DOI Artikel:
Juchniewicz, Karol; Assa'd, Khaled; Hariri, Khalil: The defense wall in Palmyra after recent Syrian excavations
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26422#0059
The defense wall in Palmyra
AFTER RECENT SYRIAN EXCAVATIONS
Karol Juchniewicz, Khaled Ascad, Khalil al Hariri
One of the most important monuments of ancient Palmyra, the Wall of Diocletian survives in fairly
good condition [Fig, 2] and is regularly maintained and preserved through the efforts of the authori-
ties of the Palmyra Museum. In the past few years the northern section of the wall from the so-called
'Indian Gate7 to Tomb 176 (for tomb location, see Gawlikowski 1970: Plan VII) has been consolidated
and restored, especially the upper parts of the wall and some of the gates. Archaeological excava-
tions by archaeologists from the Palmyra Museum carried out on the outside of the line of defenses
have uncovered the moat and, in places, sections of the wall foundation. The results have contrib-
uted new data on the technique of construction of the fortifications.
A closer look at the run of the wall in the sections explored by Syrian archaeologists comple-
ments Dora Crouch's remarks of 1975 (Crouch 1975: 6-44). Particular séchons of the wall have already
been designated with letters of the alphabet by von Gerkan (1935: Fig. I) and I propose to uphold
this system. And so, C is the section encircling the Camp of Diocletian to the west of the town, D is
the entire northern sector of the fortifications and E is the section running down Wadi Qubur and
closing off the town from the south. However, the constituent elements of this defense wall, such as
towers and gates, have never been recorded in one consistent system. Therefore, I propose to desig-
nate the towers and gates with the letter T or G respectively, followed by a running number [Fig. '/.].
Since towers are fairly frequent, this system will provide a convenient way for referring to particular
sections of the wall. Moreover, considering that the towers can be categorized by shape or origin
into three separate groups, an additional designation will be used with the T to identify the different
kinds: Ts — square tower, Tu — U-shaped tower, Tt — tomb tower). The designation is meant to
reflect the final state of the feature, that is, a square tower transformed into a U-shaped one will be
designated as Tu.
The Palmyra fortifications have seen their share of discussion and controversy, regarding their
chronology as much as their constituent elements as noted by Crouch. There has never been any
regular excavation project concentrated on the defenses, hence the precise number of the towers
and gates remains unknown (Crouch 1975: 13-16). The dating is based therefore on an analysis of
the wall structure and correlations with reports found in the ancient sources. The prevailing view is
that the wall was built by Diocletian (Wood 1753; Gabriel 1926; Krencker [in: ] Wiegand 1932:13-15;
Seyrig 1950). An opposing, now obsolete theory attributed its construction to Zenobia (von Gerkan
1935; Puchstein [in: ] Wiegand 1932: 36).
55
Studia Palmyrenskie XI
AFTER RECENT SYRIAN EXCAVATIONS
Karol Juchniewicz, Khaled Ascad, Khalil al Hariri
One of the most important monuments of ancient Palmyra, the Wall of Diocletian survives in fairly
good condition [Fig, 2] and is regularly maintained and preserved through the efforts of the authori-
ties of the Palmyra Museum. In the past few years the northern section of the wall from the so-called
'Indian Gate7 to Tomb 176 (for tomb location, see Gawlikowski 1970: Plan VII) has been consolidated
and restored, especially the upper parts of the wall and some of the gates. Archaeological excava-
tions by archaeologists from the Palmyra Museum carried out on the outside of the line of defenses
have uncovered the moat and, in places, sections of the wall foundation. The results have contrib-
uted new data on the technique of construction of the fortifications.
A closer look at the run of the wall in the sections explored by Syrian archaeologists comple-
ments Dora Crouch's remarks of 1975 (Crouch 1975: 6-44). Particular séchons of the wall have already
been designated with letters of the alphabet by von Gerkan (1935: Fig. I) and I propose to uphold
this system. And so, C is the section encircling the Camp of Diocletian to the west of the town, D is
the entire northern sector of the fortifications and E is the section running down Wadi Qubur and
closing off the town from the south. However, the constituent elements of this defense wall, such as
towers and gates, have never been recorded in one consistent system. Therefore, I propose to desig-
nate the towers and gates with the letter T or G respectively, followed by a running number [Fig. '/.].
Since towers are fairly frequent, this system will provide a convenient way for referring to particular
sections of the wall. Moreover, considering that the towers can be categorized by shape or origin
into three separate groups, an additional designation will be used with the T to identify the different
kinds: Ts — square tower, Tu — U-shaped tower, Tt — tomb tower). The designation is meant to
reflect the final state of the feature, that is, a square tower transformed into a U-shaped one will be
designated as Tu.
The Palmyra fortifications have seen their share of discussion and controversy, regarding their
chronology as much as their constituent elements as noted by Crouch. There has never been any
regular excavation project concentrated on the defenses, hence the precise number of the towers
and gates remains unknown (Crouch 1975: 13-16). The dating is based therefore on an analysis of
the wall structure and correlations with reports found in the ancient sources. The prevailing view is
that the wall was built by Diocletian (Wood 1753; Gabriel 1926; Krencker [in: ] Wiegand 1932:13-15;
Seyrig 1950). An opposing, now obsolete theory attributed its construction to Zenobia (von Gerkan
1935; Puchstein [in: ] Wiegand 1932: 36).
55
Studia Palmyrenskie XI