7 Palmyrena. Settlements, Forts and Nomadic Networks
Jørgen Christian Meyer
The French archaeologist Daniel Schlumberger was terns.4 The main source of water was cisterns, which E TH . .H N A I.D SC
ROYAL the first scholar to carry out investigations outside the could be seen in large numbers in the landscape and
DANISH oasis Palmyra.1 1933 - 1935 made in the sites.5 of 23From he surveys relation to 4
• and excavations in the mountainous area north-west Schlumberger did not excavate the ordinary build Ü
•
ACADEMY of Palmyra, and the results were published in his pio ings; but the places of worship were investigated in E TH neer work La Palmyrene du nord-ouest. Villages et lieux de culte detail.6 The shrines were of different shapes and sizes WORLD
OF
de l’époque imperiale. Recherches archéologiques sur la mise en and more solidly built with larger stones and blocks.7 SCIENCES
OF
valeur d’une region du desert par les Palmyréniens from 1951. The smallest ones are simple structures, only measur PALMYRA
For the first time archaeological data were available ing about 6x4 meters. At other sites, some shrines are AND for a discussion of the relationship between the oasis part of a larger group of buildings with banquet LETTERS city and the surrounding territory. halls.8 Many of the shrines and altars were adorned
with inscriptions and li • Schlumberger excavated 15 settlements primarily dedicatory reliefs, showing 6 l 0 2 in the northern part of the Jebel Chaar tableland ons, mounted horsemen and deities. The Arabian god about 50 km north-west of the oasis (fig. 1).* The most Abgal, mounted on a horse on the reliefs, was the important settlements consist of a cluster of smaller most popular and the sanctuary at Kheurbet Semrine and larger buildings, enclosures and small shrines (fig. was dedicated to him.9 10Baal Såmin, the god of thun 2)? The larger buildings have a rectangular or square der and lightning, 'Algliböl, the Sun God, Malakbél, layout, measuring up to 50 x 50 m, with small rooms the Moon God, and ’Allåt, equivalent to the Greek facing an internal courtyard. The walls of the build Athena, are also represented.“ Otherwise, we find a ings were constructed with bigger outer stones and a large group of other Arabian deities, Ma'anü, Sa'adü filling of smaller ones and clay in the middle, a tech or Asar, mounted on a camel and Salman together nique still used in the oasis of Palmyra in modern with local gods for the villages and gardens (fig.5).11 times. Schlumberger noted the absence of springs in the area and found no traces of larger irrigation sys-
4. PNO, 131. 5. PNO, 10-11. 1. From 1936 - 1938 he also excavated the impressive Umayyad 6. This was probably due to priorities, as his excavations were castle, Qasr al-Heir al-Gharbi, south-west of Palmyra, and an emergency campaign with emphasis on inscriptions, investigated the huge Harbaqah dam south of the castle architecture and finer artefacts. (Schlumberger 1986). 7. PNO, 93-101. 2. PNO, 2. The Syrian-Canadian oil company and the 8. PNO, 101-106. Syrian-Norwegian survey have later identified Schlumberger’s 9. PNO, 124-128. sites. 10. See also Drijvers 1976, 20-21. 3. / 86 SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 PALMYRENA. SETTLEMENTS, FORTS AND NOMADIC NETWORKS Marzouga a a Kli. Farouåne Kh. Abou Douhour S Ras ech (.'haar 0 Hassan Madhour BEI Mkemlé LabdaH H Kh. Chteib □ Rasm ech Chaar a BKh. Leqleir Kh. Ouadi Souåné Kh. Semrine Kh. es Sané J e h e 1 C h a a r a Jeb el Kh. es Souåné a M e r a h Kh. Messaade a El Kh. Ramadane Kh. Madaba □Ouéchel ’// ■ Wadi A by ad Tahoun el MasekO O Forts JebelAbyad S Villages Fig. i: Villages and forts investigated by D. Schlumberger. (J. C. Meyer, based on Google Earth). Schlumberger also investigated three forts. Two of is located above an important spring area at the north them are in the north-eastern part of the Jebel Abyad eastern edge of the Jebel Abyad.13 The forts are small, mountain range about 30 km north-west of Palmyra. but solidly built with large blocks. Inscriptions in At Tahoun al-Masek a small fort (25 x 10 m) on an Greek and Latin mention a military cohort of dromeda oblong promontory overlooks an intersection be rii, and two Thracian names, and the military function tween Wadi al-Takara, the main communication cor of the buildings is undisputed.14 The last fort is locat ridor from north to south through Jebel Abyad, and a ed at Rasm ech Chaar in the northern part of Jebel side wadi, Wadi Shalalah, leading north-east to Ouéchel (fig. 4)™ At Ouéchel another fort (20 x 20 m) 13. PNO, 46-48. 12. PNO, 48-50. 14. PNO, 85-87. 