Rom und die Provinzen 417
Agnes Henning, Die Turmgräber von Palmyra. Eine lokale Bauform im kaiserzeitlichen Syrien als Aus- druck kultureller Identität. Orient-Archäologie, Band .Publisher Marie Leidorf, Rahden . pages, illustrations, plates, several plans, foldout plans.
This book offers asomewhat enlarged version of a doctoral thesis passed in at the University of Co- logne under the supervision of Hennervon Hesberg. The author could use the new topographical survey of the site now published by Klaus Schnädelbach (Topo- graphia Palmyrena .Topography. Documentsd’ar- chéologie syrienne [Damascus ]) and the photogrammetrical documentationofsome tombs by ateam of the Technical University Berlin. The necropolis of Palmyra, or rather four separate cemeteries surroundingthe ancient city, is certainly the biggest remaining necropolis of the Near East ex- cludingEgypt. Among the varieties of tombs found in Palmyra, the towers are the most conspicuousinthe modern landscape and unique in the region. The view of the Valley of Tombs (Wadi al-Qubur), the best- preserved part of the necropolis, is dominatedby towers and has struck all visitors, from the early mod- ern travelers to the tourists flocking Palmyra until a 418 Besprechungen few years ago. In spite of havingbeen freely accessible in real life rather than ablessed afterlife (Le repas des through centuries, an astonishing number of towers morts et le »banquet funèbre« àPalmyre. Ann. arch. are still standing to aconsiderable height, and their arabes syriennes. Rev. d’arch. et d’hist. , , – = decoration, whenever present, is well preserved. All Scripta varia [Paris ] –]). For the first time a graves,however, have been opened and emptied by collection of sculptural fragments recovered from the generations of robbers,while the portraits of the de- Elahbel tower tomb is published in this book (pp. ceased have all disappeared except for some fragments, – and pl. –). and today adorn variousmuseums of the world, while The development of tower tombsfrom lofty monu- their original contexts are irretrievably lost. ments containing only astaircase, raisingover abase- Henning has described about one hundred-eighty mentwith loculi opening to theoutside, to multi-sto- monuments preserved in different conditionsfrom rey buildings ready to receive hundredsofburials does nearly complete to mere outlines on the ground. Hers not only mirror aprogress in theart of architecture is the most complete and thorough treatment of the but also the social change from aperipheral oasis to subject, replacing earlier studies by Carl Watzinger an opulent caravan city, home to large clans proudof and Karl Wulzinger, Ernest Will and myself (C. Wat- theirlineageand rich enough to indulge in the fastid- zinger/K. Wulzinger in: Th. Wiegand, Palmyra [Ber- ious memorials meant to be »houses of eternity« and lin ] –;C.Watzingerin: ibid. –;E.Will, »monumentsofhonour« to many generations. When La tour funéraire de Palmyre, Syria , , –; they ceased to be built during the first half of the M. Gawlikowski, Monumentsfunéraires de Palmyre second century (themost recenttower dated was [Warsaw ]). The introductory chapters are fol- built in A. D. ), it was only to be replaced by lowed by architectural descriptions of thetower tombs, even more lavish funerary temples, expressing the startingwith the kindsofstone, masonry, foundations, growing assimilationofGraeco-Roman models and doors, stairs, loculi, and other elements. Such systema- plastic forms, but keeping the local flavour about tic treatment was appliedtothese monuments for the them (cf. A. Schmidt-Colinet, Das Tempelgrab Nr. first time, and continued with building techniques, ar- in Palmyra [Mayence ]). In the beginning, how- chitectural decoration of different parts, and finally ever, Istill believe these tombs evolvedfrom upright the sites of sculpture and painting as preserved in stonemonuments called »naphsha« or »soul«, raised some towers. This part of the book is essentially de- over tombs to embody, no doubtincreasingly symbo- scriptive (pp. –). Just one point is speculative: the lically, the presence of the departed. roofing. Henning rightly rejectsearlier suggestionsof One of the book’smerits is to present in parallel pyramids or rows of merlons crowning the tops of the otherSyrian tower tombs,much less knownand sel- towers, and