#tadmur

[wgm-beautiful-world]

PALMYRA also called TADMUR is an ancient city in south-central SYRIA

[archaeoart]

Ruins of Tadmur Castle, Syria, early 20th century.

[silentambassadors]

الله يرحمه, Khaled al-Asaad.  As a reminder of the horrors inflicted on the Syrian people during these bloodletting days, let’s remember Khaled al-Asaad, head of antiquities at the ancient city of Palmyra, who had, for 40 years, protected the ancient history of the world and, in the end, risked and then gave his life to hide some of the treasures of Palmyra, after working to conceal the priceless artifacts housed at the Palmyra Museum when militant members of the Islamic State captured the modern city of Tadmur and marched for the ancient ruins.  Al-Asaad was caught and subsequently beheaded publicly and on film on this date in 2015.  He was 81 years old.  Alas, poor Syria.  Alas, poor world.

Stamp details: Top left: Issued on: December 12, 1961 From: Damascus, Syria MC #778

Top right: Issued on: October 1, 1969 From: Damascus, Syria MC #1074

Stamp on bottom: Issued on: April 22, 1952 From: Damascus, Syria MC #613

[classicalmonuments]

Theatre of Palmyra

Palmyra (Tadmor), Syria

2nd century CE

The second-century CE theatre was built in the center of a semicircular colonnaded piazza which opens up to the South Gate of Palmyra. 

The seating area is ninety-two meters in diameter, but only the lowest section of twelve rows survive. It is argued that additional rows of seating would have been constructed from wood, and were therefore not preserved. The seating faces north-northeast. The stage of the theater is particularly impressive, with a beautifully decorated façade. The stage measures forty-five and a half by ten and a half meters. It features three doorways in its façade, with one additional doorway on each end. The columns on the stage are decorated with Corinthian capitals. Emperor Nero is known to have placed his statue in the niche above the main entrance of the stage. 

The 82-by-104-metre piazza was located to the south-west of the main colonnaded street. The unfinished cavea is 92 metres in diameter and consists only of an ima cavea, the lowest section of the cavea, directly surrounding the orchestra. The ima cavea is organized into eleven cunei of twelve rows each[3] and faces north-northeast towards the cardo maximus. The theatre's aditus maximi, its main entrances, are 3.5 metres in width, and lead to a stone-paved orchestra with a diameter of 23.5 metres. The orchestra is bounded by a circular wall with a diameter of 20.3 metres. 

The proscenium wall is decorated with ten curved and nine rectangular niches placed alternately. The stage measures 45.5 by 10.5 metres and is accessed by two staircases. The scaenae frons had five doors: the main entrance, or valve regia, built into a broad curved niche; two guest doors on either side of the valve regia, or valve hospitalis, built into shallow rectangular niches; and two extra doors, at either end of the stage.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The theater was harmed by Islamic Terrorist organization ISIS after being used to execute soldiers in 2016.

[classicalmonuments]

Temple of Bel  (3D)

Palmyra (Tadmor), Syria

32 CE

Part I (exterior) || Part II (interior) || Part III (surrounding precinct)

The Temple of Bel (Baal) was a temple located in Palmyra, and consecrated to the Mesopotamian god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Yarhibol, who together formed the center of religious life in Palmyra.

The temple was built on a tell with stratification indicating human occupation that goes back to the third millennium BCE. The area was occupied in pre-Roman periods with a former temple that is usually referred to as "the first temple of Bel" and "the Hellenistic temple". The walls of the temenos and propylaea were constructed in the late first and the first half of the second century CE. The names of three Greeks who worked on the construction of the temple of Bel are known through inscriptions, including a probably Greek architect named Alexandras (Greek: Αλεξάνδρας). However, many Palmyrenes adopted Greco-Roman names and native citizens with the name Alexander are attested in the city.

A discussion of its architectural features demonstrates both the plurality of artistic and architectural styles in the ancient Mediterranean, and the numerous cultures that frequently overlapped and inter-mixed there. Although an inscription attests to the temple’s dedication in 32 CE, its completion was gradual with major architectural elements added over the course of the first and second centuries. 

The organization of the temple's ground plan derive from the traditions of eastern ritual architecture, including independent shrines for distinct divinities and, notably, the bent-axis approach to the cult (i.e. the architecture requires the celebrant to enter the temple and turn 90 degrees in order to view the offering table and cult area). The architectural elements employed in the temple's elevation however, derive from the Graeco-Roman canon, including the use of the Corinthian order as well as various architectural elements of that adorn the frieze course and roofline.In its outward appearance, the temple seems to derive from the canon of Hellenistic Greek architecture.The temple itself sits within a bounded, architectural precinct measuring approximately 205 meters per side. This precinct, surrounded by a portico (a colonnaded entryway), encloses the temple of Bel as well as other cult buildings. The temple itself has a very deep foundation that supports a stepped platform. At the level of the stylobate (the platform atop the steps) the area measures 55 x 30 meters and the cella (the inner chamber of the temple that held the cult statue), stands over 14 meters in height and measures 39.45 x 13.86 meters.