8? JØRGEN CHRISTIAN MEYER SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 Fig. 2: Village of Kheurbet Farouåne in the northern part of Jebel Chaar. (PNC), 26). Chaar/5 It is larger (25 x 19 m), with rounded tower berger the cisterns, which were a precondition for the buttresses at the corners, along the sides and flanking existence of villages, were most probably constructed the entrance. No inscriptions were registered, and with the financial support of the great merchants in both the function and the date of the building have Palmyra. He suggests that their primary interest in later been contested. It should probably be dated to the pastures of Jebel Chaar was related to the herding the Umayyad period/6 of horses, which was essential for the Palmyrene mili What, then, was the relationship between the city tary power. The two forts in Jebel Abyad show the on one hand and the settlements and the small mili importance the elite attached to the northern territo tary installations on the other? According to Schlum- ry/7 On the other hand, he stresses that the settle ments were not totally integrated with Palmyra from a cultural point of view. The influence from Hellenistic- 15. PNO, 44-46. Roman culture is almost absent in the villages, both 16. PNO, 107. The only registered find from the site is a in the rather rustic architecture of the shrines and in fragment of a relief, showing the head of a man, which can be dated to the Roman period. It was found in a debris, and it may be from an earlier edifice. PNO, 85, pl. XLII, 4. See Genequand 2004,18; Genequand 2012,184-186. 17. PNO, 108,130. 88 SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 PALMYRENA. SETTLEMENTS, FORTS AND NOMADIC NETWORKS Fig. 3: Relief from Ras ech Chaar. To the left the god Ma’anu mounted on a horse, to the right the god Sa’adu or Asar, mounted on a camel. (TWO, pl. XXVII, 3). the reliefs/8 The Arabian Pantheon dominates, and artefacts, inscriptions and coins;22 and the more inten most inscriptions from the villages are in Aramaic, not sive exploitation of north-western hinterland is relat in combination with Greek, as is common in the city ed to the flowering of Palmyra as a caravan city. This of Palmyra. On smaller slabs not connected to any of came to an abrupt end at the end of the third century the buildings, there are also examples of inscriptions AD, when Diocletian converted the city into a mili in Safaitic, which are extremely rare in the oasis of tary stronghold along Strata Diocletiana?3 Palmyra/9 The language was spoken by some Bedou In the following decades, most scholars largely ac in groups in southern Syria, north-eastern Jordan and cepted Schlumberger’s idea about herding and pasto north-western Saudi Arabia in antiquity.2018 19 ral villages.24 E. Will proposed that the Jebel Chaar According to Schlumberger, the villages were also area was essential for the organisation of the caravan part of a larger, relatively independent pattern of no trade, not only as a provider of horses, but also of madic transhumance from north to south, in which camels and personnel.25 M. Gawlikowski suggested Jebel Chaar became an important base during the hot that the patrons of caravans could have owned large summer months. This was partly due to the construc herding estates around Palmyra.26 tion of cisterns and to the existence of villages, which New investigations north of Palmyra since 2008 could be used as more permanent bases for part of the have changed the empirical basis for our understand nomadic groups during the winter months, both of ing of the relationship between the city and the sur- which made the tableland more attractive. Schlum berger also suggested that they practiced some limited rain fed agriculture in years with higher precipitation.21 22. PNO, 132-133. All the settlements and the forts in Jebel Abyad 23. Lafin brutale de la grandeur de Palmyre marque certainement aussi la were dated to the three first centuries AD based on fin de laprospéritéde noire region (PNO, 133). 24. An exception was G. K. Young, who proposed that the Palmyrene elite initially based their wealth not on the caravan 18. PNO, 133. trade, but on large farming estates around Palmyra (Young 19. TWO,133-134- 2001,137,150-151,154). 20. Macdonald 1993. 25. Will 1957, 271-273; Will 1992, 22-24. 21. PNO, 129-132. 26. Gawlikowski 1994, 31. 