Palmyra / Tadmōr [and Arabia]

Oasis in the Syrian desert to the northeast of Damascus, Palmyra shelters the ruins of a caravan centre which prospered in the early centuries of the Christian era, where Semitic traditions were strongly influenced by the Greco-Roman and Persian civilizations.

The Semitic name of Palmyra, Tadmōr, is already mentioned in cuneiform sources from the 18th century BCE. By the 11th century BCE, the population of the oasis was Aramaic-speaking. The oasis reemerged under the Seleucids (323 BCE) and strongly expanded during the first three centuries of the CE as a major city halfway between Ḥoms and the Euphrates, part of a network linking Syria to Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean sea. Caravans travelled down the Euphrates and Tigris and sailed across the Persian Gulf to the Indus basin, bringing goods from beyond India and China and from Arabia, selling them to the Romans.

Situated far from the Roman world, it was annexed to the Empire in 19 CE, under Tiberius, as part of the provincia Arabia. Under Hadrian (129 CE), the city was named Hadriana Palmyra. Later, it became a Roman colonia (212 CE).

The inscriptions are the main source of information on Palmyrene society. The city grew around the Temple of Bêl. The prosperity of the city during the Antonine period fostered the emergence of a middle class, enriched by trade, as attested by a large number of inscriptions.

The Palmyrene diaspora consisted of Palmyrene traders who settled in southern Mesopotamia (Seleucia-on-Tigris, Ctesiphon, Vologaesias, Spasinu-Charax), on the shores of the Red Sea, and in Italy, and auxiliary troops of Palmyrene archers were stationed on the borders of the Empire (Dacia, Numidia).

Palmyrene religion reflects the different ethnic groups settled in the city: Arameans and Arabs, as well as Mesopotamians. The main temples were dedicated to the gods Bel, Yarḥibôl and Malagbel, Baʿalshamin, Nabû, Allat. Other dedications are made to a god “whose name is blessed forever”. Arṣou, Azizū were invoked as protectors of caravans.

Odainat, exarch of Palmyra (d. 267-268), was commissioned by Gallien to defend the east. Wahballat succeeded him, reigning with Zenobia, who defied the power of Rome. Aurelian put an end to Zenobia’s ambitions for conquest in 272 CE and, after a revolt, he settled in the northern quarters of the city, the Legio I Illyricorum. Palmyra became a stage on the military route, the Strata diocletiana, linking Damascus to the Euphrates, but it irremediably declined, despite efforts made under Justinian to restore the city walls.

A few South Arabian inscriptions from the 3rd cent. CE testify to a Sabaean’s journey to Palmyra (Jabal Riyām 2006-17), and attest to the presence of Palmyrenes in the Ḥaḍramawt, at Shabwa (RES 4691) and al-ʿUqla (Ja 931). A Palmyrene inscription was found at Suquṭrā, in Ḥōq Cave (Tablette De Geest), left by a Palmyrene seafarer or emissary in July 258 CE (Gorea 2012). In addition, at Qāniʾ, two amphora fragments were found bearing Palmyrene letters, ca. 1^st cent. CE, incised before firing (Briquel-Chatonnet 2010). In Saudi Arabia, Palmyrene graffiti have been found at Jabal Yāṭib (WHI 204), Umm Jadhāyidh (UJadhSyr 1 and 2) and al-Qarqar (ARNA Palm 1).

Maria Gorea

References and suggested readings

Sources

• ARNA Palm 1 = JN221: Milik, J.T. & J. Starcky 1970. Nabataean, Palmyrene, and Hebrew Inscriptions, in F.V. Winnett & W.L. Reed (eds) Ancient Records from North Arabia: 139–163. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Briquel-Chatonnet, F. 2010. Les graffiti en langues nord-sémitiques de Bir ʿAlī (Qāniʾ), in J.-F. Salles, A. Sedov (eds) Qāniʾ. Le port antique du Ḥaḍramawt entre la Méditerranée, l’Afrique et l’Inde : fouilles russes 1972, 1985-89, 1991, 1993-94 (Indicopleustoi, Archaeologies of the Indian Ocean 6): 388. Turnhout: Brepols.
• Chabot, J.-B. (ed) 1926. Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum pars II, tomus 3. Paris: Imprimerie nationale.
• Cantineau, J., J. Starcky, J. Teixidor 1930-1975. Inventaire des inscriptions de Palmyre (12 fascicules). Beyrouth: Institut français d’archéologie de Beyrouth.
• Cussini, E., D.R. Hillers 1966. Palmyrene Aramaic Texts. Baltimore, London: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Tablette De Geest: Robin, C.J. & M. Gorea, 2002. Les vestiges antiques de la grotte de Ḥoq (Suquṭra, Yémen). CRAI 2002 (avr.-juin): 409–445.
• UJadhSyr 1 & 2: Briquel-Chatonnet, F. & A. Desreumaux 2018. Inscriptions de type palmyrénien de Umm Jadhāyidh, in L. Nehmé (ed.) The Darb al-Bakrah. A Caravan Route in North-West Arabia Discovered by ʿAlī I. al-Ghabbān. Catalogue of the Inscriptions (Series of Archaeological Refereed Studies, 50): 225-226. Riyadh: SCTH.
• WHI 204: Winnett, F.V. 1973. Some Thamudic religious texts in the light of the Ḥāʾil inscriptions [in F.V. Winnett & W.L. Reed. An Archaeological-Epigraphical Survey of the Ḥāʾil Area of Northern Saʿudi Arabia]. Berytus 22: 53–113.

Studies

• Bron, F. 1986. Palmyréniens et Chaldéens en Arabie du Sud. Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici sul Vicino Oriente antico 3: 95–98.
• Gorea, M. 2012. Palmyra and Socotra, in I. Strauch (ed.) Foreign Sailors on Socotra. The Inscriptions and Drawings from the Cave Hoq: 447–485. Bremen: Hempen.
• Healey, J.F. 1996. Palmyra and the Arabian Gulf Trade. Aram. Trade Routes in the Near East & Cultural interchange in the Arabian Peninsula 8: 33–37. DOI: 10.2143/ARAM.8.1.2002183.
• Robin, C.J. 2012. Appendix IV. Les Palmyréniens en Arabie du Sud, in I. Strauch (ed.) Foreign Sailors on Socotra. The Inscriptions and Drawings from the Cave Hoq: 488–492. Bremen: Hempen.
• Schiettecatte, J. & M. Arbach 2016. The political map of Arabia and the Middle East in the third century AD revealed by a Sabaean inscription. AAE 27: 176–196. DOI: 10.1111/aae.12071.

_{Alternate spellings: Tadmur, Tdmrm}