Palmyra (redirected from Palmyra, Syria)

Palmyra, ancient city, Syria

Palmyra (pălmī`rə), ancient city of central Syria. A small modern village known as Tudmur is on the site. An oasis N of the Syrian Desert, 130 mi (209 km) NE of Damascus, Palmyra was important in Syrian-Babylonian trade by the 1st cent. B.C. Palmyra became of true importance only after Roman control was established (c.A.D. 30). Local tribes vied for control, which fell to the Septimii by the 3d cent. A.D. Septimius Odenathus built Palmyra into a strong autonomous state that practically embraced the Eastern Empire, including Syria, NW Mesopotamia, and W Armenia. After his death his widow, Zenobia, briefly expanded the territory, but her ambition brought on (A.D. 272) an attack by Aurelian, who was victorious and partly destroyed (273) the city. In decline, Palmyra was taken by the Arabs and sacked by Timur. It fell into ruins, and even the ruins were forgotten until the 17th cent. The great temple dedicated to Baal and other remains show the ancient splendor of Palmyra at its prime.

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Palmyra, atoll, Pacific Ocean

Palmyra, atoll (2 sq mi/5.2 sq km), central Pacific, one of the Line Islands, c.1,100 mi (1,770 km) SW of Honolulu. Palmyra has no permanent inhabitants. First visited by Americans in 1802, and later claimed by the Hawaiian kingdom (1862) and Great Britain (1889), it was annexed by the United States in 1898. Palmyra was under the jurisdiction of the city and county of Honolulu until Hawaii was granted statehood in 1959. The atoll is now under the control of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior.

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Palmyra

 biblical Tadmor

Temple of Bel, Palmyra, Syria.

(credit: H. Roger-Viollet)

Ancient city, Syria, northeast of Damascus, at the modern city of Tadmur. Said to have been built by King Solomon, it became prominent in the 3rd century BC, when the Seleucid dynasty made the road through Palmyra one of the routes of east-west trade. Under Roman control by the reign of Tiberius, it briefly regained autonomy in the 3rd century AD under the Arab queen Zenobia. The main military station on the road that linked Damascus to the Euphrates River, it was conquered by the Muslims in 634. Inscriptions in the Aramaic language supply information on the city's trade with India via the Persian Gulf and with Egypt, Rome, and Syria. Ancient ruins reveal the city's plan.

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Palmyra

1. an ancient city in central Syria: said to have been built by Solomon

2. an island in the central Pacific, in the Line Islands: under US administration

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Palmyra 

an ancient city in northeastern Syria (near present-day Tadmor), an important center of crafts and the caravan trade. Palmyra is first mentioned in Cappadocian tablets and Mari documents dating from the first half of the second millennium B.C. Destroyed by the Assyrians at the end of the second millennium B.C., it was rebuilt in the tenth century B.C. by the Israeli king Solomon.

Palmyra was at its apogee during the first to third centuries A.D., when its merchants maintained trade relations with the cities of southern Mesopotamia, Scythia, Middle Asia, and southern Arabia. As part of the Roman province of Syria, formed in 64 B.C., Palmyra enjoyed autonomy. It gained virtual independence around A.D. 260 under the ruler Odenanthus. Odenanthus’ wife and successor, Queen Zenobia (ruled 266/267–272), instigated an anti-Roman uprising and took possession of western Asia and Egypt; but in 272, her troops were routed by the Roman emperor Aurelian. In 273, after the suppression of an anti-Roman rebellion, Palmyra was destroyed by the Romans and lost its earlier importance.

The architectural ensembles of Palmyra were distinguished by their monumental scale, splendor of form, and abundant sculptural embellishment. Systematic excavations were begun in 1900. They uncovered part of the ruins of the ancient classical city, which had regularly planned streets lined with impressive Corinthian colonnades. Architectural monuments include a triple-spanned monumental arch at the head of the great colonnade of the principal street (second to third century); the Temple of Bel, or Baal, centrally situated on a high platform (first century); an agora and theater (third century); a small rectangular temple to Bel-shamin (second century); part of the city wall (second half of the third century, restored in the mid-sixth century); and the complex called Diocletian’s Camp (late third to early fourth century), northwest of the city, with the Temple of Banners. Outside the city walls is a necropolis with three types of tombs: tower tombs, subterranean tombs, and mausoleums in the form of houses with atria. Numerous statues, reliefs, mosaics, and paintings have been found and are now in the National Museum of Damascus and other collections. There is a museum exhibiting archaeological finds and folk art in Tadmor.

REFERENCES

Shifman, I. Sh. “Imushchestvennye i zemel’nye otnosheniia v Pal’mire v I—III vv. n. e. po epigraficheskim dannym.” In Palestinskii sbornik. Moscow-Leningrad, 1965, issue 3.
Michalowski, K. Pal’mira (album). Warsaw, 1968.

I. SH. SHIFMAN

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Palmyra 

(Borassus flabellifer), a plant of the family Palmae. The plant reaches a height of 18–20 m (sometimes 30 m). The leaves are flabellate. Palmyras, which are native to tropical Asia, have been cultivated since ancient times in southern India and Sri Lanka. The juice of the inflorescences is used to make sugar, toddy, alcohol, and vinegar. The fruit is edible. The leaves are used in the manufacture of paper and roofing; the split leaves are used for weaving mats, pads, baskets, and similar articles. Fibers from the leaves are made into brushes, ropes, and fabrics. The wood of the trunk is a durable building material, which is resistant to the effects of seawater.