DOI Artikel:
Asʿad, Walīd: Some tombs recently excavated in Palmyra
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26423#0018
Waleed al-As'ad
tempie tombs today (Schmidt-Colinet 1992), while subterranean tombs were popular throughout
the existence of ancient Palmyra (Bounni, al~As'ad 2004). Ali of them, unlike the much less known
individual graves, were family monuments intended for many generations of the founder7s de-
scendants, laid to rest in rows of storeyed loculi, usually closed after burial with a plaque bearing
a sculpted likeness of the deceased. Whether towers, tempie tombs or hypogea, the tombs were
commonly referred to as 7houses of eternity7. It can be safely assumed that the souls of the departed
were believed to remain associated with their tombstones and mystically share in the funerary
banąuets held by their living relatives and descendants (Saito [ed.] 2005).
Tower tomb N206 [Fig. 1]
A tomb, which went unnoticed by the Wiegand expedition (mentioned in Will 1949: 88; Gaw-
likowski 1970: 151), was marked on the most recent plan by K. Schnadelbach (2010: 51) as N206
and can be seen at the Southern edge of the modern road, right against the garden wali of the
Dedeman Hotel (formerly Meridien, łater Sham). Only the ground floor has been preserved,
a sąuare 12.30 m to the side. The entrance, 1.30 m wide and 2.30 m high, opened to the north.
The tomb was built of hard grey limestone, known locally as 7blue stone7, cut rough and not
evened. This was building materiał typical of the early tower tombs, later replaced by regular ash-
lars of hard white limestone, such as those seen in the towers of Iamblichus and Elahbel. The room
was 6.70 m long and 1.50 to 2.20 m wide, and was covered with slabs on a level 3.70 m above the
floor. The walls are nearly vertical and contain four loculi on each side, each 2.15 m high and
0.60 m wide, and divided by stone slabs into four burial slots. The loculi opened at a level 0.75 m
above the floor, even with the entrance sili. There was no staircase to the higher storeys opening
from this room. The first floor, of which nothing remains, was accessed probably through another
entrance on the opposite, Southern side.
At the back of the extant chamber there was a podium 2.16 m long and 0.50 m high, extending
from wali to wali. It bears a weathered inscription in three lines. A sarcophagus, 2.06 m long and
0.80 m high, stood on it. Its front side is mostly broken, but one can still distinguish three very
damaged headless busts, the middle one holding two wreaths against the chest. Between them
stand two smali figures, also incomplete.
Two other sarcophagi were placed along the east wali of the room, at right angle to the one at
the back. They had not been sculpted on their front side and were left unfinished. Broken remains
of two standing statues were found in the room.
The inscription on the podium is dated to November AD 128. The text consists of a long ge-
nealogy of the sarcophagus owner, who was represented on the now missing banąuet slab together
with his wife and children, also mentioned. There is every reason to believe that the sarcophagus
was introduced into the tower some time after the original construction, which could hardly have
been later than the first half of the lst century AD.
Tower tomb N207 [Fig. 2]
The tower tomb stands to the north of the modem road, very close to the edge of the residential quar-
ter known as the 7Hellenistic town7 and not far from tower tomb N206. Only the ground floor, which
is 10 m square, has been preserved. The entrance opened to the south and into a chamber 6.40 m long,
only slightly larger than the door (1.50 to 1.90 m). The walls tapered toward the slabs forming a narrow
ceiling. There were four loculi on each side of the room, each 2.30 m high and subdivided into three
burial slots. Access to the missing higher storeys must have been on the opposite side of the tower.
Three funerary busts were found in this tomb. One Ababa daughter of lamia, wearing the usual
garments and several necklaces, was represented on one of the slabs. Another lady, not identified
by an inscription, wore earrings in the form of bunches of grapes. The third sculpture figured
a man, Liśamś son of Bar'a. His face is broken off.
Abronze furniture leg in the shape of lions paw is remarkable among the finds from this tomb.
