SYRIA – World Heritage Sites

Ancient City of Damascus
Krac des Chevaliers
Ancient Cities of Northern Syria
Palmyra

ANCIENT CITY of DAMASCUS.
Is the historic city centre of Damascus, Syria. The old citY is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, contains numerous archaeological sites, including some historical churches and mosques. Many cultures have left their mark, especially Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic. In 1979, the historical center of the city, surrounded by walls of the Roman era, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In June 2013, UNESCO included all Syrian sites on the list of World Heritage in Danger to warn of the risks to which they are exposed because of the Syrian Civil War.
History
Origins and founding. Lying on the south bank of Barada River, the ancient city was founded in the 3rd millennium B.C. The horizontal diameter of the oval is about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) which is known as Damascus Straight Street, while the vertical diameter (Latin: Cardus Maximus) is about 1 km (0.6 mi). With an approximate area of 86.12 hectares (212.8 acres; 0.86 km2), the ancient city was enclosed within a historic wall of 4.5 km (2.8 mi) in circuit that was mainly built by the Romans, then fortified by the Ayyubids and Mamluks.
The first mentioning of Damascus was as “Ta-ms-qu” in the second millennium BC, it was situated in an Amorite region in the middle of a conflict zone between the Hittites and Egyptians. The city exercised tributary until the emergence of the Sea Peoples in 1200 BC whose raids helped to weaken their arch rivals. Consequently, the Semitic Arameans managed to establish the independent state of Aram-Damascus (11th century – 733 BC), naming the main city as ‘Dimashqu’ or ‘Darmeseq’.
Historical timeline. Throughout its history, Damascus has been part of the following states:

Main Sights
Damascus has a wealth of historical sites dating back to many different periods of the city’s history. Since the city has been built up with every passing occupation, it has become almost impossible to excavate all the ruins of Damascus that lie up to 2.4 m (8 ft) below the modern level. The Citadel of Damascus is located in the northwest corner of the Old City. The Damascus Straight Street (referred to in the conversion of St. Paul in Acts 9:11), also known as the Via Recta, was the decumanus (east–west main street) of Roman Damascus, and extended for over 1,500 m (4,900 ft). Today, it consists of the street of Bab Sharqi and the Souk Medhat Pasha, a covered market. The Bab Sharqi street is filled with small shops and leads to the old Christian quarter of Bab Tuma (St. Thomas’s Gate). Medhat Pasha Souq is also a main market in Damascus and was named after Midhat Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Syria who renovated the Souk. At the end of the Bab Sharqi street, one reaches the House of Ananias, an underground chapel that was the cellar of Ananias’s house.
The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Grand Mosque of Damascus, is one of the largest mosques in the world and also one of the oldest sites of continuous prayer since the rise of Islam. A shrine in the mosque is said to contain the body of St. John the Baptist. The mausoleum where Saladin was buried is located in the gardens just outside the mosque. Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque, the shrine of the youngest daughter of Husayn ibn Ali, can also be found near the Umayyad Mosque. The ancient district of Amara is also within a walking distance from these sites. Another heavily visited site is Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, where the tomb of Zaynab bint Ali is located.
Souqs and Khans
Al-Hamidiyah Souq, built (1780–1884) during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid I, the largest and the central souk in Syria, located inside the old walled city of Damascus next to the Citadel. The souq is about 600 meters long and 15 meters wide, and is covered by a 10 meter tall metal arch.
Midhat Pasha Souq, named after the then Ottoman governor of Syria (and later Grand Vizier) Midhat Pasha.
Al-Buzuriyah Souq, 152 m (499 ft) in length.
Khan al-Harir, completed in 1574.
Khan Jaqmaq, completed in 1420.
Khan As’ad Pasha, completed in 1752, covering an area of 2,500 square metres (27,000 sq ft). Situated along Al-Buzuriyah Souq, it was built and named after As’ad Pasha al-Azm.
Historic buildings
Temple of Jupiter, built by the Romans, beginning during the rule of Augustus and completed during the rule of Constantius II. previously a temple dedicated to Hadad-Ramman, the god of thunderstorms and rain. At the entrance of Al-Hamidiyah Souq
Damascus Straight Street (Latin: Via Recta), a Roman street (Decumanus Maximus) which runs from east to west in the old city, 1,500 metres in length.
Citadel of Damascus, built (1076–1078) and (1203–1216) by Turkman warlord Atsiz ibn Uvaq, and Al-Adil I.
Nur al-Din Bimaristan, a large medieval bimaristan (“hospital”), built and named after the Zengid Sultan Nur ad-Din in 1154.
Mausoleum of Saladin, built in 1196, the resting place and grave of the medieval Muslim Ayyubid Sultan Saladin.
Azm Palace, built in 1750 as a residence for the Ottoman governor of Damascus As’ad Pasha al-Azm.
Maktab Anbar, a mid 19th-century Jewish private mansion, restored by the Ministry of Culture in 1976 to serve as a library, exhibition centre, museum and craft workshops.
Beit al-Mamlouka, a 17th-century Damascene house, serving as a luxury boutique hotel within the old city since 2005.
Madrasas. Al-Adiliyah Madrasa, a 13th-century madrasah, Al-Fathiyah Madrasa, built in 1743 by an Ottoman official named Fethi Al-Defterdar, Al-Mujahidiyah Madrasa, built in 1141 by Burid governor Mujahid al-Din bin Bazan bin Yammin al-Kurdu. Al-Qilijiyah Madrasa, established in 1254, Al-Salimiyah Madrasa, a 16th-century madrasah, Al-Sibaiyah Madrasa, established in 1515, Al-Zahiriyah Library, established in 1277, taking its name from its founder Sultan Baibars,Nur al-Din Madrasa, built in 1167 by Nūr ad-Dīn Zangī.
Places of worship.
Churches
House of Saint Ananias, an ancient underground structure in Damascus, Syria, that is alleged to be the remains of the home of Ananias of Damascus, where Ananias baptized Saul (who became Paul the Apostle).
Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady, also called “Greek-Melkite Patriarchal Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady”, the Catholic cathedral of Melkite Greek Church.
Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus, the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. After the Muslim conquest of Damascus the church was closed until 706 AD when al-Walid ordered to return it to the Christians as a compensation for the Church of John the Baptist which was turned into the Umayyad Mosque.
Chapel of Saint Paul
Cathedral of Saint George
Syriac Catholic cathedral
Mosques
Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque contains the grave of Sukayna bint Husayn, also known as Ruqayyah, the young daughter of Al-Husayn ibn ‘Alī.
Tekkiye Mosque, a mosque complex built by Suleiman I between 1544 and 1558, later expanded by Selim II.
Umayyad Mosque, a mosque built on the site of Temple of Jupiter, and a Christian basilica which was dedicated to John the Baptist (Yahya).
Gates. The old part of the city is surrounded with 4.5-kilometre-long (2.8-mile) thick walls, pierced by the seven historical gates, the eighth gate was added later by Muslims. These are, clockwise from the north-east side: Bab Tuma (Gate of Thomas), dedicated to Venus, Bab Sharqi (The Eastern Gate), dedicated to the Sun, Bab Kisan (Kisan Gate), dedicated to Saturn, Bab al-Saghir (also called “Goristan-e-Ghariban”), dedicated to Jupiter, Bab al-Jabiyah (Gate of the Water Trough), dedicated to Mars, Bab al-Faradis (The Gate of the Paradise), dedicated to Mercury, Bab al-Salam (The Gate of Peace), dedicated to the Moon, Bab al-Faraj (The Gate of Deliverance), a gate which was built completely after the Muslim conquest of the Levant.
Hammams. The presence of public baths (ḥammāms) in Damascus started during the Umayyad era, while some historians date them back to the Roman era. The Damascene baths were mentioned by a number of Damascus historians, such as Ibn ‘Asakir (1106–1175 AD) in his famous book “The History of Damascus”. In his book, Ibn ‘Asakir named 77 baths working at that time within the city. The historian Ibn Shaddad counted 114 baths located in Damascus in 1250 AD.
The number of these baths increased to 365 during the Ottoman era, then decreased drastically to 60 baths in the late nineteenth century AD. Today, however, the number of baths in full operation is barely 20, the most famous of them is the “Nour al-Din al-Shahid” bath in the Al-Buzuriyah Souq.
Districts and subdivisions: Al-Amarah District in The old City of Damascus, Jewish quarter
Threats to the future of the old City. Due to the rapid decline of the population of Old Damascus (between 1995 and 2009 about 30,000 people moved out of the old city for more modern accommodation), a growing number of buildings are being abandoned or are falling into disrepair. In March 2007, the local government announced that it would be demolishing Old City buildings along a 1,400 m (4,600 ft) stretch of rampart walls as part of a redevelopment scheme. These factors resulted in the Old City being placed by the World Monuments Fund on its 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world. It is hoped that its inclusion on the list will draw more public awareness to these significant threats to the future of the historic Old City of Damascus.

