DOI Artikel:
Gawlikowska, Krystyna; Assa'd, Khaled: The collection of glass vessels in the Museum of Palmyra
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26419#0018
6 Krystyna Gawlikowska & Khaled As‘ad - The Collection of Glass Vessels in the Museum of Palmyra
The area immediately to the NE of the rampart of Diocletian and Justinian was considered of little
or no archaeological interest and consequently selected in the thirties of this century as the site of the
new village built for the inhabitants of the traditional settlement in and around the Bel Temple.
Unfortunately, the resettlement was not preceded by recording of visible remains or by trial soundings.
Between the site of the Roman camp, to be seen only on air photographs of 1930, and the late city wall
a huge necropolis has been in this way condemned to destruction.
The Museum of Palmyra preserves some tombstones recovered while the foundations of new houses
were laid. As Jean Cantineau says, "on découvrit en creusant les fondations un grand nombre de
sépultures pauvres, ne renfermant qu’un seul corps, placé d’ordinaire dans un sarcophage en plâtre, avec
un mobilier funéraire se limitant à quelques bijoux très simples. Sur presque chaque tombe se trouvait
une petite stèle en pierre..." 3. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the exact location of the graves.
Only the inscribed stelae were published by J. Cantineau. Most of them are rather early, and only one
is positively dated in the 2nd century A.D.
A handful of Christian epitaphs, read by Henri Seyrig, were added to this publication 4. When dated,
they are of the 5th and 6th centuries, and exemplify a deeply transformed society of late Palmyra, having
adopted different beliefs, different proper names, and also different standard of craftsmanship, induced
by the impoverished conditions of the city and its people.
Much later, in 1967, in the process of arranging a garden behind the new building of the Museum,
a substantial portion of the cemetery came to light, just in front of the late rampart. During three
subsequent seasons 78 graves were explored in the garden 5. All were lined and covered with stone slabs,
all oriented East-West, all containing skeletons accompanied by modest belongings such as glass bracelets
and beads, bronze crosses, bells, rings, belt-buckles, and even gold earrings. Among objects other than
personal adornment there were quite often glass vessels, and also some alabaster bowls and bone kohl
containers.
More tombs were discovered when the town hall (baladiyah) was built opposite the Museum to the
North, and a street traced to the East of both buildings. Three blocks away to the East, on the lot
belonging to Ahmad Awad al-Ghazzul, further 9 graves of the same kind were found by chance in 1970.
All these finds belong apparently to one large burial ground, estimated at 500 m at least either way.
3 J. Cantineau, Inventaire des inscriptions de Palmyre, VIII, Beyrouth 1932, p. 4-33, nos. T54 (dated: VIII, 2, 140/141 A.D.).
4 Ibidem, VIII, 2 (1936), p. 128-133, nos. 210-218.
5 Kh. As’ad, AAAS, 18, 1968, p. 129-132.
The area immediately to the NE of the rampart of Diocletian and Justinian was considered of little
or no archaeological interest and consequently selected in the thirties of this century as the site of the
new village built for the inhabitants of the traditional settlement in and around the Bel Temple.
Unfortunately, the resettlement was not preceded by recording of visible remains or by trial soundings.
Between the site of the Roman camp, to be seen only on air photographs of 1930, and the late city wall
a huge necropolis has been in this way condemned to destruction.
The Museum of Palmyra preserves some tombstones recovered while the foundations of new houses
were laid. As Jean Cantineau says, "on découvrit en creusant les fondations un grand nombre de
sépultures pauvres, ne renfermant qu’un seul corps, placé d’ordinaire dans un sarcophage en plâtre, avec
un mobilier funéraire se limitant à quelques bijoux très simples. Sur presque chaque tombe se trouvait
une petite stèle en pierre..." 3. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the exact location of the graves.
Only the inscribed stelae were published by J. Cantineau. Most of them are rather early, and only one
is positively dated in the 2nd century A.D.
A handful of Christian epitaphs, read by Henri Seyrig, were added to this publication 4. When dated,
they are of the 5th and 6th centuries, and exemplify a deeply transformed society of late Palmyra, having
adopted different beliefs, different proper names, and also different standard of craftsmanship, induced
by the impoverished conditions of the city and its people.
Much later, in 1967, in the process of arranging a garden behind the new building of the Museum,
a substantial portion of the cemetery came to light, just in front of the late rampart. During three
subsequent seasons 78 graves were explored in the garden 5. All were lined and covered with stone slabs,
all oriented East-West, all containing skeletons accompanied by modest belongings such as glass bracelets
and beads, bronze crosses, bells, rings, belt-buckles, and even gold earrings. Among objects other than
personal adornment there were quite often glass vessels, and also some alabaster bowls and bone kohl
containers.
More tombs were discovered when the town hall (baladiyah) was built opposite the Museum to the
North, and a street traced to the East of both buildings. Three blocks away to the East, on the lot
belonging to Ahmad Awad al-Ghazzul, further 9 graves of the same kind were found by chance in 1970.
All these finds belong apparently to one large burial ground, estimated at 500 m at least either way.
3 J. Cantineau, Inventaire des inscriptions de Palmyre, VIII, Beyrouth 1932, p. 4-33, nos. T54 (dated: VIII, 2, 140/141 A.D.).
4 Ibidem, VIII, 2 (1936), p. 128-133, nos. 210-218.
5 Kh. As’ad, AAAS, 18, 1968, p. 129-132.