89 JØRGEN CHRISTIAN MEYER SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 Fig. 4: The small fort at Tahoun al-Masek controlling an important intersection and the route through Jebel Abyad. (J. C. Meyer). rounding territory dramatically.27 Settlements are not position as a caravan city up into the late Roman, confined to Jebel Chaar, where 25 new sites have been Byzantine and Umayyad periods.29 added to Schlumberger’s list, but are also found in The first villages undoubtedly sprang up with the the other mountain ranges north of Palmyra: Jebel rise of Palmyra as an important caravan city, but the Merah, Jebel Abyad and Jebel Abu Rigmen (fig. 5). existence of the settlements was not dependent on or Moreover, the distances between the settlements are related to the caravan trade as herding estates. The surprisingly short (3-5 km).28 The chronology of the dense settlement pattern indicates a much more inten sites must also be revised. Nothing can be dated to sive exploitation of the landscape, even if the precipi the Hellenistic period, as suggested by Schlumberger, tation is not high enough for stable traditional rain but the settlements continued after Palmyra lost its fed agriculture. It presupposes some kind of water management in the rainy season.30 One technique is 27. The Syrian-Norwegian survey 2008-2011 in Jebel Abyad, Jebel Merah and south-eastern part of Jebel Chaar, the 29. Meyer 2013, 273. The new upper chronology is based on Syrian-Canadian oil company’s seismological survey in Jebel surface finds (diagnostic pottery and coins), and an AMS Chaar and detailed studies of high-resolution satellite images radiocarbon dating of a mudbrick from one of the sites north from outside the concession area. of Jebel Chaar. Krzywinski, Krzywinski 2016. 28. Meyer 2013, 271. 30. For a detailed discussion, see Meyer 2013, 272-274. 90 SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 PALMYRENA. SETTLEMENTS, FORTS AND NOMADIC NETWORKS Jebel Meruh Jebel abu Rigmen s Chaar Abyad Jebel Aby ad - ■4 PalmyraV,- Fig. 5: Distribution of villages and estates north of Palmyra. (J.C. Meyer, based on Google Earth). water catching systems with long catch-arms leading growing city of Palmyra, which cannot be sustained the runoff water from the surrounding slopes into cis solely by the irrigated gardens of the oasis.32 This as terns. The water can supply not only humans and ani sumption is further supported by the section in the mals, but also smaller gardens. Another technique is Palmyra tariff, which decrees that foodstuffs brought the so-called floodwater farming. Low walls are con to or from the villages were not liable to tax (Greek structed across the wadis to prevent the soil from be 187-191, Aramaic 109-113).33 * ing washed away during seasonal floods and to keep the moisture between the walls.31 The soil in Pal 32. Meyer 2013, 269-270. myrene territory is very fertile and allows the cultiva 33. Matthews 1984,173,179; Gardner et al. 2005, 45, ppt.Asffor tion of wheat and barley of very high quality if enough foodstuffs (ßpoxcöf), I deme that a tax offone denarius sho uld be exacted according to the law far each load importedffrom outside the benders or water is available. The gardens and fields of the settle exported there; but those who convey [provisions] to the villages (/copiov) or ments thus become a potential food supplier for the ffrom them should be exempt, as was agreed upon them . Already M. Rostovtzeffhad paid attention to this section, but he located 31. Musil 1928,134-135. the villages in a second oasis or along the Euphrates (Ros- 91 JØRGEN CHRISTIAN MEYER SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 However, Schlumberger’s idea of some relation Bil’as (fig. ff).36 To the south, south-east and east there ship between settlements and nomads cannot be en are no larger cities with territories, and the extent of tirely dismissed.34 The fact that bilingual inscriptions Palmyrene political and fiscal control is uncertain. in Greek/Aramaic are not found in the villages, is not Two Aramaic inscriptions, one found in the Qa’ara decisive, nor is the predominance of Arab deities. basin in Iraq on the old caravan route from Palmyra This only shows that the villages belonged to another to Hit about 220 km south-east of Palmyra,37 38the other social sphere than the public one in Palmyra itself, but one at pump station T-i close to the Euphrates 275 km the Palmyra tariff has another section, which indicates to the east-south-east, mention persons who were at that nomads did in fact enter the Palmyrene territory:35 the borderland (qst’)fi We do not know exactly what “borderland” means. Was it a political borderland, or Twoluov jxf] detv 7tpaoos[iv ckto; tcov] tsXcöv just far away? [t]cöv Ös S7ti vo|xf]v usur/OLisvMV [sic; naX]jiDpT]vf]v Apart from these two inscriptions, relatively few 9ps|i|iäTcov ö 92 SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 PALMYRENA. SETTLEMENTS, FORTS AND NOMADIC NETWORKS Fig. 6: Distribution of Aramaic inscriptions south and south-east of Palmyra and Safaitic inscriptions in Palmyrene