KRAK DES CHEVALIERS
Summary
(Crac des Chevaliers, literally “Fortress of the Kurds”), and formerly Crac de l’Ospital, is a Crusader castle in Syria and one of the most important preserved medieval castles in the world. The site was first inhabited in the 11th century by a settlement of Kurdish troops garrisoned there by the Mirdasids. As a result, it was known as Hisn al-Akrad, meaning the “Fortress of the Kurds”. In 1142, it was given by Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, to the order of the Knights Hospitaller and remained in their possession until it fell in 1271. It became known as Crac de l’Ospital; the name Krak des Chevaliers was coined in the 19th century.
The Hospitallers began rebuilding the castle in the 1140s and were finished by 1170 when an earthquake damaged the castle. The order controlled a number of castles along the border of the County of Tripoli, a state founded after the First Crusade. Krak des Chevaliers was among the most important, and acted as a center of administration as well as a military base. After a second phase of building was undertaken in the 13th century, Krak des Chevaliers became a concentric castle. This phase created the outer wall and gave the castle its current appearance. The first half of the century has been described as Krak des Chevaliers’ “golden age”. At its peak, Krak des Chevaliers housed a garrison of around 2,000. Such a large garrison allowed the Hospitallers to exact tribute from a wide area. From the 1250s the fortunes of the Knights Hospitaller took a turn for the worse and in 1271 Mamluk Sultan Baibars captured Krak des Chevaliers after a siege lasting 36 days, supposedly by way of a forged letter purportedly from the Hospitallers’ Grand Master that caused the Knights to surrender.
Renewed interest in Crusader castles in the 19th century led to the investigation of Krak des Chevaliers, and architectural plans were drawn up. In the late 19th or early 20th century a settlement had been created within the castle, causing damage to its fabric. The 500 inhabitants were moved in 1933 and the castle was given over to the French Alawite State, which carried out a program of clearing and restoration. When Syria declared independence in 1946, it assumed control.
Today, a village called al-Husn exists around the castle and has a population of nearly 9,000. Krak des Chevaliers is located approximately 40kms west of the city of Homs, close to the border of Lebanon. Since 2006, the castles of Krak des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din have been recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.
It was partially damaged in the Syrian civil war from shelling and recaptured by the Syrian government forces in 2014. Since then, reconstruction and conservation work on the site had begun. Reports by the UNESCO and the Syrian government on the state of the site are produced yearly.
Etymology
Krak des Chavaliers is known as a “Hosn”, or “fort”. This derives from the name of an earlier fortification on the same site called Ḥoṣn al-Akrād, meaning “fort of the Kurds”. It was called by the Franks Le Crat and then by a confusion with karak (fortress), Le Crac. Crat was probably the Frankish version of Akrād, the word for Kurds. After the Knights Hospitaller took control of the castle, it became known as Crac de l’Ospital; the name Crac des Chevaliers (alternatively spelt Krak des Chevaliers) was introduced by Guillaume Rey in the 19th century.
Location
The castle sits atop a 650-metre-high (2,130 ft) hill east of Tartus, Syria, in the Homs Gap. On the other side of the gap, 27kms away, was the 12th-century Gibelacar Castle. The route through the strategically important Homs Gap connects the cities of Tripoli and Homs. To the north of the castle lies the Jebel Ansariyah, and to the south Lebanon. The surrounding area is fertile, benefiting from streams and abundant rainfall. Compared to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the other Crusader states had less land suitable for farming; however, the limestone peaks of Tripoli were well-suited to defensive sites.
Property in the County of Tripoli, granted to the Knights in the 1140s, included the Krak des Chevaliers, the towns of Rafanea and Montferrand, and the Beqa’a plain separating Homs and Tripoli. Homs was never under Crusader control, so the region around the Krak des Chevaliers was vulnerable to expeditions from the city. While its proximity caused the Knights problems with regard to defending their territory, it also meant Homs was close enough for them to raid. Because of the castle’s command of the plain, it became the Knights’ most important base in the area

