Ancient site · City
Palmyra
Also known as Tadmor, Tadmur
An oasis city in the Syrian desert that grew rich on caravan trade between the Roman Empire, Mesopotamia and beyond. Its merchants paid for the Great Colonnade, the Temple of Bel (dedicated in 32 CE) and tall tower tombs.
In the 260s its rulers Odaenathus and then Queen Zenobia briefly controlled much of the Roman East, until Rome sacked the city in 273 CE. ISIS blew up the Temple of Bel and other monuments in 2015.
- Dates
- early 2nd millennium BCE – 1932 CE; height 1st–3rd century CE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 34.55° N, 38.27° E
How we know
Palmyra is named in texts from about 2000 BCE, and thousands of its own inscriptions survive.
Nearby sites
- Tell Abu Hureyra c. 11,300–5800 BCE
- Ebla (Tell Mardikh) c. 3500 BCE – 7th century CE; archives c. 2400–2300 BCE
- Ugarit (Ras Shamra) c. 7000–1185 BCE; golden age c. 1500–1200 BCE
- ʿAin Mallaha (Eynan) c. 12,400–10,200 BCE
- Karahan Tepe c. 9750–9400 BCE (dates still being refined)
- Tell Halaf c. 6100–5400 BCE (Halaf village); later the Aramaean city of Guzana