area. (J. C. Meyer, based on Google Earth). tory, and to the caravan route towards Hit, which in the traditional sense, but rather a combination of crosses there.46 The other inscription is an oval pla- territorial control closer to the centre and control over quette in the Museum of Palmyra, found at Hawiyya water resources and important lines of communica bir Djala'ut 140 km south-east of Palmyra, datable to tion deeper into the interior of the Arabian Peninsu 402/90 AD.47 The inscription is rather rudely execut la.50 Notwithstanding the exact limits of Palmyrene ed, but framed by tabula ansata, which is common on control, the seasonal movement of nomadic groups more official inscriptions. The author was brother to a from winter pasture to summer pasture cut across po strategos from the Bani Komarå, one of the four tribes litical borders.51 To be part of the Palmyrene territory in Palmyra.48 Everything seems to indicate that Pal seems to be a matter of social/political affiliation, not myra had some kind of territorial control as far as a strictly geographical definition. Wadi Miyah and to a line almost identical to the mod The Aramaic inscriptions south-east of Palmyra ern Syro-Iraqian border. From Wadi Miyah the con are too few and indecisive to reconstruct the nomadic trol probably followed the caravan route with strong pattern of migration. However, the finds of Safaitic holds towards Hit, even if we do not know who was graffiti north-west of Palmyra in an otherwise Aramaic responsible for the more eastern forts closer to the speaking region, to which Schlumberger paid atten Euphrates.49 The limits of Palmyrene control to the tion, need to be considered. The main concentration south and south-east has certainly not been a frontier of Safaitic inscriptions or graffiti lies in the black ba salt regions of southern Syria east of Hauran, north 46. Poidebard 1934,105-114. easternjordan and north-western Saudi Arabia. Over 47. Al-As’ad 2005; Yon 2013,360. In the month, ojNisan 402. This 20,000 inscriptions, roughly datable from the first stela was dedicated by Hagegcx son of Tarhay, son of Ogeilü, ofthe Bani century BC to the fourth century AD, have been reg- Roman, while his brother 'Ogå was strategos. He erected this stela. Peace! 48. Yon 2002, 69-71. 49. For the caravan route from Wadi Miyah to Hit, see Sir 50. See also Whittaker 1994, 79-97- Aurel Stein in Gregory, Kennedy 1985,183-237. 51. Coon 1951, 263; Wilkinson 2000. 93 JØRGEN CHRISTIAN MEYER SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 istered so far.52 They testify to a nomadic strategy of Palmyra three graffiti, two of them partly bilingual survival with seasonal movements to new pastures, Aramaic/Safaitic, have been found at the above men control of water resources and occasional raids, also tioned Rijelat Umm-Kubar in the north-eastern end on caravans.53 They were divided into larger and of the Wadi Hauran,58 two at Qasr Muhaiwir east of smaller tribes, competing for pasture and water, and the al-Qa’ara basin,59 and several at at-Tenf, 120 km occasionally fighting each other. Vengeance, killing, south of Palmyra.60 raiding and plundering are normal phenomena. Long Most of the Safaitic graffiti only give us the name genealogies were important for the social structure of the person, the name of the father, and very often an and the groups marked territory with inscriptions and affiliation (’/) to something at a higher level than the cairns. A few, found far away from agricultural dis close family, e.g. either a tribe, a lineage or a place.61 tricts, mention sowing seed and at least two show The graffiti from Rijelat Umm-Kubar can be related to drawings of ploughing.54 They testify that the nomads pasture at the site,62 but we do not know if the Safaitic also practised opportunistic agriculture in the wadi speaking nomads had migrated along Wadi Hauran beds close to their camps. from the south-west. Language in itself is no indicator Compared to this, the number of Safaitic inscrip of geographic affiliation or connection to a specific tions in the Palmyrene area is tiny. Schlumberger reg “ethnic” group and some groups may have been bilin istered 2 from Kheurbet Semrine, i from el-Mkemlé, i gual.63 The Safaitic inscriptions north-west of Palmyra from Kheurbet el-Sané, i from Kheurbet Abou only tell us that some Safaitic-speaking groups were Douhour, all in Jebel Chaar, and 2 from the small fort present, not what they were doing in the area. One at Ouéchel in Jebel Abyad, together with three of un inscription from the Jebel Chaar area, unfortunately known provenance.55 To this can be added a larger without exact provenance, provides more details:64 text found by the Syrian-Norwegian survey cut into the rock at site 089 in Jebel Merah (fig. 7).56 Apart (----- rmyn d 'I m 's wry bt...... sfihlt wdr b hwrn Th w.