Premier S Westfield History Scholarship
Premier’s Westfield History Scholarship
Palmyra: The bride of the desert
Tim Kelly
St Mary’s High School, Casino
Sponsored by
Introduction
My proposal was to investigate the 2000-year-old city of Palmyra located in Syria, known as “The Bride of the Desert”. The primary focus was to research the heritage and conservation proposals for this World Heritage Site and then to trace Palmyrene artefacts through Europe.
Location and Geography of Palmyra
Palmyra is in the Syrian Desert located 235km north west of the Syrian capital Damascus. The oasis of Palmyra is on the northern edge of this arid zone. Palmyra is located midway between the Mediterranean coast and the fertile zones surrounding the Euphrates River. The city is based on the extensive oasis located just south of the ruins. According to Adnan Bounni:
“The oasis and the town of Palmyra owes its existence to the plentiful spring that runs from Jebel Muntar….. it was a primary stop for caravans plying between the Gulf, Iran and the Mediterranean.” (Palmyra: History, Monuments & Museum Pg10)
The Palmyra Ruins
Palmyra is the finest historical attraction in Syria. The remains of this magnificent city have been preserved by the harsh desert environment but the pressures of modern tourism have placed strain on the ruins.
The ruins date mostly from the 2nd Century AD and cover over 50 hectares of land. While there has been extensive excavation over the past few decades there is little doubt that much more remains to be uncovered. The Assistant Director of the Palmyra Museum Abdul Khalid stated in November 2008 that he believes only two thirds of the relics / ruins have been “re-discovered”.
The following list contains some of the key sites in Palmyra:
§ Tombs – there are three types, Tomb Towers that appear like tiered podiums in the Valley of the Tombs, House Tombs (Funerary Temples) including the Tomb of Elahbel at the end of the Great Colonnade and the underground Hypogeum containing corridors, chambers and galleries adorned with funerary art paying respect to the families buried within. Over 50 hypogeum have been found and there are supposedly dozens more awaiting excavation. The most notable include the hypogeum of the Three Brothers and Artaban. The Hypogeum of Yarhai has been reconstructed in the Damascus Museum.
§ Temple of Bel – containing a massive courtyard (210 x 205 metres), the northern wall is largely intact and in the middle is a shrine that only priests could enter. The remains of the “slaughter altar” for sacrifices to the gods is still evident as is the blood canal under the main floor. The sculptures and columns are magnificent.
The Temple of Bel adjoins the oasis at Palmyra
§ Temple of Baal Shamin – a small temple dedicated to god of storms and rain
§ Great Colonnade – the main road connecting the Temple of Bel with the major funerary temple to the west. It begins with the monumental arch and follows a straight line to the tetrapylon before turning 30 degrees to the funerary temple.
§ The Agora – the market area of Ancient Palmyra
§ The Theatre – a semi-circular theatre with a dozen rows of seating still intact. Dressing rooms, stage area have been renovated. In the centre of the stage is a niche carved into the floor around which the actors placed their feet for “acoustic purposes”.
§ Camp of Diocletian – erected after the defeat of Zenobia by Aurelian.
§ Qala’at Ibn Maan – the citadel that dominates the skyline to the west of the ruins built in the 17th Century.
One of the key attractions of Palmyra is the accessibility of the ruins to visitors. While the attractions listed above are amazing there is nothing quite like scrambling over “mounds of rubble” that contain sarcophagus, arches, columns, statues and the like. The abundance of these relics over the entire site is breathtaking and it certainly is an aspect that the MAM officials are keen to maintain under its Regional Strategy for Palmyra.
Diagram Courtesy of MAM Regional Strategy Plan for Palmyra
Ancient Palmyra
The Amorites, a nomadic people, lived in the area around 2000 BC followed by the Arameans, a semi-nomadic pastoralist population who dominated the area around 1100 BC. Worship of sun and moon gods notably Bel was clearly evident at this time. When Alexander the Great defeated the Persians in 331 BC Palmyra soon found itself as part of the Seleucid Empire but it was not long before Palmyra became an attractive strategic and economic target for the emerging Roman Empire.
This complex and diverse history helped shape Palmyrene art, architecture and culture. Local authorities are quick to stress that what is found in Palmyra is not simply a “provincial version of Roman styles”. This is highlighted by the numerous columns along the colonnades of Palmyra containing a protruding bracket upon which local nobles could place statues of themselves or revered gods. Such a practice was seen to ruin the “the classical columns of their commanding simplicity of form”[1]. Ross Burns describes Palmyrene art, architecture and culture as “a Greco-Persian-Roman synthesis”.[2]
Syria became a Roman province in 64 BC but it appears that Palmyra had some degree of independence. Palmyra prospered because of its trading role – the exotic tastes of the Roman elite saw a massive increase in trade between the Mediterranean and India / China along the Silk Route. This trade depended on security and Palmyra maintained close links with Rome and the Parthian Kingdom to the east to ensure this. The Palmyra Tariff was set out on a 5m inscribed stone now in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Palmyra rivalled Antioch for economic importance and Hadrian declared it “civitas libera” (a free city) in AD129. Palmyra could now set and collect its own taxes and control its own finances.
