Palmyra.
Its beauty is quiet, natural, the city seems to continue the surrounding nature.
From the yellow sand of a valley lined with lilac hills, columns with capitals - curly, like the crowns of palm trees, rise.
Many people say about such places, “What to see there? A pile of stones … . And yet, getting into such historical places, I feel like a grain of sand in the ocean of time. Something comes from these remains of bygone civilizations! On the one hand, there is some kind of power and incomprehensible power! And on the other hand, such fragility that at times it is scary for our civilization. Once it seemed that these monuments would remain like this for many more centuries and we would have time to look at them and touch them. However, the events of recent years tell us that if something has stood for several thousand years, it does not mean at all that it will survive now.
See how it looked five years ago …
Palmyra (also known as Tadmor) was a very important city in ancient times, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 120 km southwest of the Euphrates. For a long time, Palmyra has been an important stopping point for caravans crossing the Syrian Desert, and has often been called the "Bride of the Desert". The earliest documentary evidence of the city is found on Babylonian tablets found at Mari. In them, he is mentioned under the Semitic name Tadmor, which means "city reflecting the attacks" in Amorite language or "rebellious city" in Aramaic. Now, near the ruins of Palmyra, there is a settlement of Tadmor. The inhabitants of Palmyra have erected huge monuments with such ritual objects of art as limestone slabs with busts of the dead.
Promotional video:
Leaves and bunches of grapes, camels, eagles are carved on golden walls heated by the sun. Until our time, Palmyra has remained unreconstructed; later layers do not obscure it.
There are many amazing paradoxes in history: Pompeii, for example, preserved volcanic lava for us, and Palmyra - human oblivion. She was abandoned by people and forgotten.
And once it all started with Efka - an underground spring with lukewarm water, giving off sulfur. Desperate travelers, wanderers, merchants made a halt here, watered tired camels, horses and donkeys, pitched tents for the night. Over time, a kind of transshipment point has grown here - a brisk intersection of purchase and sale. Then it turned into a city of customs, inns and taverns. The city changed, traders, peddlers, horsemen, vagabonds, warriors, priests of various religions, healers, escaped slaves, masters of all trades.
Slaves and slaves from Egypt and Asia Minor were sold here. Wool dyed with purple was highly prized; the merchants, extolling their wares, argued that compared to Palmyra, other purple fabrics looked faded, as if they had been sprinkled with ashes. Spices and aromatic substances were brought from Arabia and India. There was a constant demand for wine, salt, clothing, harness, shoes.
Transactions were made under the arches of the Arc de Triomphe, there was a multilingual drone, but the Europeans called it Triumphal. In their performances, arches and gates are erected to glorify high-profile military victories and in honor of great commanders. But the Palmyra architects solved another problem: the double gates of the arch were set at an angle and, as it were, concealed the break in the street, straightened it.
The second important intersection of the city, Tetrapilon, has survived to this day. It was built of granite monoliths on four huge pedestals. Here, too, trade was in full swing, the stone floors of the shops have survived to this day.
There were many churches in the city, they were built cheerfully, conscientiously.
The Palmyras were a multilingual people, wanderers of the desert, they did not want to obey one god in any way. In their religious rituals, they most often remembered Bel, the god of the sky, one of the most interesting temples in the Middle East is dedicated to him (the prototype of Baalbek). The temple stood out among all the buildings of the city, had a central hall with an area of 200 square meters. It was then that the glory of the beauty and perfection of Palmyra spread throughout the Ancient East.
There were three entrances to the temple, decorated with gilded panels. Nowadays, they are replaced by a boardwalk through which tourists enter the sanctuary. The broken slab is crowned with dragon teeth, giving the sanctuary a formidable look. A special entrance has been preserved, which was made for the camels, bulls and goats doomed to slaughter, as well as a drain for blood - the god Bel demanded sacrifices.
In Palmyra, a temple was built in honor of the god Nabo - the son of Marduk, the ruler of the Babylonian sky. Nabo was in charge of the fate of mortals and was the messenger of the gods of the diverse Palmyrian pantheon. A native of Mesopotamia, he got along with the Phoenician Baalshamin, the Arab Allat and the Olympic Zeus.
From the temple of Nabo there is only one foundation, from the temple of Allat - only doors, but the temple of Baalshamin (the Phoenician god of thunder and fertility) still stands today.
And the earthly affairs of Palmyra were in charge of the leaders, priests, wealthy merchants who sat in the Senate. Their decisions were approved by the governor appointed from Rome. Emperor Adrian, who visited Palmyra, gave the city some independence - he recalled the governor, lowered taxes, and transferred power to the local leader.
Years passed, decades passed, and gradually Palmyra turned into one of the most prosperous cities in the Middle East. Just like in Rome, gladiator fights were held here, young men fought with wild animals. The upper class frantiques dressed in the latest Roman fashion, or even outstripped it.