------from this, a few inscriptions have been found in Pal ... m) myra itself.57 From the area south and south-east of -----Rarnyan, of the Må'is tribe. And he has pastured at T..... And oh Låt! And he journeyed to and from 52. Macdonald 1993; MacDonald 2014. A new online database Hawrån. Ilah! (?), and------at the University of Oxford, OCIANA Project, The Online Corpus ofi the Inscriptions ofiAncient Nerrth. Arabia, has given access to over 3400 The first part of the inscription mentions pasture (r 7). graffiti with photos and critical translations. http://krc.orient. The second part suggests migration to and from ox.ac.uk/aalc/index.php/en/safai tic-database-online. 53. KRS 117,169,3249,1542,1812 in the database. Hauran (hwmj, but as shown by M. C. A. Macdonald, 54. KRS 1861 in the database. 55. PNO, 143-176, nos. 2 quater, 21 bis, 34 ter, 54, 60, 63 bis, 63 information from Finn Ove Hvidberg-Hansen, Khaled quater, 80, 81, 82. al-As'ad and Jean-Baptiste Yon. 56. Finn Ove Hvidberg-Hansen and John Møller Larsen will 58. Safar 1964, nos. 3, 6 and 7; PAT2734; PATsqy]-, Macdonald publish the inscription in the forthcoming publication of the z993’ 348, n. 284. results of the Syrian-Norwegian survey in Papers and Monographs 59. Sir Aurel Stein in Gregory, Kennedy 1985, 201, 409, n. 201. ofithe Norwegian Institute in Athens. The texts are illegible. yj. A relief in the Louvre (AO 19801), most probably from 60. Poidebard 1934,126, pl. XCVIII a-b. The exact number Palmyra, with the triad Ba’al Samm, ’Alglibol and Malakbél, and contents of the inscriptions are uncertain. has both Aramaic and Safaitic inscriptions (Seyrig 1949, 29-33; 61. For a critical discussion of so-called tribal names, see 35-40; Dentzer-Feydy, Teixidor 1993,144-145). The Polish Macdonald 1993,352-367. mission in Palmyra has found two inscriptions in the 'Allat 62. Two of the Aramaic inscriptions mention pasture (Safar sanctuary (Gawlikowski 1995,107). Other unpublished 1964, nr. i and 3, PATeqyz, PAT2734). inscriptions are found in the Museum of Palmyra (2) and in 63. See also Yon 2002, 93-94; Macdonald 1993,309-310. the quarries northeast of Palmyra (1), according to personal 64. PNO, 175 nr. 80, pl. LXIII, 4. 94 SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 PALMYRENA. SETTLEMENTS, FORTS AND NOMADIC NETWORKS the rendering of the text is not correct according to 2. the photograph.65 Rather it reads fhltwds2rhwrl'hl rqrbbnm'zbngzXt wwgd ms'kw ng’t f t'ql wdwy wmty wt..., which means oh Lat and Dushara [grant that he may] mgl'd l-tdmrfh s2hqm s!lm wgnyt I- ds2hs. return to the family ofwt.... By 'qrb son of Ms‘k son of Gzlt and he found the in Even if Hauran is not mentioned in the inscription, it scription of Ms‘k and Ng’t and so he was unable to suggests pasture and movement, and a series of in speak and was miserable and he hastened from Gile scriptions from Hauran itself demonstrates closer ad67 to Tadmur and so Oh s2 'hqm [grant] security and connections between the Safaitic core area and freedom from whoever is in need of milk. Palmyrena:66 (Wadi Salman, northern Jordan, Ociana, Safaitic data base KRS 15) i. /'m bn smt bn gnm bn n’mw tymtdmrfhlts'lm. 3- By 'Amm, son of Sharnit, son of Ghanirn, son of I gl bn ws1 bns'dw mty tdmrfh Its1 Im. ’An'am. And he was coming from Tadmur, And so, By gl son of ’ws1 son of S'd and he hastened to Oh Lt, [grant] security. Tadmur. And so, Oh Lt, [grant] security. (Wadi Salman, northern Jordan. Littmann 1943, no (Hajar al-Halla, 30 km west of Rijm al-Marra, south 7T7) ern Syria, CIS V, 663) 65. Macdonald 1993, 364. I am very grateful to Finn Ove Hvidberg-Hansen, who has also reexamined the text. 66. I am extremely grateful to M. C. A. Macdonald for the permission to use the as yet unpublished inscriptions from The 67. Gilead (gl’d) is the mountainous area 20 km north-west of Sefaitic Epigraphic Survey Program, a joint project of the DGAM Amman in northern Jordan mentioned many times in the Old and University of Oxford. Testament. 95 JØRGEN CHRISTIAN MEYER SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 4- man [?] the year the people of Tadmur killed Srmt l s'dbnhlsbnn mnd ddfw s‘frtdmrfhh Is'lmwmgdtw'wr [Prayer]. Id Ih s1Jr. (al-Isawi, north of al-Namarah in the Wadi Sham, By s'd son of His son of N'mn of the lineage of Df, southern Syria, Scfaitic Epigraphic Survey Program HN 61) and he journeyed to Tadmur. And so, Oh Bl [grant] security and wealth, and [inflict] blindness on 9- whoever scratches out the inscription. [Name] wwhlh-dr whrs Itdmr [Prayer]. (On the track to Jabal Says from Zalaf, southern Syr [Name] and he was here and he was on the lookout ia. CIS V, 1649) for the people of Tadmur [Prayer]. (al-Isawi, north of al-Namarah in the Wadi Sham, 5- southern Syria, Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Program MU Ihn bnmn'tbnlqtbn t bns2krd s srws'yrtdmrfhlts'lm. 290) By Hn’ son of Mn't son of Lqt son of ’t' son of S2kr of the lineage of sr and returned to water at Tadmur. 