During the 2nd Century AD Palmyra expanded and became one of the great cities of the era. Colonnaded streets, enlarged temples and major buildings were erected. In life the Palmyrans were lavish but during this period their focus on “death” became quite literally monumental. The funerary monuments in Palmyra are outstanding and indicate the importance of the “eternal house”. Numerous new tombs were built with an array of funerary art still in place today – the Louvre in Paris has an extensive collection of Palmyrene funerary art (Sully Wing Room 20 Levant). Kevin Butcher in “Roman Syria and the Near East” on Pg 312 notes that the Palmyrene funerary sculptures inside the tombs attempt to show the deceased living on:
“…. Tombs were important not only as houses and memorials for the dead but as the focus of ritual for the living, including banquets taken in the company of ancestors. The facing busts look out to the living…. and … in more elaborate sculptures attend the funerary banquets reclining on couches.”
Around 228 AD the Parthians were overthrown by the Sassanids and Palmyra’s protected path on the lucrative caravan trade route was in peril. Over time the caravan traffic moved northwards. Odainat, a leader of a local family dynasty, rose to prominence by seeking favour and support from the Romans. Due to his political skills and military might the caravans once again went through Palmyra for a decade around 260 AD. However, Odainat was murdered in Capaddocia while on a Roman mission.
Zenobia, Odainat’s wife, became “queen” while her son Wahballat was a minor. Zenobia wasted little time in expanding Palmyrene interests. She took Bosra and got as far as Egypt in 269-270 AD. According to all sources Zenobia was a dominant woman and historical references like “Historia Augusta” and “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” (E. Gibbon) described her as:
§ an accomplished horsewoman
§ a speaker of Aramaean, Greek and Egyptian
§ a keen student of history
§ having pale skin, black eyes and teeth as white as pearls
§ as addressing crowds like an Emperor
§ as being considered the most noble and beautiful of all women of the orient equal to her supposed ancestor Cleopatra and far surpassing that princess in chastity and valour
Rome, however, became uneasy with these new developments. Ultimately, Emperor Aurelian attacked Palmyra and captured Zenobia despite her fortifications of both the city wall and the funerary towers surrounding Palmyra. The Roman Senate reputedly put scorn upon Aurelian for his “triumph over a woman” but his response certainly promoted the legend of Zenobia:
“Ah if they only knew what a woman I have been fighting! And what would history say if I had been defeated by Zenobia?”[3]
Palmyra capitulated in August 272 AD, Aurelian took the queen and her treasure back to Rome. In 274 AD he marched in glory through the streets of Rome with a procession that included Zenobia bound in chains of gold. She was apparently exiled to Tivoli where she married a senator and over the next century several Roman nobles were said to be her descendants.
In about 300 AD the “Camp of Diocletian” was built to the north of the city as a means to keep control of the locals and also to ensure a constant Roman presence in the region.
Over the next few centuries Palmyra’s fortunes began to wane. Christianity saw various structures converted into churches including the Temple of Bel and the Temple of Baal Shamin. By the 6th Century AD Arab dynasties had control of Palmyra and its importance varied over the course of the next 500 years.
The Mamluk dynasty saw part of the Temple of Bel transformed into a mosque in the 12th Century AD but in 1401 Palmyra was pillaged and under Ottoman rule Palmyra was reduced to a mere village.
In 1678 two Englishmen stumbled across the buried desert city and over the next 300 years intrepid travellers visited Palmyra infrequently until extensive survey work was carried out by German interests in the 1920’s followed by the French. Over the last 3 decades various Japanese, Polish and French archaeologists have contributed to the excavation and restoration of Palmyra.
Palmyra has experienced a surge of growth over the last decade and it was in this environment that the European Union via the Municipal Administration Modernisation Programme (MAM) sought to bring prosperity and social development to the citizens of Syria, whilst at the same time protecting vital heritage resources. A particularly important element in the Programme is the production of a Regional Strategy for the Palmyra area, a World Heritage site of considerable importance.
Who Owns the Past?
One of the most complex and convoluted debates regarding antiquities is whether antiquities and artefacts should be returned to their country of origin. There is little doubt that the Louvre in France contains the most elaborate, best curated and extensive collection of Palmyrene artefacts but do they “belong” there?
Most peoples’ initial thoughts run along the “nationalist” theme but from my experiences and research the “nationalist” view is somewhat limited. As James Cuno noted:
“Antiquities are the cultural property of all humankind ……. (Antiquities are) evidence of the world’s ancient past and not that of a particular modern nation. They comprise antiquity, and antiquity knows no borders.” [4]
The artefacts from Palmyra link all nations who have “our common inheritance i.e., Roman law, literature art etc” (Kate da Costa – Sydney University).
Much of what is found in the Louvre was exported with permission from Syria by Ottoman authorities and under current international law (see UNESCO and ICOMOS) such exports are valid. Ethical and moral arguments abound regarding antiquities in museums but if the items are properly protected, described, presented and available to the general public then is the actual location so vital? After all what right does modern Syria have over items designed, constructed and financed by Romans from all over the “empire”. Following that argument maybe modern Italy has just as valid an argument as Syria. Each antiquity debate will depend upon its own unique circumstances but the bottom line must surely be that our common heritage is just that – common. No one can claim exclusive ownership
In the case of stolen items the situation is explicitly stated but enforcement mechanisms are somewhat limited. The UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects was formulated in Rome in 1995 and stipulates in Article 3:
“The possessor of a cultural object that has been stolen shall return it”
This Convention recognises the significance of objects relating to indigenous peoples and also emphasises the importance of items remaining in-situ.
The loopholes and ineffectiveness of international law is well documented and Linda Young in her paper “Australian and International Laws on Export Controls for Cultural Heritage” (1999) expresses “the need for workable systems of export permits which respond to local conditions”. There appears to be a strong argument that, except in the case of looted and stolen items, cultural items that have been legally relocated and are well preserved and readily accessible to the public and academics should be allowed to stay.