Ancient castle in palmyra. Chronicles of mental travel
The Islamist ISIS movement continues to wreak havoc in the Middle East. The magnificent ruins of a priceless historical heritage ancient rome in Syria and the Levant.
After destroying the treasures of the last surviving Babylonian cities of Nineveh, Hatra and Nimrud, ISIS is trying to destroy the architectural monuments of Palmyra in Syria.
Palmyra - the ancient city of Syria with a rich history
A few reasons why Palmyra is a special historical site included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
1. Palmyra was a major trading center of the Greco-Roman period
For several centuries, Fort Palmyra in Syria served as an important commercial point in the Middle East. The ancient city gained world fame when the Romans mastered the area.
A settlement in the middle of the desert, Palmyra had an ideal geographical location. The routes of merchants between the West and Parthia in the East passed through the city.
A huge number of caravans flocked to Palmyra, the markets were filled with a variety of goods: from spices to slaves, incense and ivory. The taxes collected for stopping in the city went to the development and construction of Palmyra, as a result of which the city became incredibly wealthy.
2. The ruler of the ancient city of Palmyra was a woman
The ancient city was ruled by a woman for a long time. Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, became the most famous ruler of the Syrian city. Her fame reached Rome. She tried to oppose a powerful empire and expand the sphere of influence of civilization. As a result, the attempts were unsuccessful, but her name was sung for several more centuries.
Even her sworn enemy, the Roman emperor Aurelian, admitted in the Historia Augusta that the queen of Palmyra was a worthy opponent.
When Aurelian demanded Xenovia's surrender, she replied that she would rather die like the one she considered her ancestor.
3. Palmyra: the history of the city and the attempts to conquer Mark Antony
The people of Palmyra were well aware of the news of Rome and the enemies of the empire - Parthia. Any state could invade the city.
In 41 BC , being in a relationship with Cleopatra, he decided to plunder the richest settlement on earth - Palmyra. He sent cavalry to plunder a city near Euraphat, located on the border between the Romans and the Parthians.
In fact, it is believed that Antony simply wanted to take revenge on Palmyra, who occupies a neutral position. Antony dreamed of showing off his booty to his friends. Residents took action to protect their lives. They moved the property across the river and were ready to fire on the attackers. Many of them were good archers.
As a result, Antony's army did not find anything in the city and, having not met a single enemy, returned empty-handed, writes Appian.
Historical value of the ruins of Palmyra
The architectural monuments of the city have been perfectly preserved over the centuries. The ruins can tell a lot about the life of the inhabitants of the ancient settlement.
The sculptures of Palmyra are somewhat different in style from the Roman ones. The combination of burial reliefs on stone and the fusion with the culture of the Roman Empire led to the creation of especially beautiful bas-reliefs.
Among the wonders of the art of Palmyra of Emperor Hadrian, the temple of the goddess Allat, the temple of Baal-Shamin and the ruins of buildings where various peoples of the ancient world left historical traces.
Palmyra. Its beauty is quiet, natural, the city seems to continue the surrounding nature. From the yellow sand of the valley, framed by purple hills, columns with capitals rise - curly, like the crowns of palm trees.
Many people say about such places, “What is there to see? A pile of stones ... ". But I still, getting into such historical places I feel like a grain of sand in the ocean of time. Something comes from these remains of past civilizations! On the one hand, some kind of power and incomprehensible power! And on the other hand, such fragility that at times it is scary for our civilization. Let's go back to Syria. Why will we return?
Palmyra (also known as Tadmor) was a city of great importance in ancient times, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 120 km southwest of the Euphrates. For a long time, Palmyra was the most important stopover for caravans crossing the Syrian Desert, and was often referred to as the "Bride of the Desert". The earliest documented evidence of the city comes from Babylonian tablets found at Mari. They refer to it under the Semitic name Tadmor, which means "repelling city" in Amorite or "rebellious city" in Aramaic. Now near the ruins of Palmyra there is a settlement Tadmor. The inhabitants of Palmyra erected huge monuments with such ritual objects of art as limestone slabs with busts of the dead.
Beware, a lot of big photos! 
Leaves and bunches of grapes, camels, eagles are carved on the golden walls heated by the sun. Until our time, Palmyra has been preserved unrebuilt, later layers do not obscure it.
There are many amazing paradoxes in history: Pompeii, for example, was preserved by volcanic lava, and Palmyra- human oblivion. She was abandoned by people and forgotten.
And once it all started with Efka - an underground source with lukewarm water, reeking of sulfur. Desperate travelers, wanderers, merchants arranged a halt here, watered tired camels, horses and donkeys, pitched tents for the night. Over time, a kind of transshipment point grew here - a lively crossroads of buying and selling. Then it turned into a city of customs, inns and taverns. The city changed, merchants, peddlers, horse-carriers, vagrants, warriors, priests of various religions, healers, runaway slaves, masters of all professions.
Slaves and female slaves from Egypt and Asia Minor were sold here. Purple-dyed wool was highly valued; merchants, praising their goods, claimed that, compared with Palmyra, other purple fabrics looked faded, as if they had been sprinkled with ashes. Spices and aromatic substances were brought from Arabia and India. There was a constant demand for wine, salt, clothes, harness, shoes.
Under the arches of the Arc de Triomphe, transactions were made, there was a multilingual rumble, but the Europeans called it the Arc de Triomphe. In their representations, arches and gates are placed to glorify high-profile military victories and in honor of great commanders. But the Palmyra architects solved a different problem: the double gates of the arch were set at an angle and, as it were, concealed the break in the street, straightened it.