10. And, O Lt, [grant] security. [Name] w qyz w wld h- — {h}[r]s ] tdmr [Prayer]. (On the track to Jabal Says from Zalaf, southern Syr [Name] and he spent the dry season [here] and helped ia. CIS V, 1664) the [goats?] give birth ... (was on the lookout for] the people of Tadmur [Prayer]”. 6. (al-Isawi, north of al-Namarah in the Wadi Sham, I tmlh bnghm bn d bn tm bn dbn grm I bn qhs2 bn hdgbn s1 nor bn southern Syria, Safaitic Epigraphic Survey Program MU hmynbngddtbn ndtbnws2ytbndfws1yrl-tdmrfhltwhb IsHm. 290.1) By Tmlh son of Ghm son of d son of Tm son of d son of Grm’l son of Qhs2 son of Hdg son of SJwr son of All these graffiti come from east and south-east of Hmyn son of Gddt son of ’sdt son of Ws2yt son of Df Hauran in southern Syria and northern Jordan. Nos. and returned to water at Tadmur. And so, Oh Lt and i, 2, 3, 4 testify to travels over long distances to and B'l [grant] security. from Tadmur (Palmyra), though they do not state the (On the track to Jabal Says from Zalaf, southern Syr purpose of the trips.68 Nos. 5, 6 and 7 explicitly men ia. CIS V, 1665. Same stone as 1664) tion watering animals (Hyr) and show that the water resources of Palmyra were part of the migration pat 7- tern of some groups, though they do not tell us I tmlh bnghm bn d bn tm bn d bngrm I bn qhs2 bn hdgbn s1 wr whether it was the springs of Palmyra itself, or wells, bnhmynbngddtbn ndtbn ws2ytbndfwsfrI- tdmrfhItwhb I springs and cisterns in Palmyrene territory. Nos. 8, 9 s'lm. and 10 show that the relationship between the Safaitic By Tmlh son of Ghm son of d son of Tm son of d son speaking nomads and people, who are defined as of Grm’l son of Qhs2 son of Hdg son of SJwr son of coming from Palmyra and probably belonged to no Hmyn son of Gddt son of sdt son of Ws2yt son of Df madic groups, was not always peaceful. The expres and returned to water at Tadmur. And so, Oh Lt and sion “to be on the lookout for” (hrs) is commonly B'l [grant] security. used in other graffiti in connection with enemies.69 (On the track to Jabal Says from Zalaf, southern Syr ia. CIS V, 1665. Same stone as 1664) 68. Safaitic inscriptions have also been found in Pompeii. Gysens 1990. Safaitic speaking people were obviously 8. traveling far to destinations not related to a nomadic lifestyle. [Name] wwdyh-b rs'ntqtl I tdmr srmt [Prayer], 69. Littmann 1943, nos. 184, 210, 469, 576, 606, 618, 698, 708, [Name] and he paid the blood price of the wicked 1263. 96 SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 PALMYRENA. SETTLEMENTS, FORTS AND NOMADIC NETWORKS The evidence from the Safaitic core area strongly common grazing ground in the rainy season,70 but it is suggests that the graffiti north-west of Palmyra were impossible to decide how common it was for some not made by settled Safaitic speaking people in the vil groups to include Palmyra into the seasonal migra lages or by occasional travelers. For normal travelers tions. We do not know, either, from what direction the city must have been the obvious destination, and they came to Palmyra. Some may have come from the there seems to be no reason to visit the scattered vil south-west, roughly following the territory of the lages in Jebel Chaar or Jebel Merah unless Palmyrene modern al-‘Umur tribe, through which the Austro- territory was included in their pattern of migration. Hungarian orientalist and explorer Alois Musil trav How representative are these graffiti? The num elled in 1928.71 Others may have entered Palmyrene ber of graffiti outside the Safaitic core area is ex territory from Hamad, but the Safaitic groups that tremely small, as mentioned above. It would howev came to Palmyra must have been large enough to er be methodologically unsound to conclude from leave their visiting cards in the mountainous area to the actual number that Safaitic speaking people the north-west. What, then, was the relationship be were a rare sight in Palmyrene area. If only a few tween the nomadic groups, which must also have in people very infrequently visited the Palmyrene area cluded Aramaic speaking people, and the villages? and left graffiti there, the likelihood of finding any The mountainous area north of Palmyra with low thing would be tiny. The registered finds represent a er temperatures