HISTORY
Origins and Crusader period. In 1031, the Mirdasid emir of Aleppo and Homs, Shibl ad-Dawla Nasr, established a settlement of Kurdish tribesmen at the site of the castle. Nasr restored Hisn al-Safh to help reestablish the Mirdasids’ access to the coast of Tripoli after they lost nearby Hisn Ibn Akkar to the Fatimids in 1029. Due to Nasr’s garrisoning of Kurdish troops at the site, the castle became known as Fortress of the Kurds. The castle was strategically located at the southern edge of the Jibal al-Alawiyin mountain range and dominated the road between Homs and Tripoli. When building castles, engineers often chose elevated sites, such as hills and mountains, that provided natural obstacles.
In January 1099 on the journey to Jerusalem during the First Crusade, the company of Raymond IV of Toulouse came under attack from the garrison of the fort. The following day Raymond marched on the castle and found it deserted. The crusaders briefly occupied the castle in February of the same year but abandoned it when they continued their march towards Jerusalem. Permanent occupation began in 1110 when Tancred, Prince of Galilee took control of the site. The early castle was substantially different from the extant remains and no trace of this first castle survives at the site.
The origins of the order of the Knights Hospitaller are unclear, but it probably emerged around the 1070s in Jerusalem. It started as a religious order that cared for the sick, and later looked after pilgrims to the Holy Land. After the success of the First Crusade in capturing Jerusalem in 1099, many Crusaders donated their new property in the Levant to the Hospital of St John. Early donations were in the newly formed Kingdom of Jerusalem, but over time the order extended its holdings to the Crusader states of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch. Evidence suggests that in the 1130s the order became militarised when Fulk, King of Jerusalem, granted the newly built castle at Beth Gibelin to the order in 1136. The order hired people to defend pilgrims. There were also other military orders, such as the Knights Templar, that offered protection to pilgrims.
Between 1142-44, Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, granted property in the county to the order including Krak des Chevaliers and four other castles along the borders of the state with which the Hospitallers were expected to defend Tripoli and allowed the order to dominate the area. The order’s agreement with Raymond II stated that if he did not accompany knights of the order on campaign, the spoils belonged entirely to the order, and if he was present it was split equally between the count and the order. Further, Raymond II could not make peace with the Muslims without the permission of the Hospitallers. The Hospitallers made Krak des Chevaliers a center of administration for their new property, undertaking work at the castle that would make it one of the most elaborate Crusader fortifications in the Levant.
After acquiring the site in 1142, they began building a new castle to replace the former Kurdish fortification. This work lasted until 1170, when an earthquake damaged the castle. In 1163 the Crusaders emerged victorious over Nur ad-Din in the Battle of al-Buqaia near Krak des Chevaliers.
Drought conditions between 1175 and 1180 prompted the Crusaders to sign a two-year truce with the Muslims, but without Tripoli included in the terms. During the 1180s, raids by Christians and Muslims into each other’s territory became more frequent. In 1180, Saladin ventured into the County of Tripoli, ravaging the area. Unwilling to meet him in open battle, the Crusaders retreated to the relative safety of their fortifications. Without capturing the castles, Saladin could not secure control of the area, and once he retreated the Hospitallers were able to revitalise their damaged lands. The Battle of Hattin in 1187 was a disastrous defeat for the Crusaders: Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, was captured, as was the True Cross, a relic discovered during the First Crusade. Afterwards Saladin ordered the execution of the captured Templar and Hospitaller knights, such was the importance of the two orders in defending the Crusader states. After the battle, the Hospitaller castles of Belmont, Belvoir, and Bethgibelin fell to Muslim armies. Following these losses, the Order focused its attention on its castles in Tripoli. In May 1188 Saladin led an army to attack Krak des Chevaliers, but on seeing the castle, decided it was too well defended and instead marched on the Hospitaller castle of Margat, which he also failed to capture.
Another earthquake struck in 1202, and it may have been after this event that the castle was remodelled. The 13th-century work was the last period of building at Krak des Chevaliers and gave it its current appearance. An enclosing stone circuit was built between 1142 and 1170; the earlier structure became the castle’s inner court or ward.
The first half of the 13th century has been characterised as Krak des Chevaliers’ “golden age”. While other Crusader strongholds came under threat, Krak des Chevaliers and its garrison of 2,000 soldiers dominated the surrounding area. It was effectively the center of a principality that remained in Crusader hands until 1271 and was the only major inland area to remain constantly under Crusader control during this period. King Andrew II of Hungary visited in 1218 and proclaimed the castle the “key of the Christian lands”.
The Knights Hospitaller forced the settlements of Hama and Homs to pay tribute to the Order. In the 1250s, the fortunes of the Hospitallers at Krak des Chevaliers took a turn for the worse. A Muslim army estimated to number 10,000 men ravaged the countryside around the castle in 1252 after which the Order’s finances declined sharply. In 1268, the area stood deserted and produced little income. There were only 300 of the Order’s brethren left in the east. On the Muslim side, after 1260, Sultan Baibers united Egypt and Syria and Muslim settlements that had previously paid tribute no longer felt intimidated into doing so.
In 1271, Baibars returned to deal with Krak des Chevaliers. He first captured the smaller castles in the area, including Chastel Blanc and erected mangonels, powerful siege weapons which he would later turn on the castle. They undermined a tower in the southwest corner causing it to collapse and the army attacked through the breach. The Crusaders retreated to the more formidable inner ward. After a lull of ten days, the besiegers conveyed a letter to the garrison, supposedly from the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller in Tripoli, which granted permission for them to surrender. Although the letter was a forgery, the garrison capitulated and the Sultan spared their lives. The new owners of the castle undertook repairs, focused mainly on the outer ward. The Hospitaller chapel was converted to a mosque and two mihrabs (prayer niches) were added to the interior.
Later history. After the Franks were driven from the Holy Land in 1291, European familiarity with the castles of the Crusades declined. A village of 500 people had been established within the castle, underground vaults had been used as rubbish tips and in some places the battlements had been destroyed.
In 1933 Krak des Chevaliers was given to the French state, the villagers moved and over 2 years, it was cleaned and restored. Once finished, Krak des Chevaliers was one of the key tourist attractions in the French Levant. The 1920 French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon ended in 1946 with the declaration of Syrian independence. The castle was made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, along with Qal’at Salah El-Din, in 2006, and is owned by the Syrian government.
Several of the castle’s former residents formed a village called al-Husn outside the castle and many of the 9,000 Muslim residents benefit economically from the tourism generated by the site.
During the Syrian Civil War that began in 2011, it was shelled in August 2012 by the Syrian Arab Army, and the Crusader chapel damaged. In July and August 2013 it sustained further damaged. The Syrian Arab Army recaptured the castle and the village of al-Hosn from rebel forces on March 20, 2014.

