Palmyra: ancient oasis city and caravan centre in central Syria

Palmyra is located 215 km (134 miles) northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus. The ruined city is located in an oasis surrounded by palm trees (about 20 different varieties). It is located in the center of the Aleppo highlands and is enclosed to the north and southwest by two mountain ranges. To the south and east, Palmyra is surrounded by the Syrian Desert. A small wadi (al-Qubur) crosses the area before flowing into the eastern gardens of the oasis from the western hills behind the city. South of the wadi flows the tributary stream Efqa. Pliny the Elder praised the city around c. 70 for its location, the richness of the soil, and the fields on the outskirts of the city that had made agriculture and livestock raising possible in the past.

The word Tadmor (in Palmyrene inscriptions tdmry or tdmwry) has an Old Semitic origin, the Greek name Palmyra refers to the vegetation of the oasis (figuratively "palm city"). Today it is generally believed that Palmyra derives from Tadmor. Tamar means "date palm" in Hebrew and, according to legend, was the name of a city founded by Solomon; this reference to the name was transferred to the oasis settlement of Tadmor.

The name Palmyra first appeared at the beginning of the first century AD and was used throughout the Roman Empire; however, the name form Tadmor continued to be used in Palmyra itself. The U.S. archaeologist Michael Patrick O'Connor claimed that Palmyra and Tadmor come from Hurrian. In this he makes a connection between the Hurrian verbs pal (to know) and tad (to love). In the thirteenth century, the Syriac geographer Yāqūt ar-Rūmī wrote that Tadmor had been the name of a daughter of one of Noah's distant descendants and that she was buried in the city.

The city was developed for tourism before the 2015 fighting in Syria, there were good bus connections and several hotels. Since 1980, the ruins have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the civil war in Syria since 2011 - including the fighting by the Islamic State (IS), which destroys cultural property for ideological reasons (see also Iconophobia) - the site is increasingly threatened by looting. UNESCO has placed it on the Red List of World Heritage in Danger. Palmyrene funerary reliefs are highly sought after in collector circles and are exported illegally. By removing the objects from their context, valuable data for historiographical evaluation is lost, which could help answer the question of the economic and social conditions of Palmyrene's rise.

On the evening of May 20, 2015, Syrian government forces and militiamen cleared the city of Tadmor. Thus, the archaeological site also passed into the hands of IS. The director of the Syrian Antiquities Administration said that the objects housed in the Palmyra museum had been moved to safety. On June 21, 2015, reports from Syria went public that IS had installed land mines and explosive devices around the ancient ruins in Palmyra. However, it was unclear whether the explosive devices were planted to defend Palmyra against Syrian government forces, who may have been planning an offensive, or to destroy the temple complexes.

Maamun Abdelkarim, head of the Syrian Antiquities Collections, described the June 27, 2015 destruction of the famous lion sculpture from the Allat Temple, which was discovered in 1977 and stood at the entrance to the Palmyra Museum, as "the worst crime committed by the jihadists against the heritage of Palmyra." The destruction is condemned worldwide.

On August 25, 2015, the temple of Baalshamin was destroyed by the IS militia. On August 31, 2015, the IS militia also reportedly carried out a blast at the Temple of Baal, causing severe damage to it. Shortly thereafter, the United Nations confirmed the destruction based on satellite imagery. In early October, the terrorists blew up the Arch of Triumph (Hadrian's Gate) on the city's boulevard.

In March 2016, troops of the Syrian army, supported by militias loyal to the government and in particular by the Russian air force, succeeded in liberating parts of the city from IS. Tactically important high ground had already been taken by them some time earlier, including the old citadel of Palmyra, which the IS lost with heavy losses. On March 27, 2016, the Syrian army announced the complete recapture of Palmyra.

Initially, there was confidence that a significant part of the blown-up structures of Palmyra could be reconstructed. In May, the recapture of the city was celebrated with a classical concert in front of the ruins. However, on December 10, 2016, in a surprise offensive, IS fighters managed to retake Palmyra. On January 20, 2017, further destruction in the ancient city by IS became known. This affected the tetrapylon and the stage of the theater.

On March 1, 2017, Syrian troops advanced on Palmyra Castle. On March 2, 2017, the city was again in the hands of Syrian troops, according to Russian sources. However, as the Islamists had left behind numerous booby traps, the Syrian army was slow to move back into Palmyra.

In 2017, various faculties of the University of Konstanz reconstructed the original state of the ruins in a model and presented this in an exhibition.