and more moisture must have been much larger number. Furthermore, the scarcity of an attractive summer pasture,72 and as Schlumberger finds not only relates to the Safaitic, but also to the emphasized, the construction of cisterns increased the Aramaic inscriptions and graffiti. It is remarkable pasture capacity of the area.73 During the winter sheep that the Safaitic graffiti south and south-east of Pal and goats can roam for very long periods, even myra amount to about 25% of all the inscriptions months, without water if they have abundant access found, including 15 Aramaic ones. North-west of Pal to green pasture, but in the hot season especially myra the percentage is about 13%, and there the bulk sheep must be watered in very short intervals.74 Har of the Aramaic inscriptions are from reliefs and al vested fields around Palmyra were also an excellent tars. Most of the inscriptions from the Palmyrene grazing ground at the approach of the hot season, and area come from Schlumberger’s excavations in Jebel after the harvest, flocks of sheep and goats fertilized Chaar. This strongly indicates that the conditions for fields and gardens with their manure before the preservation are decisive for the actual number regis ploughing.75 tered. Geologically the Safaitic core area consists of Pastoralism and agriculture/horticulture are thus hard, black volcanic basalt stone, and the engravings not competing economic systems. They are comple stand up well to erosion through the centuries, even mentary. From a political and fiscal point of view, by the wind, which carries sharp, grinding grains of however, the relationship can be more complicated. sand. Outside this area, the rock is softer, often lime The interaction between nomadic groups and the sed stone, and engravings exposed to the wind will soon entary populations in the Middle East have changed disappear. The destructive force of wind can be ob served in Palmyra, where some old columns are 70. Macdonald 1993,319-322. deeply sandblasted close to the ground, where the 71. Musil 1928, 24. See also Raswan 1930; Wirth 1971, 268, wind carries the highest concentration of grains dur Karte 11. ing the storms. 72. Schlumberger 1951,133. The graffiti from southern Syria and north-eastern 73. Musil 1928,149. 74. Barclay Raunkiaer 1969/1913,143; Dickson, 1949, 405; Dahl, Jordan very seldom mention which areas the authors Hjort, 1976, 249-250. moved to with their livestock. Sometimes they men 75. The system is described in Naval Intelligence Division tion Hamad, the inner desert to the east, which is a 1943, 270. 97 JØRGEN CHRISTIAN MEYER SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 Khabar J e bel Meruh Shanaeh Wadi Shanaeh Ouechel Tahoun el Maseka Wadi al-Takara N Wadi al-Takara S Q Palmyr y 0 20 km L J Fig. 8: Distribution of forts and military installations north of Palmyra. (J. C. Meyer, based on Google Earth). up through the history, ranging from armed conflict some nomadic groups arrived with their sheep for to mutual co-operation.76 The arrival of nomadic shearing (Aramaic 145-147).77 Other groups, which en- groups with their herds at the end of the spring must have posed a great challenge for the central authori ties. Probably already in April before the harvest, 77. The Aramaic text is very fragmentary, but the general meaning of the section is clear. Matthews 1984,180; Gardner et al. 2005,54. According to our ancient sources, the shearing 76. Coon 1951,198-200; Khazanov 1984, 263-294; Lewis 2000; took place primarily in April (Columella Rust. 11, 2, 35, Varro Castillo 2005; Van der Steen 2009. Rust. 2, ii, 6) as it is common in modern Syria. 98 SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 PALMYRENA. SETTLEMENTS, FORTS AND NOMADIC NETWORKS Ö e=> ciS & Ä & és <= •o ö a ä a o □ o Q C3 d OO O ° ■=> da CÖ3 accs> 0 5 [Om 1______I______I Fig. g: Fort at Shanaeh between Jebel Chaar and Jebel Merah. (J. C. Meyer). 99 JØRGEN CHRISTIAN MEYER SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 tered the territory only for the purpose of grazing, tion 098).81 Tiles are extremely rare as most buildings may also have arrived before the harvest around Pal had flat roofs. All the sites mentioned above were ob myra was finished. From modern history, we know viously neither villages nor isolated estates. They that this is a source of conflict between villagers and should rather be classified in the same category as the nomads when the herds enter fields of ripening grain.78 two forts registered by Schlumberger. Even after the harvest, sheep and especially goats can It is surprising to find such heavy investment in inflict great damage on gardens if not controlled. The