Until our time, the second important crossroads of the city, the Tetrapylon, has been preserved. It is built of granite monoliths on four huge pedestals. Here, too, trade was in full swing, the stone floors of the shops have survived to this day.
There were many temples in the city, they were built cheerfully, to the conscience.
The Palmyra were a multilingual people, wanderers of the desert, they did not want to obey one god. In their religious rituals they most often commemorated Bel - the god of heaven, one of the most interesting temples in the Middle East (the prototype of Baalbek) is dedicated to him. The temple stood out among all the buildings of the city, had a central hall with an area of 200 square meters. That's when it spread across Ancient East the glory of the beauty and perfection of Palmyra.
There were three entrances to the temple, decorated with gilded panels. Today they are replaced by wooden gates through which tourists enter the sanctuary. The broken slab is crowned with dragon teeth, giving the sanctuary a menacing look. A special entrance has been preserved, which was made for camels, bulls and goats doomed to be slaughtered, as well as a drain for blood - the god Bel demanded sacrifices.
In Palmyra, a temple was built in honor of the god Nabo, the son of Marduk, the ruler of the Babylonian sky. Nabo was in charge of the fate of mortals and was the messenger of the gods of the multi-tribal Palmyra pantheon. A native of Mesopotamia, he got along with the Phoenician Baalshamin, the Arab Allat and the Olympian Zeus.
From the temple of Nabo there was only one foundation, from the temple of Allat - only doors, but the temple of Baalshamin (the Phoenician god of thunder and fertility) still stands today.
And the earthly affairs of Palmyra were in charge of the leaders, priests, rich merchants who sat in the Senate. Their decisions were approved by the governor appointed from Rome. Emperor Adrian, who visited Palmyra, gave the city some independence - he recalled the governor, lowered taxes, and transferred power to the local leader.
Years passed, decades passed, and gradually Palmyra turned into one of the most prosperous cities in the Middle East. Just as in Rome, gladiator fights were held here, young men fought with wild animals. Frantikhs from the upper strata of society dressed in the latest Roman fashion, and even ahead of it. 
Children were given Roman names, often in combination with Palmyra ones.
The ancient Palmyrenes loved to erect monuments to each other. Almost all columns of the Great Colonnade, temples and public buildings have stone shelves in the middle, on which stood sculptural images of noble and respected people. At one time, the columns of Agara (the Palmyrene forum, surrounded by porticos and lined with busts) held about 200 such images.
But little by little the Palmyra leaders stopped listening to the Senate and began to pursue their own policy. The ruler of Palmyra, Odenathus, defeated the troops of the Persian king himself, but he was well aware that any attempt to rise would cause fear and anger in Rome. But regardless of his will, both Palmyra and he himself were gaining more and more influence in the Middle East.
Then Rome resorted (as is very often the case) to a simple means - the physical elimination of a person. The Roman authorities of the country of Suri in 267 (or in 266) invited Odaenathus to discuss current affairs in Emessa (the modern city of Homs). And there, during the meeting, he, along with his eldest son Herodian, fell at the hands of his nephew Meon.
For others historical information, his wife Zenobia, who was the stepmother of Herodian, took part in the murder of Odaenathus. She allegedly wanted to eliminate them both in order to clear the way to power for her young son Vaballat. In fact, the energetic widow ruled on her own. The loud glory of Palmyra and the expansion of the state's borders are associated with her name. She endured the hardships of military campaigns no worse than any of her soldiers.
In the local language, the name Zenobia sounded like Bat-Zobbi. Translated into Russian, this means - the daughter of a merchant, merchant. She was a very beautiful woman, this can be seen even on the coins that have preserved her image. “Matte, swarthy skin and black eyes of amazing beauty, a lively look with a divine brilliance. She dressed in luxurious outfits, knew how to wear military armor and weapons.
According to the testimony of ancient chroniclers, Zenobia was an educated woman, appreciated scientists, favorably treated philosophers and sages.
The Roman emperor Gallienus hoped that the second son of Odaenathus would not be able to rule Palmyra due to his childhood. However, he did not take into account that the widow, the beautiful Zenobia, the smartest and most educated woman, was ready to engage in state activities. Her teacher, the famous Syrian philosopher Cassius Longinus of Emessa, advised her to enthrone Vaballathus and become his regent. She waited with great care for the hour of the expulsion of the Roman legions from the Middle East, in order to forever establish the power of her dynasty in the kingdom that she would create.
For the time being, Zenobia carefully concealed her intentions in the hope that her son would be allowed to inherit his father's throne. But Rome was afraid of strengthening the outskirts and retained only the title of vassal king for the ruler of Palmyra. And then Zenobia declared war on mighty Rome.
The Romans were convinced that the troops of Palmyra would refuse to go into battle under the command of a woman. And they miscalculated a lot. The Palmyrene chiefs Zabbey and Zabda swore allegiance to Zenobia. The army that went over to its side soon captured Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and in the north reached the Bosphorus and Dardanelles.
Zenobia's military victories alarmed Rome. The Roman Emperor Lucius Domitius Aurelian decided to oppose her army. After the defeat at Homs, Zenobia hoped to sit out in Palmyra, but it was not possible to withstand a long siege. It only remained to take out all the wealth of the city and retreat beyond the Euphrates - and there the width of the river and the accuracy of the famous Palmyra archers would save. But Aurelian's cavalry followed on his heels, and Zenobia was taken prisoner at the very river. Palmyra fell.
