DOI article:
Saito, Kiyohide: Female burial practices in Palmyra: some observations from the underground tombs
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26423#0293
FEMALE BURIAL PRACTICES IN PALMYRA: SOME OBSERYATIONS FROM THE UNDERGROUND TOMBS
the deceased buried in the tomb reached 133, was 35 males to 32 females; 44 of the burials were
children aged over one-year-old and 14 were under 12 months of age. Eight skeletons could not
be identified (a thorough examination of the finds may reveal morę burials in Tomb H).
One may add to the data originating from the four underground tombs the results reached by
the German mission excavating house tomb 36. Of the 84 burials, which were excavated, 21 were
determined as małe, 23 as female, 39 as children; one could not be identified. The małe to female
ratio in this case was obviously different.
Loculi were the minimum burial unit in an underground tomb, usually grouped by four in ver~
tical rows. They could have been intended for close relatives, but this can only be confirmed by
DNA analyses to be carried out in the futurę. Pending that, it should be noted that the ratio of males
to females in individual columns of burials differed considerably from one to the next: 1 to 3 (R5 in
Tomb C), 2 to 4 with four unsexed children (EL3 in Tomb F), 3 to 2 with five unsexed children (ELI
in Tomb F) and a surprising 9 to 1 with only two other unidentified burials in this loculus (M2 in
Tomb C).
Collis (1977) observed in her research on a Roman cemetery in England that the number of the
female dead was quite few in comparison with the małe dead and she reached the conclusion that
in a male-dominated community women were not accorded the same rights in terms of burial.
However, in the case of the underground tombs of Palmyra, such an interpretation cannot be ac-
cepted. According to Adnan Bounni (1980), in Palmyrene patriarchal society the paterfamilias held
absolute power in the family, but women, despite their overall weak position, possessed the right
of inheritance. Moreover, there exists a rough parity between małe and female funerary busts un-
earthed in the Palmyrene tombs. Could it be taken to mean that almost the same number of males
and females were buried in the tombs? On the other hand, the proportions between males and fe-
males in the four underground tombs mentioned above were completely different. Why? There
are no inscriptions or other source materials, which could help to ascertain the reason. Although
there are many inscription related to the tombs in Palmyra, nonę concern the burial process nor
meaning, except for the notion of 'House of Eternity'.
In modern Palmyrene society, if a female dies as a child or as a bride who never gave birth,
she is buried in her parent's burial place (information from modern-day inhabitants of Palmyra).
A wife who has given birth to a baby becomes a member of her husband's family and is admitted
to be buried in the husband's family graveyard. Modern Palmyrenes naturally hołd to Islamie
mores and funeral rites deriving from Islamie rules. There are some differences between men and
women, the period of mourning being different for instance, but there is nothing in these rules to
counter local tradition as regards the choice of burial site.
Caselitz (1992), who examined the skeletal remains from tomb 36 in the Valley of the Tombs,
observed an inerease in the mortality ratę among men and women aged 30-40 and ascribed this
rise to the aftermath of warring in the case of men and childbirth-related complications with regard
to women. His statement about the inerease of pregnant women mortality during childbirth was
interesting.
The notion of 'House of Eternity' is freąuent in Palmyrene inscriptions and the actual layout
may express strong family feelings, a traditional way of thinking which has stayed with the mod-
ern Palmyrenes. Assuming this strong customary tradition, the different ratio of men to women
in the underground tombs might be the effect of marital circumstances and the custom of a homing
burial when a married daughter died without ever giving birth to a child.5
6. Conclusion
An analysis of certain elements of female burials of the 2nd century AD in the underground tombs
of the southeastern necropolis has led to the following conclusions concerning ancient female bur-
ial practices in Palmyra.
5 M. Heyn (2010) pointed out that there was no difference in the type of funerary sculpture, regardless of whether it
was placed in the tomb of a female's birth family or her husband's.
291
Studia Palmyreńskie XII
the deceased buried in the tomb reached 133, was 35 males to 32 females; 44 of the burials were
children aged over one-year-old and 14 were under 12 months of age. Eight skeletons could not
be identified (a thorough examination of the finds may reveal morę burials in Tomb H).
One may add to the data originating from the four underground tombs the results reached by
the German mission excavating house tomb 36. Of the 84 burials, which were excavated, 21 were
determined as małe, 23 as female, 39 as children; one could not be identified. The małe to female
ratio in this case was obviously different.
Loculi were the minimum burial unit in an underground tomb, usually grouped by four in ver~
tical rows. They could have been intended for close relatives, but this can only be confirmed by
DNA analyses to be carried out in the futurę. Pending that, it should be noted that the ratio of males
to females in individual columns of burials differed considerably from one to the next: 1 to 3 (R5 in
Tomb C), 2 to 4 with four unsexed children (EL3 in Tomb F), 3 to 2 with five unsexed children (ELI
in Tomb F) and a surprising 9 to 1 with only two other unidentified burials in this loculus (M2 in
Tomb C).
Collis (1977) observed in her research on a Roman cemetery in England that the number of the
female dead was quite few in comparison with the małe dead and she reached the conclusion that
in a male-dominated community women were not accorded the same rights in terms of burial.
However, in the case of the underground tombs of Palmyra, such an interpretation cannot be ac-
cepted. According to Adnan Bounni (1980), in Palmyrene patriarchal society the paterfamilias held
absolute power in the family, but women, despite their overall weak position, possessed the right
of inheritance. Moreover, there exists a rough parity between małe and female funerary busts un-
earthed in the Palmyrene tombs. Could it be taken to mean that almost the same number of males
and females were buried in the tombs? On the other hand, the proportions between males and fe-
males in the four underground tombs mentioned above were completely different. Why? There
are no inscriptions or other source materials, which could help to ascertain the reason. Although
there are many inscription related to the tombs in Palmyra, nonę concern the burial process nor
meaning, except for the notion of 'House of Eternity'.
In modern Palmyrene society, if a female dies as a child or as a bride who never gave birth,
she is buried in her parent's burial place (information from modern-day inhabitants of Palmyra).
A wife who has given birth to a baby becomes a member of her husband's family and is admitted
to be buried in the husband's family graveyard. Modern Palmyrenes naturally hołd to Islamie
mores and funeral rites deriving from Islamie rules. There are some differences between men and
women, the period of mourning being different for instance, but there is nothing in these rules to
counter local tradition as regards the choice of burial site.
Caselitz (1992), who examined the skeletal remains from tomb 36 in the Valley of the Tombs,
observed an inerease in the mortality ratę among men and women aged 30-40 and ascribed this
rise to the aftermath of warring in the case of men and childbirth-related complications with regard
to women. His statement about the inerease of pregnant women mortality during childbirth was
interesting.
The notion of 'House of Eternity' is freąuent in Palmyrene inscriptions and the actual layout
may express strong family feelings, a traditional way of thinking which has stayed with the mod-
ern Palmyrenes. Assuming this strong customary tradition, the different ratio of men to women
in the underground tombs might be the effect of marital circumstances and the custom of a homing
burial when a married daughter died without ever giving birth to a child.5
6. Conclusion
An analysis of certain elements of female burials of the 2nd century AD in the underground tombs
of the southeastern necropolis has led to the following conclusions concerning ancient female bur-
ial practices in Palmyra.
5 M. Heyn (2010) pointed out that there was no difference in the type of funerary sculpture, regardless of whether it
was placed in the tomb of a female's birth family or her husband's.
291
Studia Palmyreńskie XII