military installations in the hinterland so close to the areas around cisterns and springs must have been city of Palmyra. None of the buildings were construct crowded in the hot season, and there has undoubtedly ed to resist any military threat from outside, and their been fierce competition for the best pasture, causing architecture differs markedly from the much more sol tensions also between the different nomadic groups. idly built Roman forts constructed along the Strata All this calls for conflict management. The city needed Diocletiana from Palmyra to Damascus.82 The two larg to be present with military power out in the country er forts at Wadi al-Takara North and Khabar may side to guarantee law and order, and prevent the graz have functioned as caravan stations along the route ing season from developing into a chaotic situation. from Palmyra through Jebel Abyad to Seriana and In this scenario, the two forts registered by Sch further to the north-west,83 but they also control the lumberger fit perfectly, and they were not the only territory, the main lines of communication and access military installations north-west of Palmyra (fig. 8). to some of the more important water resources with The Syrian-Norwegian survey has registered three springs and wells. Furthermore, the practical admin larger structures measuring about 6o x 6o m with in istration of the different kinds of grazing rights must ternal towers in the corners (Wadi al-Takara North, have been a very complicated matter, as indicated by Shanaeh, Khabar) (fig.g).™ Khabar is surrounded by the remark in the tariff that “the tax collector may one of the largest concentrations of wells north of Pal have the animals branded, if he wishes” (Greek 235- myra. Shanaeh lies on a dominant hilltop between 237). The Palmyra tariff also mentions access to water Jebel Merah and Jebel Chaar above several wells and in the introduction to the old tax-law (Aramaic 63- two small buildings close to the wadi below. Wadi al- 65) ,84 though it is unclear if this also includes impor Takara North is situated on a wadi island at the en tant resources in Palmyrene territory. The location of trance to the pass through Jebel Abyad.So 80Two smaller the fort at Ouéchel above the spring area makes it buildings (Wadi al-Takara South, measuring about 17 highly probable that water at some places was also li x 21 m and Station 098, measuring about 25 X35 m) lie able to tax. The stations north of Palmyra with mili isolated on small hilltops in the landscape in connec tary personal thus furnished tax farming with the nec tion with important lines of communication. The sur essary infrastructure. It was not exceptional for face finds from the small buildings are surprisingly rich compared to the finds from buildings surveyed at village sites: a Roman follis from the end of the third 81. The actual chronological composition of the surface finds is dependent on the erosion of the sites. Heavy erosion means century, issued by Maximianus (Wadi al-Taka South), a predominance of relatively early finds, slight erosion a much a fragment of a roofing tile and late terra sigilata (sta later distribution. 82. Poidebard 1934,34-40, Pl. XIV-XLIV. 83. The distance from Palmyra to Wadi al-Takara North is 24 78. Naval Intelligence Division 1943, 270. km, from Wadi al-Takara to Khabar 37 km, all equivalent to 79. To the list can be added a large structure at site 242 in one day’s travel. Wadi Shanaeh 5 km east of site 098. It is outside the conces 84. Matthews 1984,177-178; Gardner et al. 2005,50. The tax-law sion area and was not investigated in detail. ofTadmor IOO SCI.DAN.H. 4 • 6 PALMYRENA. SETTLEMENTS, FORTS AND NOMADIC NETWORKS military personal to supervise or even be responsible Richard Holton Pierce, University of Bergen, for criti for collecting taxes and duties in some circumstances, cal comments and for revising my English. as attested from Numidia in North Africa.85 Bibliography Conclusions al-As'ad, Kh. 2005, A bouquet of roses, in P. Bielinski and Villages and migrating nomads, not totally integrated F. M. Stppniowski (eds.), Auxpaysd’AUat. Melanges offerts into the political and social structure of Palmyra, were å Michal Gawlikowski, Warsaw, 1-4. Barclay Raunkiær, A. C. 1969/1913, Through Wahhabilandon an integral part of the intensive exploitation of the Camelback, (Translated and abridged from Danish edi landscape north of Palmyra. Agriculture/horticulture tion 1913), London. and pastoralism were not competing economic sys Cantineau, J. 1933, Tadmorea, Syria\z, 169-202. tems. Some of the nomads entering Palmyrene terri Caquot, A. 1970, Review of W. 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