argues for flat roofs accessiblethrough the dom visited. They are to be found in the Euphrates omnipresent staircase, while the higher courses of ma- valley, between Qalaat Jaber and the Iraqi border. The sonry taper above acornice, preserved or restored on author couldvisit them all, providing photographs some tombs (p. pl. ). This then suggests, in the and schematic plans wherever possible (pp. –,pl. author’smind, ceremonies held on the roof. This is –). They present outer loculi and awinding stair- possible, but there is no evidence. case, some of them also chamberswith afew niches The little we can say about thebeliefs and practices inside. These traitsmake them similar and contempor- relatedtothe dead shows that they were, not surpris- ary to the earliest Palmyra towers of the first centuries ingly, the same whether in towers or in other forms of B. C. and A. D., but they differ by frequent stucco tombs(hypogea and so-called funerary temples). Save columns,ascommon in Mesopotamian architecture of two or three cases of incineration (not concerning the the age. Isee no reason to date thetowers of Halabiye towers) the corpses were laid to rest wrapped in tex- in the late third century (p. ), just because the an- tiles soaked in balms and resins, thusoutlasting in the cient nameofthe place, Zenobia, refers to the famous stable and dry conditions prevailing in towers, while queen. The city ruins are only Justinianic, and containers forprecious liquids, mostly made of glass, whereas there had been an earlier settlement, thecon- are found normally in undergroundtombs. The only nection to Zenobia is limited to the name. It seems intact tomb in atower wasdiscovered in the Atenatan more advisable to consider thetower tombs of Hala- monument, but rags from robbed burials aboundedin biye as contemporary to, or only slightly later than other tower tombs. Frankincense or other aromata other Middle Euphrates towers. Some of these monu- had been burnedinround trays installed in front of ments could have provided the original inspiration to some graves, though how far this can be taken as a the earliest Palmyra towers, though the later develop- cult practice is amoot point. ments in Palmyrawere independent and limited to The decoration in sometowers, sculpted or this site. painted, contains Dionysiac motifs and figures of Ni- There is no reason to include in the comparative kai, expressing some form of belief in salvation. Com- part some buildings from the Hauran (pp. f.). As mon, on the other hand, werefunerary bustssealing Annie Sartre-Fauriathas shown, these towers have loculi burials and family banquet sceneswhich Ibe- never contained any funeraryinstallations andshould lieve (with HenriSeyrig) to recall the social position rather be seen as field watchtowers. The Hauranese Rom und die Provinzen 419 tombs are quite different, and as some of them present goes back to Antiquity or not has never been investi- several storeys, that is because they received, later, in gated. Christian times, pigeon-homes above earliertombs The catalogue of all extant tower tombs(pp. still in use (Des tombeaux et des morts [Beirut ] –)contains detailed descriptionsclearlypre- vol. I, –; –). In my opinion they have no sented according to the same scheme, also mentioning relation to Palmyra. scattered finds, comparanda, dating(epigraphic or ty- On the other hand, it would be good to include pological), and literature. Most of them are provided another Euphrates tower tomb in today’sTurkey: the with sketch plans supplemented by many photographs tomb of AmashamashinSerrin, long since known (pl. –)and photogrammetric renderings of the (H. J. W. Drijvers /J.F.Healey, The Old Syriac In- best-preserved monuments.This tool shall not and scriptions of Edessa and Osrhoene [Leiden-Boston- needs not to be replaced in the foreseeable future. Cologne ] [with earlierliterature] and pl. ). To sum up, AgnesHenning presents acomplete Doubtful remains thecase of the oldest known Syrian up-to-date treatment of the peculiar phenomenonof inscriptioninBirecik (Birtha, A. D. ), which was re- the Palmyrene tower tombs. It shall remain the princi- used in atower of the Ottoman castle (A. Maricq, La pal reference to the subject for along time. plus ancienneinscription syriaque. Celle de Birecik, Syria , , – [–]). Whether the tower Warsaw Michał Gawlikowski