The cella was lit by two pairs of windows cut high in the two long walls. In three corners of the building stairwells could be found that led up to rooftop terraces. In the court there were the remains of a basin, an altar, a dining hall, and a building with niches. And in the northwest corner lay a ramp along which sacrificial animals were led into the temple area. There were three monumental gateways, of which the entry was through the west gate.

Palmyra's remarkable 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel was demolished in an atrocious crime against mankind and history in August 2015 by the Islamic militant group ISIS.  (post-destruction 3D)

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Main gate

North side

Art from the sanctuary

[classicalmonuments]

Temple of Bel  (3D)

Palmyra (Tadmor), Syria

32 CE

Part I (exterior) || Part II (interior) || Part III (surrounding precinct)

The Temple of Bel (Baal) was a temple located in Palmyra, and consecrated to the Mesopotamian god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Yarhibol, who together formed the center of religious life in Palmyra.

The temple was built on a tell with stratification indicating human occupation that goes back to the third millennium BCE. The area was occupied in pre-Roman periods with a former temple that is usually referred to as "the first temple of Bel" and "the Hellenistic temple". The walls of the temenos and propylaea were constructed in the late first and the first half of the second century CE. The names of three Greeks who worked on the construction of the temple of Bel are known through inscriptions, including a probably Greek architect named Alexandras (Greek: Αλεξάνδρας). However, many Palmyrenes adopted Greco-Roman names and native citizens with the name Alexander are attested in the city.

A discussion of its architectural features demonstrates both the plurality of artistic and architectural styles in the ancient Mediterranean, and the numerous cultures that frequently overlapped and inter-mixed there. Although an inscription attests to the temple’s dedication in 32 CE, its completion was gradual with major architectural elements added over the course of the first and second centuries.

The organization of the temple's ground plan derive from the traditions of eastern ritual architecture, including independent shrines for distinct divinities and, notably, the bent-axis approach to the cult (i.e. the architecture requires the celebrant to enter the temple and turn 90 degrees in order to view the offering table and cult area). The architectural elements employed in the temple's elevation however, derive from the Graeco-Roman canon, including the use of the Corinthian order as well as various architectural elements of that adorn the frieze course and roofline .In its outward appearance, the temple seems to derive from the canon of Hellenistic Greek architecture .The temple itself sits within a bounded, architectural precinct measuring approximately 205 meters per side. This precinct, surrounded by a portico (a colonnaded entryway), encloses the temple of Bel as well as other cult buildings. The temple itself has a very deep foundation that supports a stepped platform. At the level of the stylobate (the platform atop the steps) the area measures 55 x 30 meters and the cella (the inner chamber of the temple that held the cult statue), stands over 14 meters in height and measures 39.45 x 13.86 meters.

Palmyra's remarkable 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel was demolished in an atrocious crime against mankind and history in August 2015 by the Islamic militant group ISIS. (post-destruction 3D)

Fragments in the courtyard

Sources: 1, 2, 3

[classicalmonuments]

Nymphae of Palmyra

Palmyra (Tadmor), Syria

2nd century CE

Aqueduct pipes have been found along the main colonnaded street; they supplied water to fountains and public baths which were located alongside the street. Baths and fountains were an absolute requirement for a city which wanted to have a high status in the Roman Empire.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

[classicalmonuments]

Temple of the Standards (Principia of Diocletians Camp)

Palmyra (Tadmor), Syria

4th century CE

The so-called Temple of the Standards in Palmyra, Syria is what remains of a Roman principia, military headquarters, in the Camp of Diocletian. The camp is located within the wall and on the western edge of the city. The camp with its civic and private buildings was part of a larger series of civic renovations that took place during the reign of Diocletian. These improvements included the camp, the wall that surrounds much of the city, and the Baths of Diocletian in the eastern side of the city. The placement of the principia within the camp and within the city allow it to exert control over the city.

The principia is the symbolic and physical center of a Roman military encampment. In Palmyra, the principia is only approachable via a monumental staircase that directs the viewer towards the center. They enter a deep portico to see a rectangular room that ends in an apse that houses the military standards. The standards, signa, were the embodiment of Roman power. A legion would be disbanded if they lost their standards; it was the worst dishonor that they could suffer. Standards fulfilled various roles and came in many shapes and sizes. All of these would have been housed in the shrine.

Rome relied heavily on built environments to establish their power, and the principia in Palmyra is no different. It is elevated due to its position on a hill and its elevated base. A taller building or a building located on higher ground indicates its importance in the social hierarchy. The correlation between height of a building and status is a cross-cultural one. Visitors to Palmyra would not have been left wondering as to who was in control of the city. Scale plays a role in the establishment of political power. Structures that were grand in scale act as highly visible symbols of national prestige and power. As such, it was used to confirm or announce a hierarchy. 

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5