletian (end of 3rd century A.D.), as we learn from a Latin inscription found on the site. Before this time See also:Christianity had made its way into the oasis, for among the fathers present at the Council of See also:Nicaea (A.D. 325) was See also:Marinus See also:bishop of Palmyra. The names of two other bishops of the 5th and 6th centuries have come down to us. About A.D. 400, Palmyra was the station of the first Illyrian See also:legion (Not. dign. i. 85, ed. Bocking); Justinian in 527 furnished it with an See also:aqueduct, and built the See also:wall of which the ruins still remain (See also:Procopius, De aedif, At the Moslem conquest of Syria, Palmyra capitulated to Khalid (see See also:CALIPHATE) without embracing See also:Islam (Baladsori [See also:Baladhuri], III seq.; Yaqui:, i. 831). The town became a Moslem fortress and received a considerable Arab colony; for in the reign of Merwan II. (A.H. 127—132) it sent a thousand Kalbite horsemen to aid the revolt of Emesa, to the See also:district of which it is reckoned by the Arabic geographers. The See also:rebellion was sternly suppressed and the walls of the city destroyed (See also:Ibn al-Athir, A.H. 127, ed. Tornberg V., 249; cf. Frag. hist. ar. 139, Ibn Wadih, ii. 230). In this connexion Yaqui tells a curious See also:story of the opening of one of the tombs by the See also:caliph, which in spite of fabulous incidents, recalling the legend of Roderic the Goth, shows some traces of local knowledge. The ruins of Palmyra greatly interested the Arabs, and are commemorated in several poems quoted by Yaqut and others; they are referred to by the early poet Nabigha as proofs of the might of Solomon and his See also:sovereignty over their builders the See also:Jinn (See also:Derenbourg, Journ. As.
269)—a legend which must have come from the Jews, who either clung to the ruins after the great overthrow or returned in the time of Diocletian. References to Palmyra in later times have been collected by See also:Quatremere, Sultans Mamlouks, ii. pt. 1. p. 255 seq. All but annihilated by See also:earthquake in the iith century, it recovered considerable prosperity; when See also:Benjamin of See also:Tudela visited the city, which was still called Tadmor, he found 2000 Jews within the walls (12th century). it was still a wealthy place as late as the 14th century; but in the general decline of the East, and owing to changes in the trade routes, it sunk at length to a poor group of hovels gathered in the courtyard of the Temple of the Sun. The ruins first became known to See also:Europe through the visit of Dr See also: Fund's Quarterly Statement for 189o. Halifax not only took measurements, but copied 18 Greek and 4 Palmyrene texts. The architecture was carefully studied by See also:Wood and See also:Dawkins in 1751, whose splendid See also:folio (The Ruins of Palmyra, See also:London, 1953) also gave copies of inscriptions. But the epigraphic See also:wealth of Palmyra was first opened to study by the collections of See also:Waddington (vol. iii.) and De Vogue (La Syrie centrale) made in 1861-1862. Since that time the most valuable document which has come to See also:light is the great fiscal inscription discovered in 1882 by Prince Abamelek Lazarew.
See also A. D. Mordtmann, Sitzungsb. of the See also:Munich Acad.(1875); Sachau, ZDMG. See also:xxxv. 728 sqq.; D. H. See also: (1898); J. Mordtmann Palmyrenisches (1899) ; Clermont-Ganneau, Etudes d'aech. or. L, Receuil. d'arch. or. iii., v., vii.; Lidzbarski, Ephemeris, i. and ii.; Sobernheim, Palm. Inschr. (1905). The Repertoire d'epigr. seas. contains the new texts which have been published since 1900. For the coins von Sallet's Flies/en von Palmyra (1866) must be read with his later See also:essay in the Num.' Zeitschr. ii. 31 sqq. (187o). See also:Critical discussions of the history will be found in See also:Schiller, Gesch. d. Romischen Kaiserzeit., i. 2 Tail (1883), pp. 823 sqq• and 857 sqq., and Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, (Eng. trans., 1886), pp. 92 sqq. (G. A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] PALMITIC ACID |
[next] PALNI HILLS |