ARCHITECTURE
In the early 20th century, T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), remarked that Krak des Chevaliers was “perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world”. In the Levant the need for defence was paramount and was reflected in castle design – a fighting machine surely reached its apogee in great buildings like Margat and Crac des Chevaliers.”
Krak des Chevaliers can be classified both as a spur castle, due to its site, and after the 13th-century expansion a fully developed concentric castle. The main building material was limestone; the ashlar facing is so fine that the mortar is barely noticeable. South of the castle the spur on which it stands is connected to the next hill, so that siege engines can approach on level ground. The inner defences are strongest at this point, with a cluster of towers connected by a thick wall.
Inner ward. Steep slopes provided Krak des Chevaliers with defences on all sides bar one, where the castle’s defences were concentrated. In the 13th century, new walls surrounding the inner court had a gallery from which defenders could unleash missiles and four large, round towers used as accommodation for the Knights of the garrison. In the east, where the defences were weakest, there was an open cistern filled by an aqueduct. It acted both as a moat and water supply for the castle.
On the west of the courtyard is the Gothic hall of the Knights with tracery and delicate decoration dating from the 1230s.
Chapel.
The current chapel was probably built to replace the one destroyed by an earthquake in 1170. It was 21.5m long and 8.5m wide.
Frescoes. Despite its predominantly military character, the castle is one of the few sites where Crusader art (in the form of frescoes) has been preserved. In 1935, 1955, and 1978 medieval frescoes were discovered within Krak des Chevaliers after later plaster and white-wash had decayed. Dating from 1170-1202, the frescos were painted on the interior and exterior of the main chapel and the chapel outside the main entrance, which no longer survives. Mold, smoke, and moisture have made it difficult to preserve the frescoes. The fragmentary nature of the red and blue frescoes inside the chapel means they are difficult to assess. The one on the exterior of the chapel depicted the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
Outer ward. The second phase of building began in the early 13th century and continued for decades. The outer walls were the last major construction producing its current appearance. Standing 9m high with round towers, arrow slits and a wall-walk known as a chemin de ronde, they produced “the most elaborate and developed anywhere in the Latin east … the whole structure is a brilliantly designed and superbly built fighting machine”.
The 137m long main entrance corridor makes a hairpin turn halfway along its length, a Byzantine innovation, but that at Krak des Chevaliers was a particularly complex example. Along its length murder-holes allowed defenders to shower attackers with missiles. Anyone going straight ahead rather than following the hairpin turn would emerge in the area between the castle’s two circuits of walls.

ANCIENT CITIES of NORTHERN SYRIA  
These were not accessible when I was in Syria. Most are located between Aleppo and Idith and I was in Aleppo, but are now controlled by the revolutionaries.
The Dead Cities or Forgotten Cities are a group of 700 abandoned settlements in northwest Syria between Aleppo and Idlib. Around 40 villages grouped in eight archaeological parks situated in north-western Syria provide an insight into rural life in Late Antiquity and during the Byzantine period. Most villages that date from the 1st to 7th centuries, became abandoned between the 8th and 10th centuries. The settlements feature the well-preserved architectural remains of dwellings, pagan temples, churches, cisterns, bathhouses etc. Important dead cities include the Church of Saint Simeon Stylites, Serjilla and al Bara.
The Dead Cities are situated in an elevated area of limestone known as Limestone Massif. These ancient settlements cover an area 20–40 km (12–25 mi) wide and some 140 km (87 mi) long.[1] The Massif includes three groups of highlands: the first is the northern group of Mount Simeon and Mount Kurd; the second middle group is the group of Harim Mountains; the third southern group is the group of Zawiya Mountain.
HISTORY
Chris Wickham, in the authoritative survey of the post-Roman world, “Framing the Early Middle Ages” (2006) argues that these were settlements of prosperous peasants which have few or no specifically urban features. The impressive remains of domestic architecture are the result of the prosperity of peasants who benefited from a strong international trade in olive oil at the end of Antiquity.
Another argument is that these were prosperous cities that flourished because they were located along major trade routes in the Byzantine Empire, and not merely prosperous peasant settlements. After conquest by the Arabs, the trade routes changed, and as a result these towns lost the majority of the business which fostered their economies. On this view, settlers eventually abandoned their towns and headed for other cities that were flourishing under the Arabs and the Umayyads as increasing urbanisation took its toll.
The ancient villages of the Dead Cities illustrate the transition from the ancient pagan world of the Roman Empire to Byzantine Christianity.
The Dead Cites were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, under the name of “Ancient Villages of Northern Syria”.
Before the Syrian Civil War most sites had become easily accessible, the majority of the dead cities were well-preserved and tourists could access the sites quite freely, though some of the Dead Cities are quite difficult to reach without a guide (there is a guidebook by Abdallah Hadjar with a detailed map that is useful for finding the lesser known sites; The Church of St Simeon Stylites and Other Archaeological Sites in the Mountains of Simeon and Halaqa).
Even before the war relatively few of the Dead Cities had any archaeological excavations taking place, and unfortunately the majority of people living in close proximity to them have no understanding of their importance.
ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES 
Dead cities and archeological sites in Limestone Massif include Church of Saint Simeon Stylites, Serjilla, Bara, Basufan, Barisha, Qalb Loze, Barad, Cyrrhus, Turmanin, Banabil, Kafr Aruq, Kafr Dariyan, Babuline, Hazarin, Jarada, Maghara, Shinan, Farkya, Ein Laruz, Ebla, Deir Sunbul, Al-Dana, Sarmada and Al-Dana.

Mount Simeon, Mount Kurd and Mount Ḥalqa

Harim Mountains (Mount Bārīshā and Mount Aʻlā)

