Book Reviewed: Roman Palmyra by Andrew M. Smith II

The ancient Palmyra: A rich culture lost in the desert

This is a well-organized book that discusses the ancient history of Palmyra located in Syria. In 2015, this city drew considerable attention due to the destruction of its historic strictures by the Islamic State.

The author discusses several key issues related to the growth and development of Palmyra which includes; growth of the local tribes, tribal and family structure, urban development, the city and countryside, Palmyra as a religious and economic center, mapping social identities, the civic institutions, the military, trade and foreign services. This is a short focused book, well researched and readable. Helps one to understand the current situation in Palmyra from a historical perspective.

A brief summary of the book is as follows: Palmyra is well known for the ancient Temple of Bel also known as the Temple of Baal. This was consecrated to the Mesopotamian god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Yarhibol. This ancient city formed the center of religious life in Palmyra since 32 A.D. At the height of its prosperity, the population in the region may have reached around 150,000 to 200,000 in second century A.D. But the city population may have been from 40,000 to 60,000 people. Palmyra attracted large number of migrants from nearby regions for its shared religious association and the economic opportunity. In the early days, Palmyrenes had formed an expansive commercial and social network that extended from Rome to South Asia. They were buying exotic goods from India such as silk, aromatics, and spices and reselling them to Romans. For almost three centuries, Palmyrenes never lost their cultural integrity and distinctiveness. The Roman Empire progressively increased their influence on Palmyra from the first century A.D. In the third century A.D. Palmyra became a Roman city and brought into Roman provincial network. It was granted the institutional status of colonia. The historic monuments and structures at Palmyra withstood the ravages of war during Roman Era, invasions from Parthian Empire and Persians. Yet it retained its cultural identity for 2000 years, but it did not withstand the onslaught of Islamic militants. The region had become Islamic during the first millennia when much of the Arabic tribes in the Middle East became Islamic. Although the region was active from 32 B.C to the end of third century A.D. The archeological evidence does not show any influence of early Christianity on Palmyrenes although Palmyra was only about 250 miles from Jerusalem.

The ruins of Palmyra were considered best among the preserved monuments and structures until they were destroyed by the Islamic State in August 2015. In a push of ethnic and religious cleansing, the cultural diversity and religious tolerance that once stood for nearly two thousand years in Syria were annihilated.

This book includes many pictures of the ancient city; the plan of city of Palmyra, the aerial picture of the city covering all the ancient architectural ruins, and the temple of god Bel; the Great Colonnade, the sanctuary of Bel in the temple precinct, sanctuary of Baalshamin, the temple of Allat and the Great Colonnade leading to the temple of Bel, the monumental arch of the colonnade, aerial view of the Valley of Tombs, various assortments of Palmyrene tesserae that includes a priest of god Bel. My favorite pictures are the aerial shots of the ancient city; they are simply spectacular. All the pictures in this book are black and white; I wished they were in color. But the color pictures are available online, just Google search or look in Pinterest, there are many great pictures of the ruins of Palmyra.