Walls of Palmyra
The walls of Palmyra are a series of protective fortifications that providing customs barrier as well as protection for
History
The first century walls
These walls were constructed in the first century AD, but they did not form a circuit around Palmyra.[1] They did not include protective towers,[2] and not only surrounded the residential areas, but also the gardens of the oasis which allowed Palmyra to exist. Many areas where natural formations provided protection were not fortified; for example, the western side of the city, naturally protected by the slopes of the Palmyrene mountains, was not protected by those walls. These early fortifications provided the city and its garden with protection against the sands of the Syrian Desert, kept the Bedouin bandits outside, and enabled the city to control the commercial activities.[3]
The walls of Aurelian
Well preserved,[4] the walls commonly known as the walls of Diocletian and attributed to his reign, were more likely built by emperor Aurelian following his sack of the city in 273. The notion that Diocletian built those walls stem from the fact that his governor Sossianus Hierocles built the principia (headquarter of a Roman fort) of Palmyra. However, epigraphic and archaeological evidence suggest that Aurelian stationed the Legio I Illyricorum in the city, and it is implausible that the emperor left the city without protection.[3] The walls of Sossianus Hierocles’ structures are clearly attached to the city’s walls and were not an original part of them; hence, the traditionally called “Diocletian walls” date to an era earlier than that emperor’s reign.[5] The Aurelian walls left the southern parts of the city outside their limits.[2] They encircled the area which they were meant to protect and included square towers.[5]
The improvements of Diocletian
U-shaped towers, of different materials and construction techniques, can be attributed to the reign of Diocletian. Earlier twentieth century historians, such as
References
Citations
- ^ Juchniewicz 2013, p. 193.
- ^ a b Southern 2008, p. 142.
- ^ a b Juchniewicz 2013, p. 194.
- ^ Juchniewicz, Asʿad & al Hariri 2010, p. 55.
- ^ a b c Juchniewicz 2013, p. 195.
- ^ Juchniewicz 2013, p. 196.
Sources
- Juchniewicz, Karol; Asʿad, Khaled; al Hariri, Khalil (2010). "The Defense Wall in Palmyra After Recent Syrian Excavations" (PDF). Studia Palmyreńskie. 11. Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw. ISSN 0081-6787.
- Juchniewicz, Karol (2013). "Late Roman fortifications in Palmyra" (PDF). Studia Palmyreńskie. 12: Fifty Years of Polish Excavations in Palmyra 1959–2009, International Conference, Warsaw, 6–8 December 2010. Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw. ISSN 0081-6787.
- Southern, Patricia (2008). Empress Zenobia: Palmyra's Rebel Queen. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-4411-4248-1.