This was seventeen centuries ago. The further fate of Zenobia is mysterious and gives rise to many conjectures and assumptions: as if the masterful queen was killed, as if she was led around Rome in golden chains, as if she was married to a Roman senator and she lived until her old age.
Having taken Palmyra, the Roman troops knocked down the statue of Zenobia, but the city was not touched. Under Emperor Diocletian, construction even resumed here: the residence of Zenobia was turned into a Roman military camp, the barracks were expanded here, the water supply was improved, and a Christian basilica was erected.
1900
Several times the Palmyrenes raised an uprising for independence, but unsuccessfully.
Gradually, the city nobility left the city, the merchants, deprived of ties with the East, left, and after them, caravan drivers, officials, and the most skilled artisans remained idle. And Palmyra began to languish, turned into an ordinary border post, a place of exile.
The Arabs took it without a fight, the townspeople could not even resist. Yes, they no longer lived in the city, but huddled behind the walls of the sanctuary of Bel, stuck a lot of dark and cramped adobe shacks there. After 2-3 generations, no one remembered either the names of the gods, or the names of temples, or the purpose of public buildings.
Then, for many years, the Turks came, who themselves had no idea about the culture of the peoples subject to them and did not allow others to study it. Excavations were prohibited throughout the Ottoman Empire. Nobody cared about the past, about the glorious history of the now dying city. The dust of oblivion hid Palmyra from the living memory of mankind. Palmyra had to be rediscovered.
Opening honor Palmyra history attributes to the Italian Pietro della Balle. For a long time, with great difficulty, travelers reached Palmyra in the 17th century, but when they returned to Europe, they simply did not believe them. A city in the Syrian desert? Can this be? But after 100 years, the artist Wood brought to England the drawings made in Palmyra. With the publication of these engravings, the fashion for Palmyra began, appeared detailed descriptions ancient city, travel essays.
The most interesting discovery of that time was made by our compatriot, Petersburger S. S. Abamelek-Lazarev. He discovered and published a Greco-Aramaic inscription detailing customs regulations(the so-called "Palmyra tariff"). Today this document is kept in the Hermitage. In ancient times, the locals called (however, they still call) Palmyra "Tadmor". Translated, this word means "to be wonderful, beautiful."
In the 20th century, they became seriously interested in it. Gradually, but steadily, Russia's interest in Palmyra grew. The Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople equipped an expedition, the researchers took many photographs, drawings, diagrams, plans, topographic maps cities. Based on these materials, Professor F. Uspensky later published a detailed work.
The colonnades of the legendary Palmyra towering in the desert still attract travelers who are surprised to discover two neighboring Palmyra - two Tadmor. One of them is ancient, the other is new, young. In one of them people have not lived for a long time, it has become eternal museum, in another, since 1928, Bedouins, poor people, began to settle. In 2003, the Syrian government issued a law to build a new Palmyra. The city began to improve, new streets were built, electricity was supplied. Hard-working residents laid here palm groves, orchards, orchards, plowed fields, raised cattle. By tradition, the Palmyrians are engaged in trade, weaving carpets, scarves, sewing national clothes and selling all this to tourists. New Palmyra does not compete with the ancient one, for it is itself a continuation of it.
Palmyra was originally founded as a settlement in an oasis in the northern Syrian desert called Tadmor. Although the Roman province of Syria was established in 64 BC, the population of Tadmor (predominantly Arameans and Arabs) remained semi-independent for more than half a century. They controlled trade routes between mediterranean coast Syria and the lands of the Parthians east of the Euphrates. Palmyra was located just on two strategic trade routes: from the Far East and India to Persian Gulf, as well as on the Great Silk Road.
Under the Roman emperor Tiberius (AD 14-37), Tadmor was incorporated into the province of Syria and renamed Palmyra, "city of palm trees." After the capture of the Nabataean kingdom by the Romans in 106, Palmyra became the most important political and shopping center in the Middle East, taking over the palm from Petra.
In 129, Emperor Hadrian granted Palmyra the status of " free city”, giving residents the right to free settlement and significant trading privileges. In 217, the emperor Caracalla gave Palmyra the rights of a colony and appointed Senator Septimius Odaenathus as its ruler. Soon Odaenathus himself and his son were killed as a result of rebellious conspiracies. The ruler of Palmyra in 267 was the wife of the second son of Odaenathus, Zenobia, under whom the city reached its greatest prosperity. Zenobia was a very ambitious woman and even declared that she was descended from Cleopatra.
In 272, Emperor Aurelius captured Palmyra and brought Zenobia to Rome as his trophy. In 273, Palmyra was razed to the ground, and all the inhabitants were massacred as a result of an act of retribution for the revolt of the local population, during which about 600 Roman archers were killed in the city.
In the VI century. Emperor Justinian tried to rebuild the city and rebuilt defensive structures.
In 634 the city was captured by the Arabs.
The strongest earthquake in 1089 practically wiped Palmyra off the face of the earth.
In 1678, Palmyra was discovered by two English merchants who lived in the city of Aleppo in Syria.
Since 1924, archaeological excavations have been actively carried out in Palmyra, carried out by scientists from Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and since May 1959, Poland.
In 1980, the UNESCO organization included Palmyra in the list of sites with the status of "World Heritage".
History of Palmyra fabulous city in the middle of the desert and a kind of "window from Europe to Asia" - through poetic metaphors turned out to be connected with another city on earth - St. Petersburg. In 1755 in Petersburg magazine "Monthly writings for the benefit and entertainment of employees" was published a brief retelling of the book about Palmyra, published in 1753 in London English travelers G. Dawkins and R. Wood. The text of this publication in Russian, especially the remark about the art of Palmyra, which reached its peak at a time when "the arts of Greece and Rome were already elevated to a high level of perfection", associated
with the "Greek project" of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna, the future Empress Catherine II. So arose image"Northern Palmyra". 
