An Ancient City in the Desert

Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert. The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (which means "the town that repels" in Amorite and "the indomitable town" in Aramaic is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.

Though the ancient site fell into disuse after the 16th century, it is still known as Tadmor in Arabic (aka Tedmor), and there is a newer town next to the ruins of the same name. The Palmyrenes constructed a series of large-scale monuments containing funerary art such as limestone slabs with human busts representing the deceased.

Palmyra was once a flourishing Roman city. Founded in the oasis in the desert, the city gets its name from growing around trees.

Now it is a small village, whose inhabitants are all busy servicing tourists, most of them spend the night remains. In the village, but there are good tsivillizatsii: normal hotels, wi-fi, hot water and beer, sold illegally.

When we arrived at Palmyra, the sky was cloudy. After a little rain in the desert of Wadi Rum I'm not surprised at anything (my school notions of desert winds scatter were those most deserts). I was hoping that the clouds will be in the evening in a good light, but they disappeared, so a few daytime shots. This is the Arc de Triomphe.

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The main street of the city of Rome was not straight. In one corner stood and Arc de Triomphe. It was triangular, so the street from one and the other belonged to the arch at right angles. This clever device invented by an architect to visually straighten the street.

Almost the entire territory of ancient Palmyra is available at any time. However, the temple of the god Bel at night is closing. For the massive walls can only get during the day and only for denyuzhku. It is the ruins of buildings and galleries around the temple.

It is worth to pause and give some explanations. According to legend, Palmyra was founded by King Solomon as the best bulwark against the attacks of the hordes of Aramaic in his possession. Nebuchadnezzar, in the invasion of Jerusalem, destroyed it, but soon, thanks to its convenient location between the Mediterranean Sea, on the one hand, and the valley of the Euphrates, on the other hand, it was again rebuilt and shelter for trade caravans and stowage of goods on their way from West to East and vice versa. In Palmyra had its own gods, chief of which was Bell. He built a great temple. When the Romans proclaimed Palmyra their colony, they did not destroy the existing churches in full. They simply identified with Jupiter Belus and the temple was rebuilt a little in his own way.

The remains of the temple of Bel.

The central street of the city began at the temple of Bel. His first rotation was she doing at the Arc de Triomphe. The second time the street changed direction after about 300 meters. This place was built tetrapilon. Here he is pictured covered by the setting sun.

Set in the ruins.

Strange as it seems, but some of the ruins illuminated at night. Worked well if 30% of the projectors (in theory should illuminate the entire central colonnade), but even that was good news:)

Arc de Triomphe, for it is a colonnade of the main street. Far away on the mountain you can see the citadel, built in the 16th century (ie already in the Islamic era).

View from the Arc de Triomphe in the temple of Bel.

Arch again

 

Again, the complex of the temple of Bel. It may seem that the wall is quite destroyed, and through it easy to climb. However, at the lowest point it is about 3 human growth, steep and tightly contiguous rocks. I suspect that this is now the Arabs have tried, in order to earn denyuzhku. In general, it is clear that the temple was huge.

The classic form - the arch and the citadel

At some point we Serezha got the idea to climb up to some ruins. Wearing a headlamp flashlight, we climbed:) Like a success:) Far right one can see the lights of modern settlement.

View from the main street at dawn (about 4 in the morning, cold, by the way, was) in the direction of the arch.

The columns remained above the tabs. At first I thought they kept canopy over the street, rescued from the sun. It turned out that they were bronze statues of rulers, military leaders and eminent citizens simply. Bronze, as usual, steal and melted, and the tabs were. Look - they have in other pictures.

Oasis for the sun rises.

Then I realized that I had to run to shoot a classic look in the morning light

Do you know what the great thing in the morning shooting? There is no tourists, no annoying verblyudovodov and other turistoobsluzhivateley.

We walked through the ruins completely alone. The rising sun slowly roasting our backs, still dressed in jacket and termuhu (at night there are about five, and a day above 30!).

Colonnade main street leading to tetrapilonu. It is worth noting that in ancient Palmyra was running water. The remains of clay pipes can still be seen in some places the streets. Located along the colonnade built craft, baths, retreating side streets.

For example, a side street. And I stand, it seems, in the bath:)

Tetrapilon. Once inside the towers at the corners stood the statue.

Temple of Baal Shamin,.

Now we have a failure occurs in time, and we are transported into the evening the same day. In fact, the day we fill up what we did not have enough at night. Sometimes ate Shawarma. Well, just wandered through the ruins away from the tourist groups of grandmothers and grandfathers of France from Germany.

If you climb a hill to the citadel, you can see the following. Clearly visible main street, 2 times change direction. In the foreground (where the street ends) is the camp of Diocletian. In the background is visible a small strip of trees - this is an oasis. And then - the desert, desert, desert.

The view from the other mountains. Arc de Triomphe on the right, center, the remains of the agora, for them - the amphitheater (he recovered a little), then the central colonnade, the oasis and the desert again.

If you look from the mountain to the other side, then ... that's a hilly rocky desert.

What the world is that the body is born, lives and dies. Residents of Palmyra, of course, were not the exception. We had somewhere to do with the body gone to another world. For this purpose built towers in the country in which people were buried. In one of the turret could be several floors and each placed a lot of coffins. Often, the interiors were decorated with towers. For example carved ceiling was made.

Very few survived the towers completely. Now these stones children play.

By sunset we return to the city. This agora.

And again, 100 500 columns. Columns-columns-columns.

I wanted to try to remove the sunset sky. Gone as far as possible, took a tele:)

This citadel. I mean she has not written anything about. It can get up and go. But there is boring, and at the entrance selling all sorts of tourist junk.

At dawn, still wanted to remove the temple of Bel. I had to look for, where you can climb the wall. Found some guard booth, attached to his wall. Climbed. On the roof was broken glass in vtsementirovannoe stones. But it is whittle down - apparently people climbs. And may the wind and sand do their job.

From another point.

Oh and one more frame arch.