The Oxford Handbook of Palmyra

The monumental remains of Palmyra (also known as Tadmor) have fascinated travelers and scholars for centuries. The Oxford Handbook of Palmyra gives a detailed analysis of the archaeology and history of this ancient oasis city in the Syrian Desert, spanning evidence from several millennia. With contributions from thirty archaeologists, epigraphists, historians, and philologists, this book covers the city's archaeological findings and history from its earliest mentions in the pre-Roman era to the destruction of many of its monuments during the Syrian Civil War and the subsequent looting. The authors recap evidence and present significant new findings and analyses from fieldwork they or others undertook in Palmyra prior to the 2011 conflict and discuss the recent occupation by ISIS and calls to defend the site's remains from current and future threats.

A broad range of themes are covered, which not only relate to the archaeology and history of the site, but also to its standing and relationship with the rest of the ancient world as a major trade hub connecting routes from East to West during the Roman period. Thirty-seven chapters relay firsthand expert knowledge in an accessible style and include up-to-date bibliographies, making this handbook an ideal and comprehensive resource for professional researchers, students, and anyone interested in this major UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Rubina Raja is Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology at Aarhus University, Denmark and Director of the Danish National Research Foundation's Centre of Excellence for Urban Network Evolutions and the Palmyra Portrait Project. She has published extensively on culture and societies in the Eastern Roman Empire. Her monographs include Pearl of the Desert: A History of Palmyra (2022), Urban Development and Regional Identity in the Eastern Roman Provinces, 50 BC--AD 250: Aphrodisias, Athens, Ephesos, Gerasa (2012), and The Ingholt Archive (2023), published in four volumes and co-authored with Olympia Bobou, Amy Miranda, and Jean-Baptiste Yon.

Contributors

1. Palmyra-Tadmor in the Syrian Desert: An Introduction to the Handbook of Palmyra
Rubina Raja

Part One Setting and Landscape

2. Climate and Environment of Palmyra and the Syrian Desert
Eivind Heldaas Seland
3. The Palmyrene: Hinterland and Sedentarization
Jørgen Christian Meyer

Part Two Tadmor-Palmyra in a Longue Durée Perspective

4. Glimpses of Tadmur before Alexander: The Pre-Hellenistic Evidence
John Healey
5. Hellenistic Palmyra: A Fata Morgana?
Andreas Schmidt-Colinet
6. Palmyra: The Development of an Ancient City
Michal Gawlikowski
7. Palmyrene Identity and Community: Continuity and Change
Andrew Smith II
8. Palmyra and its "Dark Ages" (273--750): An Archaeological and Historical Reassessment
Emanuele E. Intagliata
9. Palmyra in Late Antique and Medieval Times
Slawomir Kowalski
10. Palmyra and the Third-Century Crisis
Udo Hartmann
11. Queen Zenobia: The Rise and Fall of Her Palmyra
Nathanael Andrade
12. Palmyra and the Military: From the Roman Period to the Islamic Conquest
Emanuele E. Intagliata

Part Three Palmyra and Language
13. A Bilingual World? Language and Epigraphy in Palmyra
Jean-Baptiste Yon
14. The Palmyrene Tax Tariff
John Healey
15. Aramaic Legal Language from Palmyrene Monumental Inscriptions
Eleonora Cussini

Part Four Palmyra and its Contacts
16. The Palmyrene Diaspora
Katia Schörle
17. Palmyrene Trading Networks
Eivind Heldaas Seland
18. Palmyrenes in Rome
Eugenia Schneider
19. Palmyra and the Parthians
Peter Edwell
20. Palmyra and Dura-Europos: Contact, Impact, and Differences
Lucinda Dirven

Part Five Palmyra and its Monuments
21. Urban Layout and Public Space: The Monuments of Palmyra in the Roman and Late Antique Periods Emanuele E. Intagliata
22. Domestic Architecture in Palmyra
Gioia Zenoni
23. Religious Architecture: The Temples and Sanctuaries
Robyn Le Blanc
24. Built for Eternity: The Funerary Monuments of Palmyra
Agnes Henning
25. The Fortifications and Military Architecture in Palmyra
Karol Juchniewicz

Part Six Palmyra and its Art
26. Public Sculptures from Palmyra
Dagmara Wielgosz-Rondolino
27. The Palmyrene Funerary Sculpture
Rubina Raja
28. Palmyrene Women: Breaking the Glass Ceiling or Window Dressing?
Maura Heyn
29. Representations of Men in Palmyra
Maura Heyn
30. Religious Life and Priestly Representations in Palmyra
Rubina Raja
31. Children in Palmyra
Olympia Bobou
32. The Production Economy of Funerary Portraiture
Julia Steding
33. The Banqueting Tesserae from Palmyra: Tokens for Religious Events
Rubina Raja
34. Palmyrene Coinage
Nathalia Kristensen
35. Wall Paintings and Stucco Work in Palmyrene Funerary Hypogea
Hélène Eristov, Claude Vibert-Guigue, Nicole Blanc
36. A Note on Quarries and Textiles in Palmyra
Andreas Schmidt-Colinet
37. Postludium: Palmyra and the Civil War
Annie Sartre-Fauriat