Catherine II named her grandchildren Alexander (in honor of Alexander the Great, who opened the way to Asia) and Constantine (in memory of Byzantine emperor), which corresponded to the plans to create a great empire in the Balkans. Palmyra, in the minds of the enlightened people of Catherine’s time, was associated with the idea of “expanding the window” created by Tsar Peter, not only to Europe, but also to Asia, and Empress Catherine compared herself with the wayward Queen Zenobia, the widow of Tsar Odaenathus, who, after the death of her husband, set out to create a huge kingdom between West and East.
world heritage site
(Archaeological sites of Palmyra)
At present, on the site of Palmyra, there is a Syrian village and the ruins of majestic buildings that are among the best examples of ancient Roman architecture and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Along the main street of the ancient city there are colonnades and monumental arches. Among the most significant buildings are the temple of Baal (I century), the temple of Baalshamin (II century), the agora (III century), a theater with a community center and a caravanserai. In May 2015, as a result of the capture of Palmyra by ISIS militants, many monuments that were not taken away by the authorities were looted and/or destroyed.
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The oldest mentions of Tadmor date back to the 1st half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. (in Cappadocian tablets and documents from Mari). At the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Palmyra was destroyed by the Assyrians, in the 10th century. BC e. (?) According to the Bible and Joseph Flavius, Palmyra was founded by the Israeli king Solomon as an advanced stronghold against the attacks of the Aramaic hordes on his possessions, stretching to the banks of the Euphrates. Nebuchadnezzar II, during the invasion of Jerusalem, ruined it, but soon, due to its favorable position between the Mediterranean sea on the one hand, and the Euphrates valley on the other, it was rebuilt again and became a haven for trade caravans and a warehouse center that went from West to East and back . Here was the capital of the Palmyrene state, ruled by its own sovereigns, the Senate and the people's assembly. According to the latest data from archaeologists, Palmyra was founded by the king of the Hurrians Tukrisha.
Old Testament, 1 Kings, chapter 9. 16 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, came and took Gazer, and burned it with fire, and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, the wife of Solomon. (Gazer or Gezer given to Solomon). 17 And Solomon built Gazer and lower Bethoron, (Construction and restoration of fortress cities). 18 and Baalath and Tadmor in the desert, (Construction and restoration of fortress cities, in the depths of the Syrian steppe (desert) there is an oasis Tadmor or Fadmor (Palmyra), however, in the III-II millennium BC, until the camel became the main vehicle and communication between Syria and Palestine, on the one hand, and Mesopotamia, on the other, due to the rarity of wells on the way, it could not yet be carried out directly through the steppe, this oasis did not matter, and it was under Solomon that the city was built here). Scientific explanation of the Bible:
Odaenathus was succeeded by his son, Gairan, who soon died, and then another son, also Odaenathus, who took the side of the Romans in their war with the Persians and received for this from Valerian and Gallienus in 258 the title of consularis (governor with the rank of consul). Not satisfied with this title, he, after Valerian was captured by the Persians, proclaimed himself "king of kings" (in 260).
After a victorious campaign against the Persians, before Ctesiphon on the Tigris, Odaenathus was killed by his nephew, Maeonius (in 267), and his wife, Zenobia, entered the Palmyrene throne, significantly expanding the boundaries of her state and even dreaming of subjugating Rome itself. Under her, Palmyra reached the apogee of its prosperity, which, however, lasted only a short time.
War in Syria
Capture of Palmyra by ISIS (May 2015)Since 2012, due to ongoing hostilities in Syria, several hundred monuments have been evacuated from Palmyra, but not all of them are transportable.
May 20, 2015 militants terrorist organization ISIS took control of almost the entire territory of Palmyra, in connection with which there were fears that it would suffer the same fate as a number of others architectural monuments on the territory of Iraq, destroyed by militants. A month later they began to destroy cultural heritage: On June 27, the statue "Lion Allat" was demolished, on August 23 it became known that the temple of Baalshamin was blown up. The militants also executed the custodian of Palmyra, the famous Syrian archaeologist 82-year-old Khaled al-Asaad. On August 30, 2015, the Islamists blew up the temple of Bela, destroying it. Satellite photographs from space have confirmed these facts. UNESCO condemned the barbaric acts. On September 4, three of the best-preserved burial towers, which had been built during the Roman period for wealthy families in the Valley of the Tombs, were destroyed. Experts believe that terrorists destroy only what they cannot sell. At the same time, they gave permission to "black" archaeologists to look for artifacts in order to sell them on the black market. On October 5, 2015, militants blew up the Arc de Triomphe of the era of Ancient Rome - a symbol of Palmyra and ancient Syria.
Liberation of PalmyraOn March 25, the Syrian army liberated the historic castle of Fakhr ad-Din, which dominates Palmyra. In addition, in the south-west of the city, the Semiramis hotel complex and the restaurant area were liberated, the citadel (fortress) was liberated, and the necropolis valley was also liberated. On March 26, militant groups continued their retreat to the northern outskirts of Palmyra. However, both in the east and in the west, the terrorists continued to put up fierce resistance. With ancient castle In Palmyra, the Syrian military tore down the black flag of ISIS and defiantly burned it.