Children were given Roman names, often in combination with Palmyra.
The ancient Palmyrans loved to erect monuments to each other. Almost all the columns of the Great Colonnade, temples and public buildings have stone shelves in the middle, on which there were sculptural images of noble and respected people. At one time, the columns of Agara (the Palmyra forum, surrounded by porticoes and lined with busts) held about 200 such images.
But little by little, the Palmyra leaders stopped listening to the Senate and began to pursue their policies. The ruler of Palmyra, Odenath, defeated the troops of the Persian king himself, but he was well aware that any of his attempts to rise would cause fear and anger in Rome. But regardless of his will, both Palmyra and he himself were gaining increasing influence in the Middle East.
Then Rome resorted (as is very often the case) to a simple means - the physical elimination of a person. The Roman authorities of the country of Suri in 267 (or 266) invited Odenath to discuss current affairs in Emessa (the modern city of Homs). And there, during a meeting, he, along with his eldest son Herodian, fell by the hand of his nephew Meon.
According to other historical information, his wife Zenobia, who was the stepmother of Herodian, took part in the murder of Odenat. She allegedly wanted to eliminate both of them in order to clear the way to power for her young son Vaballat. In fact, the energetic widow ruled on her own. The loud glory of Palmyra and the expansion of the borders of the state are associated with her name. She endured the hardships of military campaigns as well as any of her soldiers.
In the local language, Zenobia's name sounded like Bat-Zobbi. Translated into Russian, this means - the daughter of a merchant, merchant. She was a very beautiful woman, this can be seen even on the coins that preserved her image. “Matte, dark skin and black eyes of striking beauty, a lively look with divine shine. She dressed in luxurious outfits, knew how to wear military armor and weapons."
According to the testimony of ancient chroniclers, Zenobia was an educated woman, appreciated scientists, favorably disposed towards philosophers and sages.
The Roman emperor Gallienus hoped that Odenates' second son would not be able to rule Palmyra due to his youth. However, he did not take into account that the widow, the beautiful Zenobia, the smartest and most educated woman, was ready to engage in government activities. Her teacher, the famous Syrian philosopher Cassius Longinus of Emesa, advised her to enthrone Vaballat and become regent with him. With great caution, she waited for the hour of the expulsion of the Roman legions from the Middle East, in order to establish forever the power of her dynasty in the kingdom that she would create.
For the time being, Zenobia carefully concealed her intentions in the hope that her son would be allowed to inherit his father's throne. But Rome was afraid of strengthening the outskirts and retained for the ruler of Palmyra only the title of a vassal king. And then Zenobia declared war on the powerful Rome.
The Romans were convinced that the troops of Palmyra would refuse to go into battle under the command of a woman. And they miscalculated. The Palmyra chiefs Zabbei and Zabda swore allegiance to Zenobia. The army that went over to her side soon captured Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and in the north reached the Bosporus and Dardanelles.
Zenobia's military victories alarmed Rome. The Roman Emperor Lucius Domitius Aurelian decided to march against her army. After the defeat at Homs, Zenobia hoped to sit out in Palmyra, but she could not withstand the long siege. It only remained to take out all the wealth of the city and retreat beyond the Euphrates - and there the width of the river and the accuracy of the famous Palmyra archers would save. But Aurelian's cavalry followed on the heels, and at the very river Zenobia was captured. Palmyra has fallen.
This was seventeen centuries ago. The further fate of Zenobia is mysterious and gives rise to many guesses and assumptions: as if the self-willed queen was killed, as if she was led through Rome in gold chains, as if she was married to a Roman senator and she lived until old age.
Taking Palmyra, Roman troops shot down the statue of Zenobia, but the city was not touched. Under the Emperor Diocletian, construction was even resumed here: Zenobia's residence was turned into a Roman military camp, the barracks were expanded here, the water supply was improved, and a Christian basilica was erected.
1900
Several times Palmyra revolted for independence, but unsuccessfully.
Gradually, the city nobility left the city, merchants deprived of ties with the East left, and after them caravan drivers, officials, and the most skilled artisans were left idle. And Palmyra began to languish, turned into an ordinary border post, a place of exile.
The Arabs took it without a fight, the townspeople could not even resist. Yes, they no longer lived in the city, but huddled outside the walls of Bel's sanctuary, stuck there many dark and cramped adobe shacks. After 2-3 generations, no one remembered either the names of the gods, or the names of temples, or the purpose of public buildings.
Then for many years the Turks came, who themselves had no idea about the culture of the peoples under their control and did not allow others to study it. Excavation was prohibited throughout the Ottoman Empire. No one cared about the past, about the brilliant history of the now dying city. The dust of oblivion hid Palmyra from the living memory of mankind. Palmyra had to be rediscovered.