Mount Zāwiya

PALMYRA
Summary
Palmyra is an ancient Semitic city in present-day Homs Governorate. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second millennium BC. Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires before becoming a subject of the Roman Empire in the first century AD.
The city grew wealthy from trade caravans; the Palmyrenes became renowned as merchants who established colonies along the Silk Road and operated throughout the Roman Empire. Palmyra’s wealth enabled the construction of monumental projects, such as the Great Colonnade, the Temple of Bel, and the distinctive tower tombs.
Ethnically, the Palmyrenes combined elements of Amorites, Arameans, and Arabs. The city’s social structure was tribal, and its inhabitants spoke Palmyrene (a dialect of Aramaic), while using Greek for commercial and diplomatic purposes. Greco-Roman culture influenced the culture of Palmyra, which produced distinctive art and architecture that combined eastern and western traditions. The city’s inhabitants worshiped local Semitic deities, Mesopotamian and Arab gods.
By the third century AD Palmyra had become a prosperous regional center. It reached the apex of its power in the 260s, when the Palmyrene King Odaenathus defeated Persian Emperor Shapur I. The king was succeeded by regent Queen Zenobia, who rebelled against Rome and established the Palmyrene Empire. In 273, Roman emperor Aurelian destroyed the city, which was later restored by Diocletian at a reduced size. The Palmyrenes converted to Christianity during the fourth century and to Islam in the centuries following the conquest by the 7th-century Rashidun Caliphate, after which the Palmyrene and Greek languages were replaced by Arabic.
Before AD 273, Palmyra enjoyed autonomy and was attached to the Roman province of Syria, having its political organization influenced by the Greek city-state model during the first two centuries AD. The city became a Roman colonia during the third century, leading to the incorporation of Roman governing institutions, before becoming a monarchy in 260. Following its destruction in 273, Palmyra became a minor center under the Byzantines and later empires. Its destruction by the Timurids in 1400 reduced it to a small village. Under French Mandatory rule in 1932, the inhabitants were moved into the new village of Tadmur, and the ancient site became available for excavations. During the Syrian Civil War in 2015, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) destroyed large parts of the ancient city, which was recaptured by the Syrian Army on 2 March 2017.

Etymology. “Tadmor” connects it to the Semitic word for “date palm”.
The Greek name Παλμύρα (Latinized Palmyra) was first recorded by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century AD. It was used throughout the Greco-Roman world. It is generally believed that “Palmyra” derives from “Tadmor”

Location. Palmyra lies 215 km (134 mi) northeast of the Syrian capital, Damascus, in an oasis surrounded by palms (of which twenty varieties have been reported). Two mountain ranges overlook the city; the northern Palmyrene mountain belt from the north and the southern Palmyrene mountains from the southwest. In the south and the east Palmyra is exposed to the Syrian Desert. A small wadi (al-Qubur) crosses the area, flowing from the western hills past the city before disappearing in the eastern gardens of the oasis. South of the wadi is a spring, Efqa. Pliny the Elder described the town in the 70s AD as famous for its desert location, the richness of its soil, and the springs surrounding it, which made agriculture and herding possible.

PEOPLE, LANGUAGE and SOCIETY
At its height during the reign of Zenobia, Palmyra had more than 200,000 residents. Its earliest known inhabitants were the Amorites in the early second millennium BC. Arabs arrived in the city in the late first millennium BC. The Arab newcomers were assimilated by the earlier inhabitants, used Palmyrene as a mother tongue, and formed a significant segment of the aristocracy. The city also had a Jewish community. Occasionally members of the Palmyrene families took Greek names while ethnic Greeks were the few freed slaves.
Until the late third century AD, Palmyrenes spoke a dialect of Aramaic and used the Palmyrene alphabet. The use of Latin was minimal, but Greek was used by wealthier members of society for commercial and diplomatic purposes, and it became the dominant language during the Byzantine era. After the Arab conquest, Greek was replaced by Arabic, from which a Palmyrene dialect evolved.
Palmyra’s society was a mixture of the different peoples inhabiting the city with Aramaic, Arabic and Amorite clan names. Palmyra had 5 tribes with thirty clans but by the second century clan identity lost its importance, and it disappeared. Aristocrats played the decisive role in the city’s social organization. Women seem to have been active in Palmyra’s social and public life. They commissioned inscriptions, buildings or tombs, and in certain cases, held administrative offices. Offerings to gods in the names of women are documented. It was recorded the existence of 2,000 Jews in the city during the twelfth century. Palmyra declined after its destruction by Timur in 1400, and was a village of 6,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century; although surrounded by Bedouin, the villagers preserved their dialect. Palmyra maintained the life of a small settlement until its relocation in 1932.

CULTURE
Classical Palmyra had a distinctive culture, based on a local Semitic tradition, and influenced by Greece and Rome. Palmyra’s senate was a gathering of non-elected tribal elders (a Near-Eastern assembly tradition). The culture of Persia influenced Palmyrene military tactics, dress and court ceremonies. Palmyra had no large libraries or publishing facilities, and it lacked an intellectual movement characteristic of other Eastern cities such as Edessa or Antioch. Although Zenobia opened her court to academics, the only notable scholar documented was Cassius Longinus.
Art & Architecture. Although Palmyrene art was related to that of Greece, it had a distinctive style unique to the middle-Euphrates region. Little painting, and none of the bronze statues of prominent citizens (which stood on brackets on the main columns of the Great Colonnade), have survived. A damaged frieze and other sculptures from the Temple of Bel, many removed to museums in Syria and abroad, suggest the city’s public monumental sculpture.
Like its art, Palmyra’s architecture was influenced by the Greco-Roman style, while preserving local elements (best seen in the Temple of Bel). Enclosed by a massive wall flanked with traditional Roman columns, Bel’s sanctuary plan was primarily Semitic. Similar to the Second Temple, the sanctuary consisted of a large courtyard with the deity’s main shrine off-center against its entrance.