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Studia Palmyreńskie XII
tempie tombs today (Schmidt-Colinet 1992), while subterranean tombs were popular throughout
the existence of ancient Palmyra (Bounni, al~As'ad 2004). Ali of them, unlike the much less known
individual graves, were family monuments intended for many generations of the founder7s de-
scendants, laid to rest in rows of storeyed loculi, usually closed after burial with a plaque bearing
a sculpted likeness of the deceased. Whether towers, tempie tombs or hypogea, the tombs were
commonly referred to as 7houses of eternity7. It can be safely assumed that the souls of the departed
were believed to remain associated with their tombstones and mystically share in the funerary
banąuets held by their living relatives and descendants (Saito [ed.] 2005).
Tower tomb N206 [Fig. 1]
A tomb, which went unnoticed by the Wiegand expedition (mentioned in Will 1949: 88; Gaw-
likowski 1970: 151), was marked on the most recent plan by K. Schnadelbach (2010: 51) as N206
and can be seen at the Southern edge of the modern road, right against the garden wali of the
Dedeman Hotel (formerly Meridien, łater Sham). Only the ground floor has been preserved,
a sąuare 12.30 m to the side. The entrance, 1.30 m wide and 2.30 m high, opened to the north.
The tomb was built of hard grey limestone, known locally as 7blue stone7, cut rough and not
evened. This was building materiał typical of the early tower tombs, later replaced by regular ash-
lars of hard white limestone, such as those seen in the towers of Iamblichus and Elahbel. The room
was 6.70 m long and 1.50 to 2.20 m wide, and was covered with slabs on a level 3.70 m above the
floor. The walls are nearly vertical and contain four loculi on each side, each 2.15 m high and
0.60 m wide, and divided by stone slabs into four burial slots. The loculi opened at a level 0.75 m
above the floor, even with the entrance sili. There was no staircase to the higher storeys opening
from this room. The first floor, of which nothing remains, was accessed probably through another
entrance on the opposite, Southern side.
At the back of the extant chamber there was a podium 2.16 m long and 0.50 m high, extending
from wali to wali. It bears a weathered inscription in three lines. A sarcophagus, 2.06 m long and
0.80 m high, stood on it. Its front side is mostly broken, but one can still distinguish three very
damaged headless busts, the middle one holding two wreaths against the chest. Between them
stand two smali figures, also incomplete.
Two other sarcophagi were placed along the east wali of the room, at right angle to the one at
the back. They had not been sculpted on their front side and were left unfinished. Broken remains
of two standing statues were found in the room.
The inscription on the podium is dated to November AD 128. The text consists of a long ge-
nealogy of the sarcophagus owner, who was represented on the now missing banąuet slab together
with his wife and children, also mentioned. There is every reason to believe that the sarcophagus
was introduced into the tower some time after the original construction, which could hardly have
been later than the first half of the lst century AD.
Tower tomb N207 [Fig. 2]
The tower tomb stands to the north of the modem road, very close to the edge of the residential quar-
ter known as the 7Hellenistic town7 and not far from tower tomb N206. Only the ground floor, which
is 10 m square, has been preserved. The entrance opened to the south and into a chamber 6.40 m long,
only slightly larger than the door (1.50 to 1.90 m). The walls tapered toward the slabs forming a narrow
ceiling. There were four loculi on each side of the room, each 2.30 m high and subdivided into three
burial slots. Access to the missing higher storeys must have been on the opposite side of the tower.
Three funerary busts were found in this tomb. One Ababa daughter of lamia, wearing the usual
garments and several necklaces, was represented on one of the slabs. Another lady, not identified
by an inscription, wore earrings in the form of bunches of grapes. The third sculpture figured
a man, Liśamś son of Bar'a. His face is broken off.
Abronze furniture leg in the shape of lions paw is remarkable among the finds from this tomb.
16
Studia Palmyreńskie XII