Palmyra after Zenobia AD 273-750: An Archaeological and Historical Reappraisal

Dating back to the first serious Western inquiries concerning the site, the history of Palmyra, the ‘bride of the desert’, is split into two phases with the events of 272–273 at the centre. 1 The first three centuries were a period of prosperity for the city. Palmyra flourished as a crucial caravan centre during the time. Its community was thriving; its art, architecture, and language (Palmyrene, a west Aramaic dialect) are all proofs of the existence of a well-rooted, autonomous identity that was the result of complex cross-cultural interrelations between the East and the West. Most of the archaeological remains still visible today in Palmyra are the direct expression of this culturally mixed community and it is mainly to these remains that the city owes its fame. As a matter of fact, the grandeur and splendour of the unique architecture that developed between the 1st and the 3rd centuries was the first criterion behind the choice of Palmyra as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.