On March 27, the Syrian government army completely liberated Palmyra from ISIS terrorists. On the same day, the sapper units of the Syrian army began clearing the houses and streets of Palmyra. On March 28, the media (Russia-1 TV channel) reported that all of Palmyra had been liberated. On the same day, at 15:00 local time, the state flag of Syria was raised in the center of Palmyra.
Reports of ISIS activity began on December 8, 2016. On December 9, fighting took place on the outskirts of Palmyra, ISIS militants used shahid-mobiles (cars with explosives) to break through the defense, it was reported that a tank without a turret was used for this, stuffed with explosives. On December 8–9, the Syrian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Forces delivered massive air strikes against the advancing militants, and the militant offensive was suspended. On December 9, the Russian military, part of the government troops and part of the city's residents left Palmyra. On December 10, the IS militant offensive resumed, they managed to capture the grain elevators in the east of Palmyra, and on December 11, the militants took control of Palmyra. On December 10–11, 2016, about 4,000 IS militants attacked Tadmor from different directions. Under the onslaught of superior forces, the Syrian army and the militia left the city and moved to the outskirts
On Monday, December 12, 2016, detachments of the Islamic State armed formations continued their offensive from Palmyra in a westerly direction, reports the Arabic publication Al-Mazdar. The terrorists took control of Palmyra on December 11, 2016. According to the publication, the terrorists also seized settlements al-Bayarat and ad-Dawwa west of Palmyra and the Haiyan oil field. According to Talal Barazi, governor of the province of Homs, in which Palmyra is located, 80% of the population was evacuated from the city.
France blamed Russia for the fall of Palmyra. Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Hérault believes that Moscow has distracted itself from the fight against ISIS.
Immediately after the fall of Palmyra, the liberation operation began. On March 2, 2017, Palmyra was returned to the control of the Syrian government with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces and SOF.
Ruins
The remains of the capital of antiquity were buried under the sands during frequent sandstorms here, and those buildings that remained on the surface served as building material for huts local residents. Much of what was of interest from the point of view of art was looted and transported to big cities and from there to the museums of world capitals. When, in the 12th century, the Spanish rabbi Benjamin reached Palmyra, he saw only an Arab village, located in the huge courtyard of the temple of the god Bel.
The second discovery of Palmyra occurred at the beginning of the 17th century, when the Italian traveler Pietro della Valle stumbled upon the ancient ruins. Around 1692, the English pastor Halifax came here. He was the first to copy three Palmyrene inscriptions, but he failed to read the Palmyrene letter. In 1678, the English merchant Halifax found the hard-to-reach ruins of Palmyra; in -1753 they were first examined and described by Robert Wood and James Dawkins. Archaeological excavations began at the end of the 19th century and continue to this day (see also the Palmyra section in the article by Mikhalovsky, Kazimierz). In 2008, archaeologists announced the discovery of the foundations of the largest church in Syria, measuring 47 by 27 meters.
The ruins stretch from southeast to northwest in a continuous row for approximately 3 km, at the foot of several hills, and consist of the remains of structures related to different eras. The Late Antique ruins are dominated by the Corinthian order. At the eastern end of the space occupied by the ruins rises the temple of the sun (Baal-Helios) - a majestic peripter 55 1/3 m long, 29 m wide, with 8 columns in each short face and 16 columns in the long one. The interior of the temple is a vast room, with a vault broken into cassettes, with a luxurious, well-preserved stucco ornamentation of friezes and walls, consisting of leaves and fruits.
Opposite the northwestern corner of the temple were the entrance gates, similar to the triumphal arch of Constantine in Rome. A road stretched from them through the whole city, for 1135 m, furnished with four rows of columns, on the architrave of which other, smaller columns were placed. These four colonnades divided the road lengthwise into three parts: the middle one, wider, served for carriages and riders; two side, narrower - for pedestrians. The height of the lower columns is 17 m. There were 1500 in total, that is, 375 in each row.
The entire soil of the former city is covered with fragments of capitals, entablature, sculptural friezes and other architectural fragments, among which, to the west of the temple of the Sun, the remains of other temples, palaces, colonnades, altars, aqueducts are visible, and behind the collapsed city wall, which was the construction of the times of Justinian, lies in a small valley a necropolis with numerous burial caves and sixty family tombs, built in the form of towers of huge hewn stones. At the top of one of the neighboring hills rises a castle of later Arab construction.
Rebuilding after the destruction of 2015
During the capture of Palmyra by ISIS militants (2015-2016), some structures were deliberately destroyed, others were plundered for the purpose of sale.
On March 28, 2016, the head of the Department of Antiquities and Museums of Syria, Maamoun Abd al-Karim, said that the restoration of Palmyra could take five years. According to him, 80% of the ancient buildings of Palmyra are in good condition. The State Agency for the Protection of Monuments of Syria said that the Syrian army did not harm the monuments during the storming of the city. Work on the restoration of the monuments will begin in April. Specialists plan to restore two temples, the Monumental Arch and the tomb towers. The plan to restore Palmyra consists of three stages. At the first stage, unstable buildings will be supported, at the second stage, most of the monuments will be restored, and at the third stage, experts plan to rebuild the temples of Bel and Baalshamin destroyed by terrorists. According to experts, international norms allow resorting to the latter measure only in exceptional cases.
According to the order of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, the International Mine Action Center took part in the demining of the city armed forces Russian Federation. The State Hermitage will take part in the restoration of the city's historical monuments. The first groups of Russian sappers arrived in Palmyra in the last days of March. The demining of the archaeological zone was completed on 21 April.
panoramas
see also
Notes
- archINFORM - 1994.