CEMETERIES
West of the ancient walls, the Palmyrenes built a number of large-scale funerary monuments which now form the Valley of Tombs, a 1-kilometre-long (0.62 mi) necropolis. The more than 50 monuments were primarily tower-shaped and up to four stories high. Towers were replaced by funerary temples in the first half of the second century AD, as the most recent tower is dated to AD 128. The city had other cemeteries in the north, southwest and southeast, where the tombs are primarily hypogea (underground). The Palmyrenes buried their dead in elaborate family mausoleums, most with interior walls forming rows of burial chambers (loculi) in which the dead, laying at full length, were placed. A butst relief of the person interred formed part of the wall’s decoration, acting as a headstone and sealing the openings of the burial chambers. The reliefs emphasized clothing, jewelry and a frontal representation of the person depicted. Palmyrene bust reliefs, unlike Roman sculptures, are rudimentary portraits; although many reflect high quality individuality, the majority vary little across figures of similar age and gender. Many surviving funerary busts reached Western museums during the 19th century.
Sarcophagi appeared in the late second century and were used in some of the tombs. Many burial monuments contained mummies embalmed in a method similar to that used in Ancient Egypt.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Palmyra began as a small settlement near the Efqa spring on the southern bank of Wadi al-Qubur. Most of the city’s monumental projects were built on the wadi’s northern bank, among them is the Temple of Bel, the Great Colonnade, Palmyra’s 1.1-kilometre-long (0.68 mi) main street, which extended from the Temple of Bel in the east, to the Funerary Temple no.86 in the city’s western part. It had a monumental arch in its eastern section, and a tetrapylon stands in the center. The Baths of Diocletian were on the left side of the colonnade. Nearby were residences, the Temple of Baalshamin, and the Byzantine churches, which include “Basilica IV”, Palmyra’s largest church. The church is dated to the Justinian age, its columns are estimated to be 7 metres (23 ft) high, and its base measured 27.5 by 47.5 metres (90 by 156 ft).
The Temple of Nabu and the Roman theater were built on the colonnade’s southern side. Behind the theater were a small senate building and the large Agora, with the remains of a triclinium (banquet room) and the Tariff Court. A cross street at the western end of the colonnade leads to the Camp of Diocletian, built by Sosianus Hierocles (the Roman governor of Syria). Nearby are the Temple of Al-lāt and the Damascus Gate.
Senate building is largely ruined. It is a small building that consists of a peristyle courtyard and a chamber that has an apse at one end and rows of seats around it.
Baths of Diocletian. Much are ruined and do not survive above the level of the foundations. The complex’s entrance is marked by four massive Egyptian granite columns each 1.3 metres (4 ft 3 in) in diameter, 12.5 metres (41 ft) high and weigh 20 tonnes. Inside, the outline of a bathing pool surrounded by a colonnade of Corinthian columns is still visible in addition to an octagonal room that served as a dressing room containing a drain in its center. Sossianus Hierocles, a governor under Emperor Diocletian, claimed to have built the baths, but the building was probably erected in the late second century and Sossianus Hierocles renovated it.
Agora of Palmyra is part of a complex that also includes the tariff court and the triclinium, built in the second half of the first century AD. The agora is a massive 71 by 84 metres (233 by 276 ft) structure with 11 entrances. Inside the agora, 200 columnar bases that used to hold statues of prominent citizens were found. The inscriptions on the bases allowed an understanding of the order by which the statues were grouped; the eastern side was reserved for senators, the northern side for Palmyrene officials, the western side for soldiers and the southern side for caravan chiefs. Unlike the Greek Agoras (public gathering places shared with public buildings), Palmyra’s agora resembled an Eastern caravanserai more than a hub of public life.
Tariff Court is a large rectangular enclosure south of the agora and sharing its northern wall with it. Originally, the entrance of the court was a massive vestibule in its southwestern wall. However, the entrance was blocked by the construction of a defensive wall and the court was entered through three doors from the Agora. The court gained its name by containing a 5 meters long stone slab that had the Palmyrene tax law inscribed on it.
Triclinium of the Agora is located to the northwestern corner of the Agora and can host up to 40 person. It is a small 12 by 15 metres (39 by 49 ft) hall decorated with Greek key motifs that run in a continuous line halfway up the wall. The building was probably used by the rulers of the city as a triclinium or banqueting hall.

TEMPLES
Temple of Bel was dedicated in AD 32; it consisted of a large precinct lined by porticos; it had a rectangular shape and was oriented north-south. The exterior wall was 205-metre (673 ft) long with a propylaea, and the cella stood on a podium in the middle of the enclosure.
Temple of Baalshamin dates to the late 2nd century BC in its earliest phases; its altar was built in AD 115, and it was substantially rebuilt in AD 131. It consisted of a central cella and two colonnaded courtyards north and south of the central structure. A vestibule consisting of six columns preceded the cella which had its side walls decorated with pilasters in Corinthian order.
Temple of Nabu is largely ruined. The temple was Eastern in its plan; the outer enclosure’s propylaea led to a 20 by 9 metres (66 by 30 ft) podium through a portico of which the bases of the columns survives. The peristyle cella opened onto an outdoor altar.
Temple of Al-lāt is largely ruined with only a podium, a few columns and the door frame remaining. Inside the compound, a giant lion relief (Lion of Al-lāt) was excavated and in its original form, was a relief protruding from the temple compound’s wall.
The ruined Temple of Baal-hamon was located on the top of Jabal al-Muntar hill and oversees the spring of Efqa. Constructed in AD 89, it consisted of a cella and a vestibule with two columns. The temple had a defensive tower attached to it; a mosaic depicting the sanctuary was excavated and it revealed that both the cella and the vestibule were decorated with merlons.

OTHER BUILDINGS
Great Colonnade was Palmyra’s 1.1-kilometre-long (0.68 mi) main street; most of the columns date to the second century AD and each is 9.50 metres (31.2 ft) high.
Funerary Temple no.86 (House Tomb) is located at the western end of the Great Colonnade. It was built in the third century AD and has a portico of six columns and vine patterns carvings. Inside the chamber, steps leads down to a vault crypt. The shrine might have been connected to the royal family as it is the only tomb inside the city’s walls.
Tetrapylon was erected during the renovations of Diocletian at the end of the third century. It is a square platform and each corner contains a grouping of four columns. Each column group supports a 150 tons cornice and contains a pedestal in its center that originally carried a statue. Out of sixteen columns, only one is original while the rest are from reconstruction in 1963, using concrete. The original columns were brought from Egypt and carved out of pink granite.
Walls of Palmyra started in the first century as a protective wall containing gaps where the surrounding mountains formed natural barriers; it encompassed the residential areas, the gardens and the oasis. After 273, Aurelian erected the rampart known as the wall of Diocletian; it enclosed about 80 hectares, a much smaller area than the original pre-273 city.

DESTRUCTION by ISIS
On 23 May 2015 ISIL militants destroyed the Lion of Al-lāt and other statues; this came days after the militants had gathered the citizens and promised not to destroy the city’s monuments. ISIL destroyed the Temple of Baalshamin on 23 August 2015. On 30 August 2015, ISIL destroyed the cella of the Temple of Bel. The temple’s exterior walls and entrance arch remain.
On 4 September 2015, ISIL destroyed three of the best preserved tower tombs including the Tower of Elahbel. On 5 October 2015, news media reported that ISIL was destroying buildings with no religious meaning, including the monumental arch. On 20 January 2017, news emerged that the militants had destroyed the tetrapylon and part of the theater. Following the March 2017 capture of Palmyra by the Syrian Army, Maamoun Abdulkarim, director of antiquities and museums at the Syrian Ministry of Culture, stated that the damage to ancient monuments may be lesser than earlier believed and preliminary pictures showed almost no further damage than what was already known. Antiquities official Wael Hafyan stated that the Tetrapylon was badly damaged while the damage to the facade of the Roman theatre was less serious.
Restoration. In response to the destruction, on 21 October 2015, Creative Commons started the New Palmyra project, an online repository of three-dimensional models representing the city’s monuments; the models were generated from images gathered, and released into the public domain. Consultations with the UNESCO, UN specialized agencies, archaeological associations and museums produced plans to restore Palmyra; the work is postponed until the violence in Syria ends as many international partners fear for the safety of their teams as well as ensuring that the restored artifacts will not be damaged again by further battles. Minor restorations took place; two Palmyrene funerary busts, damaged and defaced by ISIL, were sent off to Rome where they were restored and sent back to Syria. The restoration of the Lion of Al-lāt took two months and the statue was displayed on 1 October 2017; it will remain in the National Museum of Damascus.
The archaeological site of Palmyra is a vast field of ruins and only 20–30% of it is seriously damaged. Unfortunately these included important parts, such as the Temple of Bel, while the Arc of Triumph can be rebuilt.” He added: “In any case, by using both traditional methods and advanced technologies, it might be possible to restore 98% of the site”. Restoration is underway, with the ancient city ready to receive tourists in summer 2019.