History attributes the honor of discovering Palmyra to the Italian Pietro della Balle. For a long time, with great difficulties, travelers in the 17th century reached Palmyra, but when they returned to Europe, they simply did not believe them. A city in the Syrian desert? How can this be? But 100 years later, the artist Wood brought to England drawings made in Palmyra. With the publication of these engravings, the fashion for Palmyra began, detailed descriptions of the ancient city, travel sketches appeared.
The most interesting discovery of that time was made by our compatriot, St. Petersburg resident S. S. Abamelek-Lazarev. He discovered and published a Greco-Aramaic inscription detailing customs regulations (the so-called "Palmyrian Tariff"). Today this document is kept in the Hermitage. In ancient times, local residents called (however, they still call) Palmyra "Tadmor". Translated, this word means "to be wonderful, wonderful."
In the XX century, they became interested in it seriously. Gradually, but steadily, Russia's interest in Palmyra grew. The Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople equipped an expedition, the researchers took many photographs, drawings, diagrams, plans, topographic maps of the city. On the basis of these materials, Professor F. Uspensky later published a detailed work.
The colonnades of the legendary Palmyra towering in the desert still attract travelers who are surprised to discover two neighboring Palmyras - two Tadmors. One of them is ancient, the other is new, young. In one of them, people have not lived for a long time, it has become an eternal museum, in the other, since 1928, Bedouins, a poor people, began to settle. In 2003, the Syrian government issued a law to build a new Palmyra. The city began to be improved, new streets were built, electricity was installed. The industrious inhabitants have laid here palm groves, orchards, vegetable gardens, plowed fields, raised livestock. Traditionally, Palmyrans are engaged in trade, weave carpets, scarves, sew national clothes and sell all this to tourists. New Palmyra does not compete with the ancient one, for it itself is its continuation.
Palmyra was originally founded as a settlement in an oasis in the northern Syrian desert called Tadmor. Despite the fact that the Roman province of Syria was formed in 64 BC, the population of Tadmor (mostly Aramaic and Arabs) remained semi-independent for more than half a century. They controlled trade routes between the Mediterranean coast of Syria and the lands of the Parthians east of the Euphrates. Palmyra was located just on two strategic trade routes: from the Far East and India to the Persian Gulf, as well as on the Great Silk Road.
Under the Roman emperor Tiberius (14-37 AD), Tadmor was incorporated into the province of Syria and renamed Palmyra, "the city of palm trees." After the capture of the Nabataean kingdom by the Romans in 106, Palmyra became the most important political and commercial center in the Middle East, taking over from Petra.
In 129, Emperor Hadrian granted Palmyra the status of a "free city", giving the inhabitants the right of free settlement and significant trade privileges. In 217, the emperor Caracalla gave Palmyra the rights of a colony and appointed Senator Septimius Odenatus as ruler. Soon Odenath himself and his son were killed as a result of rebellious conspiracies. In 267, the wife of the second son of Odenatus, Zenobia, became the ruler of Palmyra, under whom the city flourished. Zenobia was a very ambitious woman and even stated that she was descended from Cleopatra.
In 272, Emperor Aurelius captured Palmyra and brought Zenobia to Rome as his trophy. In 273, Palmyra was destroyed to the ground, and all inhabitants were massacred as a result of an act of retaliation for the revolt of the local population, during which about 600 Roman archers were killed in the city.
In the VI century. Emperor Justinian tried to rebuild the city and rebuilt defensive structures.
In 634 the city was captured by the Arabs.
The strongest earthquake in 1089 practically wiped out Palmyra from the face of the earth.
In 1678 Palmyra was discovered by two English merchants living in the city of Aleppo in Syria.
Since 1924, archaeological excavations have been actively conducted in Palmyra by scientists from Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and since May 1959, Poland.
In 1980, UNESCO included Palmyra on the list of World Heritage Sites.
The history of Palmyra - a fabulous city in the middle of the desert and a kind of "window from Europe to Asia" - through a poetic metaphor was connected with another city on earth - St. Petersburg. In 1755, a short retelling of a book about Palmyra, published in 1753 in London by English travelers G. Dawkins and R. Wood, was published in the St. Petersburg journal "Monthly Compositions for the Use and Amusement of Employees". The text of this publication in Russian, especially the comment about the art of Palmyra, which flourished at a time when "the arts of Greece and Rome were already elevated to a high level of perfection", was associated with the "Greek project" of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna, the future Empress Catherine II … This is how the image of "Northern Palmyra" arose.
Catherine II named her grandchildren Alexander (in honor of Alexander the Great, who opened the way to Asia) and Constantine (in memory of the Byzantine emperor), which corresponded to the plans to create a great empire in the Balkans. Palmyra in the minds of the enlightened people of Catherine's time was associated with the idea of "expanding the window" created by Tsar Peter, not only to Europe, but also to Asia, and Empress Catherine compared herself with the wayward Tsarina Zenobia, the widow of Tsar Odenates, who after the death of her husband decided to create a huge kingdom between West and East.