The ancient city of Palmyra is located in Syria. The grandiose buildings of Palmyra shake the minds of contemporaries and can easily compete with the buildings of European antiquity. Ancient Palmyra in Syria was so magnificent that it became a household name for many existing cities(for Russia, the northern palmyra is St. Petersburg, the southern palmyra is Odessa).
History of the city of Palmyra in Syria
Mentions of the city of Palmyra begin from the 19th century BC. Then the city was called Tadmor, and one of the villages near the ruins of the legendary city is also called today.
Favorable geographical position allowed ancient Palmyra to be built by the 1st century AD. become a major commercial and cultural center. And the growth of wealth attracted the eyes of ill-wishers. So in 271, the Roman emperor Aurelian laid siege to Palmyra in Syria. None of the local defenders could resist the Roman legionnaires, and the city had to surrender.
After the sack, a Roman garrison was placed in the city. Construction continued in the III-IV centuries, but it was defensive in nature. The new camp of Diocletian was surrounded by walls, which, by the way, already occupied a smaller territory than the city itself. The population of Palmyra fell sharply. After the arrival of the Byzantines, a border checkpoint was equipped here, and already under the Arabs, the city completely fell into disrepair and was buried under a layer of sand. Later, merchants, travelers and even researchers periodically appeared here, but full-fledged excavations began only in the 1920s.
City of Palmyra in Syria. Description
The city itself had an elliptical shape with a length of about two kilometers and a width of half that. The main monuments of the city of Palmyra, surrounded by walls, are well preserved. Even before the arrival of the Romans, there were two centers in the city - religious and commercial. Later, the road connecting them was connected by the Great Colonnade, which is the main attraction of ancient Palmyra. The kilometer street has a width of 11 meters, on both sides it is decorated with porticoes with two rows of columns. Currently, these ten-meter structures are badly damaged as a result of long sand work.
Colonnade
As you move along the street, there are arched branches to side streets. In the central part of the road is the triumphal arch, a dilapidated but no less impressive structure. At the end of the street leads to the sanctuary of Bel.
Triumphal Arch
The Temple of Bel, built in 32 AD, was dedicated to the supreme local deity and was the main temple of the city. The largest building in the old days contained a courtyard, pools, an altar and the temple building itself. In architectural terms, it combines the influence of Roman and Oriental architecture.
Temple of Bel
The Temple of Baalshamin, dedicated to the god of heaven revered throughout Syria, is the second building in Palmyra. The typical Roman building was completed in 131 AD. Both of these temples have been preserved almost completely and provide an opportunity to appreciate the skill of the builders of Palmyra. But the list of buildings does not end there.
Temple of Baalshamin
Near the triumphal arch is the temple of Nabo. Opposite it are the ruins of Roman baths. There was also a part of the water supply leading to the baths from the nearest water sources. Nearby are the theater and the Senate. Next to the Senate, an agora was built - a square for trading or alerting the people.
Theater in Palmyra
Near the agora, the "Palmyra Tariff" was found - a massive slab 5 meters long containing decisions of the Senate on tariffs and taxes. At the moment, this plate is in the Hermitage of St. Petersburg.
As mentioned above, Diocletian's camp belongs to the later buildings. Now here on central square the ruins of the temple of the banners are located, where the battle banners of the Romans used to be located. Behind Diocletian's camp are walls, and then there are hills. On one of the hills is the fortress of Kalaat Ibn Maan, built here by the Arabs in the Middle Ages. Here, on the slopes, there is a necropolis represented by ruined towers. Some of them were erected on hypogees - underground burials.
Hills and towers near Palmyra
The former greatness of the city was buried by time. But now the city of Palmyra is regaining its former glory, becoming a major tourist center.
Of all the numerous monuments of Syria, the most famous are. The name of this city has long become a household name (for example, "Northern Palmyra" called Petersburg). The majestic temples, tombs and colonnades of Palmyra amaze the imagination and compete with the most famous buildings ancient Greece and Italy.
- an ancient city in the Tadmor oasis, in the heart of Syria. People chose this place not by chance: on a long caravan route from the sea coast to the Euphrates, among the barren rocky hills and sand, water sources break through only here. One of them, the sulfurous spring of Efka, was considered sacred in antiquity. Archaeological excavations have shown that a settlement existed here as early as the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e.
History of the city of Palmyra
The first mention of Palmyra (under the name Tadmor, which the Arab village located near the ancient ruins still bears) is found in Babylonian cuneiform texts of the 19th century. BC e. Then for more than a thousand years there is no mention of this city. Again this name appears at the time of the first Assyrian conquerors. At that time, the Arameans lived in the Tadmor oasis. They, along with the Arabs, formed the core of the population of Palmyra.
By the 1st century n. e. Palmyra has become the largest trading and Cultural Center. It was the main link in the trade between East and West: here, on the border of the waterless desert, the well-maintained road from the coast ended and the shortest caravan trail to the Euphrates began. Caravans from Arabia, Persia, India and even from China stopped here to rest.
The wealth of the city irresistibly attracted the eyes of its neighbors. In 41 BC. e. Palmyra unsuccessfully tried to capture the Roman commander Mark Antony, who needed money to fight Octavian Augustus. Shortly after 40 BC. e. Antony nevertheless captured and plundered Palmyra. Under the emperor Tiberius, the successor of Augustus, the city was forced to pay tribute to the Romans. Then the ancient Tadmor was called "Palmyra" - "City of Palms". Under the Romans, there were laid good roads and trade relations were streamlined, which brought new prosperity to Palmyra.
Around 200 AD. e. Julia Domna, the daughter of a priest from the Syrian city of Emessa (now Homs), became the wife of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. He exempted Palmyra - perhaps out of love for his wife - from the land tax. His wife's sister, Julia Mesa, managed to place her grandson Heliogabalus on the Roman throne with the help of intrigues. After he was killed, the Syrian Alexander Severus became emperor. He and his successors contributed - through the influence of their Syrian wives or because of their own Syrian origin - to the development of Syria and put a lot of effort into the further flourishing of Palmyra.
The peak of Palmyra's power falls on the II-III centuries. The importance of the city increased dramatically during the struggle between Rome and the successors of the Parthians - the Sassanids. And after the emperor Valery, having suffered a defeat in the battle with the Sassanids, was taken prisoner, the fate of the eastern provinces of Rome became completely dependent on Palmyra.
At that time, a dynasty of kings of Arab origin ruled in the city. The most prominent representative of this dynasty, King Odenath, nicknamed the Great, in 260 even dared to attack his powerful eastern neighbors, the Sassanids. He managed to defeat their army and besiege their capital Ctesiphon (near modern Baghdad). Gratitude was not long in coming: for the victory over the Persians, the Roman emperor Gallienus granted Odenathus the title of "emperor and restorer of the entire East", and Palmyra regained its independence.
Odaenathus remained unrestricted ruler of Syria until 267, when he was killed at Emessa. And then came a great time for Zenobia, his wife. The Arabs called her Zubaydat - "a woman with beautiful, thick and long hair." Contemporaries glorified her perfect beauty, courage, wisdom and energy. Under her Palmyra experienced the last period of its heyday.
However, if Odaenathus Rome owed calmness on its eastern borders, then it owed nothing to Zenobia. The Roman emperor Gallienus refused to recognize the right to the imperial title for the young son of Odaenathus. Zenobia, who by that time had established dominance over almost the entire East, could not bear such an insult. She rejected the claims of Rome to the territories won by her late husband in the fight against the Sassanids, and when the emperor tried to achieve his goal by force, the troops of Zenobia defeated the Roman troops. Moreover, taking advantage of the attack of the Goths on Rome, Zenobia sent her commander Zabda to conquer the territories that remained under Roman control - Egypt and Asia Minor. Zabda successfully coped with his task: the Romans were defeated, and both provinces became part of the Palmyra kingdom. From now on, Zenobia became the mistress of the entire East - from the Euphrates to the Nile and from the sands of Arabia to Anatolia.
In 271, Emperor Aurelian broke off all negotiations with the ambassadors of Zenobia and went on a campaign. One of the Roman detachments landed in Egypt, and the main forces, led by the emperor, launched an offensive in Asia Minor. At the walls of Antioch, the Palmyrene army was defeated. Aurelian pursued her to Emessa. Here Zenobia, who personally led her troops, suffered a complete defeat. She fled to Palmyra. Aurelian followed close behind her. The Roman legions besieged the city. Palmyra surrendered...
The city was dying for a long time. After the defeat arranged by Aurelian, the Roman garrison was stationed here. Under Emperor Diocletian, at the turn of the 3rd-4th centuries, construction resumed in Palmyra, which, however, was mainly of a military-defensive nature. On a huge area of 30,000 sq. m stretched out the camp of the Roman troops, called the camp of Diocletian. The newly rebuilt defensive walls protected a much smaller area than before, since the population of the city had sharply decreased by that time. The construction of the Roman camp was the last stage in the history of the city.
Under the Byzantines, Palmyra still existed as an insignificant border point, and already the Arabs took it without a fight, the townspeople could not even resist. Yes, then they no longer lived in the city, but huddled behind the walls of the sanctuary of Bel, stuck a lot of dark and cramped adobe shacks there. After 2–3 generations, no one remembered either the names of the gods, or the names of temples, or the purpose of public buildings. Then, for many years, the Turks came, who themselves had no idea about the culture of the peoples subject to them and did not allow others to study it. Excavations were prohibited throughout the Ottoman Empire. Nobody cared about the past, about the glorious history of the now dying city. Gradually, the sands of the desert brought the remnants of the former greatness of Palmyra ...
The ruins of Palmyra became known only in the 17th century. First, merchants and travelers who accidentally got here, and from the 2nd floor. 19th century - scientific expeditions introduced Europeans to this city that caused surprise and admiration. The excavations of Palmyra began in the 1920s. and are still ongoing.
Architectural monuments of Palmyra
The preservation of the buildings of Palmyra was largely facilitated by their location among the sands of the desert, away from big cities and trade routes that moved south. The ruins of Palmyra are located in a basin between the spurs of the hills of Jebel Hayane and Jebel el-Karr. The city has the shape of an ellipse, stretching from the southeast to the northwest. Its length is about 2 km, its width is half that. The defensive walls are well preserved, in the ring of which the main monuments of the city are located.
By the time of the Roman conquest, two historical center Palmyra: cult in the east and commercial in the west. They were connected by an ancient caravan road. Subsequently, on the site of this road was laid the main street city, known as the Great Colonnade.
A large colonnade stretched from the southeast to the northwest, from the Temple of Bel to the so-called Tomb Temple. This magnificent avenue was built over many decades, and its laying coincides with the visit to Palmyra of the Roman emperor Hadrian in 129.
The total length of the street reaches 1100 m, the width of the carriageway is 11 m. On both sides of it stretched covered porticos with two rows of columns made of golden limestone and pink Aswan granite. Such colonnades were a typical decoration of Roman cities. But nowhere, except for the North African (Tamugadi), they are not preserved as well as in Palmyra.
The columns of the Great Colonnade, including the foundation and capitals, reach a height of 10 m. The surface of the columns, especially in their lower part, is badly damaged. This is the result of the centuries-old work of sand brought by the wind from the Syrian desert. In some places, a slender row of columns is interrupted by semicircular arches beautifully inscribed in it - they mark the beginning of the side streets of the city departing from the Great Colonnade.
The decoration of the central section of the Great Colonnade is the monumental one, built around 200. Its sculptural decoration is distinguished by its special splendor. Not all of its details have been preserved, but even in its present form, the triumphal arch is one of the most impressive buildings in Palmyra. It was placed in such a way that through its spans a spectacular view of the Temple of Bel opens up. The last section of the Great Colonnade turned south from the arch and led to the entrance to this sanctuary.
Temple of Bel (Baal)- the local supreme deity, the ruler of the sky, thunder and lightning, an analogue of the ancient Greek Zeus - was the main shrine of the city. This is the largest building in Palmyra. Its construction was completed in 32 AD. e. The vast complex once consisted of a courtyard surrounded by a fence, ritual pools, altars and the temple itself.
The second most important temple of Palmyra is dedicated to Baalshamin. This deity was revered throughout Syria. He was called the lord of heaven, a beneficent deity who sends rain. The Temple of Baalshamin was consecrated in 131, as inscribed on one of its pillars. It is a typical Roman building, with a deep six-column portico, the columns of which were once decorated with statues. Relatively small in size, this temple makes a monumental impression due to its massive forms.
Along the Great Colonnade there were many large public buildings. Directly behind the triumphal arch, to the left of the colonnade, is the sanctuary of the Syrian god Nabo, an analogue of the Greek Apollo. Rectangular temple built in the 1st century. n. e., surrounded by a solemn colonnade with six columns on the front and twelve on the sides. The walls of the porticos were decorated with paintings. From this temple, only a high podium with a staircase, on which the bases of the columns are visible, has been preserved.
Opposite the temple of Nabo rise the ruins of huge baths, built, as the surviving inscription says, by Sosian Hierocles, the governor of Syria under the emperor Diocletian. However, archaeologists have established that under Diocletian, only the baths were reconstructed, and the building itself was built a hundred years earlier. With their size and richness of decoration, the baths of Palmyra were not inferior to the famous Roman baths, but today only a portico with monolithic porphyry columns and a rectangular pool, into which they went down a stone staircase, have survived from them. The baths were supplied with water from a source located northwest of the city. A part of the aqueduct running from there has been preserved.
Behind the temple of Nabo is the Palmyra Theatre. It is not as big as other theaters of ancient times, but it is distinguished by a special sophistication in design. On the western side, the ruins of the Palmyra Senate adjoin the theater. Next to it is the entrance to the agora, a rectangular square surrounded by porticos, which served as a market and a place for city meetings.
The agora is surrounded by structures of various sizes. One of them, with massive walls and wide doors, was obviously a caravanserai. Not far from the agora, a huge stele slab, almost 5 m long, dating back to 137 AD, was found. e., - the famous "Palmyra tariff". The stele contains decisions of the senate written in Greek and Aramaic on taxes and tariffs imposed on the city, for example, for the use of water from a source. This slab, discovered in 1881 by the Russian traveler Abamelek-Lazarev, is now kept in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
The latest building in Palmyra is Diocletian's camp. In its center, a square was arranged, on which the ruins of the Temple of the Banners now rise, where the battle banners of the Roman legions were once kept. The rear wall, a monumental staircase of sixteen steps, the lower parts of the walls and a large number of richly ornamented blocks framing the doorways survived from the temple. The inscription above the entrance tells the name of the builder of Diocletian's camp - Sosian Hierocles.
The camp of Diocletian closely adjoins the fortress walls. Behind them, the hills surrounding the city begin, on the highest of which rises the medieval Arab fortress of Qalaat Ibn Maan. The remains of Palmyra buildings were used to build its walls and towers. The fortress offers a magnificent view of the ruins of the ancient city.
Half-ruined towers rise on the slopes of the hills surrounding Palmyra. This is an urban necropolis, where many ancient tombs have been preserved.
Their majestic towers, reaching 20 meters in height, give the landscape a special solemnity. Similar burial structures not in other parts of Syria. As archaeologists have established, the most ancient towers in the necropolises of Palmyra were erected over vast underground tombs -. Such tombs served as a common tomb for many generations of the same family, and sometimes even rented out.
The ruins of Palmyra with its columned streets, basilicas, altars and tombs can probably be considered a classic example of an ancient city - the way the imagination traditionally draws it: huge blocks of temples, fragments of funerary structures, amphitheater steps overgrown with grass, dilapidated Ionic and Corinthian columns, aspiring into the sky, broken capitals lying on the ground, chipped niches with pedestals for sculptures, broken bas-reliefs… Time was merciless to the ancient city. For a long time serving only as a haven for jackals, the ruins of Palmyra became known to the whole world and gained a second life, becoming one of the largest tourist centers Middle East included in
.... In 2015, the modern barbarians again ruthlessly treated Palmyra, blowing up both temples (Bela and Baalshamin), as well as the Monumental Arch and tomb towers.
In addition, later, in 2017, they destroyed the central part of the amphitheater. Currently, work is underway to restore monuments, so I hope that the history of the ancient city will continue.