HISTORY
A Neolithic settlement near Efqa had stone tools dated to 7500 BC.
Early period. The city entered the historical record during the Bronze Age around 2000 BC in the Mari tablets as a stop for trade caravans and nomadic tribes on the way to the Mediterranean. The city became the eastern border of Aram-Damascus.
The Hebrew Bible (Second Book of Chronicles 8:4) records a city by the name “Tadmor” as a desert city built (or fortified) by King Solomon of Israel. The biblical description of “Tadmor” and its buildings does not fit archaeological findings in Palmyra, which was a small settlement during Solomon’s reign in the 10th century BC.
Hellenistic and Roman periods. During the Hellenistic period under the Seleucids (312 – 64 BC), Palmyra became a prosperous settlement and expanded beyond to the northern bank of al-Qubur wadi. By the late second century BC, the tower tombs in the Palmyrene Valley of Tombs (temples of Baalshamin, Al-lāt and the Hellenistic temple) began to be built.
In 64 BC the Romans conquered the Seleucid kingdom, and Pompey established the province of Syria but Palmyra was left independent, trading with Rome and Parthia but belonging to neither. Around 44 BC, Palmyra was still a minor sheikhdom on the desert route on which it was located. Mark Antony conquered it in 41 BC.
Autonomous Palmyrene region. Palmyra became part of the Roman Empire in the province of Syria when it was conquered by Tiberius in14 AD. Boundary markers were 75kms northwest of the city, in the southwest at Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi and int the east to the Euphrates valley. The Roman imperial period brought great prosperity to the city, which enjoyed a privileged status under the empire—retaining much of its internal autonomy, was ruled by a council, and incorporated many Greek city-state (polis) institutions into its government.
A Roman legion Legio X Fretensis arrived in 15 AD but Roman authority was minimal. A road connecting Palmyra and Sura was built in AD 75. The Romans used Palmyrene soldiers. Palmyra saw intensive construction – the city’s first walled fortifications, and the Temple of Bel completed and dedicated in 32 AD. Palmyra developed from a minor desert caravan station into a leading trading center. Palmyrene trade reached its acme during the second century, aided by a trade route built by Palmyrenes and protected by garrisons at major locations, including a garrison in Dura-Europos manned in 117 AD. The Roman conquest of the Nabataean capital Petra in 106 shifted control over southern trade routes of the Arabian Peninsula from the Nabataeans to Palmyra. In 129 Palmyra was made a free city by Hadrian. Hadrian promoted Hellenism throughout the empire with urban expansion modeled on that of Greece – a theatre, the colonnade and the Temple of Nabu. In 167, when the Roman garrison cavalry Ala I Thracum Herculiana was moved to the city. By the end of the second century, urban development diminished after the city’s building projects peaked. Toward the end of the second century, Palmyra began a steady transition from a traditional Greek city-state to a monarchy due to the increasing militarization of the city and the deteriorating economic situation.
The Severan-led Roman–Parthian War, from 194 to 217, influenced regional security and affected the city’s trade. Bandits began attacking caravans by 199, leading Palmyra to strengthen its military presence. The new dynasty favored the city, stationing the Cohors I Flavia Chalcidenorum garrison there by 206.
Palmyrene kingdom. The rise of the Sasanian Empire in Persia considerably damaged Palmyrene trade. The Sasanians disbanded Palmyrene colonies in their lands, and began a war against the Roman empire. The weakness of the Roman empire and the constant Persian danger. Palmyrene interests in Persia became weakened.
Persian wars. The Palmyrenes won a decisive victory near the banks of the Euphrates later in 260 forcing the Persians to retreat. In 261 Odaenathus marched against the remaining usurpers in Syria eventually ruling Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia and Anatolia’s eastern regions. Palmyra’s city’s status was higher than normal Roman colonias and in practice, Palmyra shifted from a provincial city to a de facto allied kingdom.
In 262 Odaenathus launched a new campaign reclaiming the rest of Roman Mesopotamia (most importantly, the cities of Nisibis and Carrhae), sacking the Jewish city of Nehardea, and besieging the Persian capital Ctesiphon. Although he did not take the Persian capital, Odaenathus drove the Persians out of all Roman lands conquered since the beginning of Shapur’s wars in 252. The king and his son were assassinated during their return in 267.
Odaenathus was succeeded by his son; the ten-year-old Vaballathus. Zenobia, the mother of the new king, was the de facto ruler and Vaballathus remained in her shadow while she consolidated her power. To protect the borders with Persia, Zenobia fortified different settlements on the Euphrates including the citadels of Halabiye and Zalabiye.
Palmyrene empire. Zenobia began her military career in the spring of 270 and conquered Roman Arabia. This was followed a Palmyrene victory over Egypt and Zenobia’s proclamation as queen of Egypt. Palmyra invaded Anatolia the following year, reaching Ankara and the pinnacle of its expansion. The conquests were made behind a mask of subordination to Rome. In late 271, Vaballathus and his mother assumed the titles of Augustus (emperor) and Augusta.
The following year, Aurelian crossed the Bosphorus and advanced quickly through Anatolia, regained Egypt from Palmya, entered Issus and headed to Antioch, where he defeated Zenobia in the Battle of Immae. Zenobia was defeated again at the Battle of Emesa, taking refuge in Homs before quickly returning to her capital. When the Romans besieged Palmyra, Zenobia refused their order to surrender in person to the emperor. She escaped east to ask the Persians for help, but was captured by the Romans; the city capitulated soon afterwards.
Later Roman and Byzantine periods. Aurelian spared the city and stationed a garrison of 600 archers as a peacekeeping force. In 273 Palmyra rebelled and declared Antiochus (a relative of Zenobia) as Augustus. Aurelian marched against Palmyra, razing it to the ground and seizing the most valuable monuments to decorate his Temple of Sol. Palmyrene buildings were smashed, residents massacred and the Temple of Bel pillaged.
Palmyra was reduced to a village and it largely disappeared from historical records of that period. Aurelian repaired the Temple of Bel. The Legio I Illyricorum guarded the trade routes around the city. Palmyra became a Christian city. In late 527, Justinian I ordered the restoration of Palmyra’s churches and public buildings. Arab caliphates. Palmyra was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate after its 634 capture. By then Palmyra was limited to the Diocletian camp.
Umayyad and early Abbasid periods. Palmyra prospered as part of the Umayyad Caliphate as a key stop on the East-West trade route, with a large souq. Part of the Temple of Bel was a mosque. In 745, the city’s walls were demolished.
Abbasid power dwindled during the 10th century until the Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258. Earthquakes devastated Palmyra in 1068 and 1089. By the twelfth century, the population moved into the courtyard of the Temple of Bel which was fortified and transformed into a citadel in 1132, fortifying the city. The Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle was built in 1230.
In the 14^th century, the city was described as having “vast gardens, flourishing trades and bizarre monuments”. It protected the trade routes and villages from Bedouin raids. In 1400 Palmyra was attacked by Timur.
Ottoman era and later periods. Syria became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1516 and home to an Ottoman garrison to control the Bedouin in 1867. After World War I and Syria (including Palmyra) became part of the French Mandate in 1920. In 1929 began excavating the ruins and the villagers moved to a new, French-built village of Tadmur next to the site.
Syrian Civil War. In the war, Palmyra experienced widespread looting and damage by combatants. In 2013, the façade of the Temple of Bel sustained a large hole from mortar fire, and colonnade columns were damaged by shrapnel. The Syrian Army positioned its troops in some archaeological-site areas, while Syrian opposition fighters positioned themselves in gardens around the city.
On 13 May 2015, ISIL launched an attack on the modern town of Tadmur, and some artifacts were transported from the Palmyra museum to Damascus for safekeeping; a number of Greco-Roman busts, jewelry, and other objects looted from the museum have been found on the international market. ISIL forces entered Palmyra and the the Syrian air force bombed the site on 13 June, damaging the northern wall close to the Temple of Baalshamin. During ISIL’s occupation of the site, Palmyra’s theatre was used as a place of public executions of their opponents and captives. On 18 August, Palmyra’s retired antiquities chief Khaled al-Asaad was beheaded by ISIL after being tortured for a month to extract information about the city and its treasures; al-Asaad refused to give any information to his captors.
Syrian government forces supported by Russian airstrikes recaptured Palmyra on 27 March 2016. According to initial reports, the damage to the archaeological site was less extensive than anticipated, with numerous structures still standing. De-mining teams began clearing mines. Following heavy fighting, ISIL briefly reoccupied the city on 11 December 2016 and Syrian Army retook the city on 2 March 2017.

RELIGION
Palmyra’s gods were primarily part of the northwestern Semitic pantheon, with the addition of gods from the Mesopotamian and Arab pantheons. The city’s chief pre-Hellenistic deity was called Bol, an abbreviation of Baal. The Babylonian cult of Bel-Marduk influenced the Palmyrene religion and by 217 BC the chief deity’s name was changed to Bel. a mere change in the name.
Second in importance were over sixty ancestral gods of the Palmyrene clans. Palmyra had unique deities, such as the god of justice and Efqa’s guardian Yarhibol, the sun god Malakbel, and the moon god Aglibol.
The priests of Palmyra were selected from the city’s leading families, and are recognized in busts through their headdresses which have the shape of a polos adorned with laurel wreath. The personnel of Efqa spring’s sanctuary dedicated to Yarhibol belonged to a special class of priests as they were oracles.
Palmyra’s paganism was replaced with Christianity as the religion spread across the Roman Empire, and a bishop was reported in the city by 325. Most temples became churches and the Temple of Al-lāt was destroyed in 385. After the Muslim conquest in 634 Islam gradually replaced Christianity, and the last known bishop of Palmyra was consecrated in 818.
Roman Sol Invictus. In 274, following his victory over Palmyra, Aurelian dedicated a large temple of Sol Invictus in Rome. The Palmyrene deity Malakbel was commonly identified with the Roman god Sol and he had a temple dedicated for him on the right bank of the Tiber since the second century embellished with votive gifts from Palmyra, setting up statues of Helios and Bel. Three deities from Palmyra exemplified solar features: Malakbel, Yarhibol and Šams,

ECONOMY
Palmyra’s economy before and at the beginning of the Roman period was a mixed economy based on agriculture, pastoralism, and most importantly, the caravan trade. Caravaneers and merchants paid taxes for goods sold at the internal market or exported from the city in the Tariff Court, regulated by the 137 AD “Palmyrene Tariff”, an inscribed stone slab in Greek and Palmyrene detailing import and export taxation law. It is one of the most important single items of evidence for the economic life of any part of the Roman Empire”. In 1901, the slab was gifted by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II to the Russian Tsar and is now in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
Most land in Palmyra was owned by the city, which collected grazing taxes. The oasis had about 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of irrigable land around the city using an extensive irrigation system of reservoirs and channels in the northern mountains. Harbaqa Dam 48kms southwest of the city was constructed in the late first century AD and could collect 140,000m3 of water. Terebinth trees in the hinterland were an important source of charcoal, resin and oil. Agriculture could not support the population and food was imported.
After Palmyra’s destruction in 273, it became a market village. The city regained some of its prosperity a minor trading town during the Umayyad era until its destruction in 1400 when Timur’s men took 200,000 sheep and the city was reduced into a settlement on the desert border whose inhabitants herded and cultivated small plots for vegetables and corn.
Caravan Routes. The city’s role in Central Asian overland trade was prominent as early as the third century BC. In the first centuries AD, Palmyra’s main trade route ran east to the Euphrates at the city of Hīt. The route then ran south along the river toward the port of Charax Spasinu on the Persian Gulf, where Palmyrene ships traveled back and forth to India. Goods were imported from India, China and Transoxiana and exported west to Emesa (or Antioch) then the Mediterranean ports, from which they were distributed throughout the Roman Empire.
Some Palmyrene merchants also used a desert route via the Red Sea. Goods were carried overland from the seaports to a Nile port, and then taken to the Egyptian Mediterranean ports for export. The Palmyrene route connected the Silk Road with the Mediterranean with a presence in Dura-Europo, Babylon, Seleucia, Dendera, Coptos, Bahrain, the Indus River Delta, Merv and Rome.
The caravan trade depended on patrons who raised the animals and merchants, among the wealthiest in the region. The primary income-generating trade good was silk and also jade, muslin, spices, ebony, ivory and precious stones. For its domestic market Palmyra imported slaves, prostitutes, olive oil, dyed goods, myrrh and perfume.
In 1980, the historic site including the necropolis outside the walls was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO