Syria 2006

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The mud brick ruins of the bronze age palace of Mari are protected by a roof. Mari dates from 2900 BC and was sacked and razed to the ground in in 1759 BC by the Babylonians The walls were built of mud brick and it is this mud which preserved Mari and its artefacts so well The Throne Room of the palace of Mari. The walls would have been painted The main courtyard of the palace In the centre of the courtyard was a reservoir
Mari Mari Mari Mari Mari
         
Birds seem to have made the mud walls their home. The birdsong was deafening It is very difficult to identify what anything is This is part of the bath complex of the palace Water was brought in aqueducts and the plumbing was very sophisticated More of the many rooms of the palace
Mari Mari Mari Mari Mari
         
Many of the treasures from Mari are in the Louvre and Aleppo and Damascus Museums An archive of 15,000 clay tablets was found here. The tablets are written in Babylonian cuneiform and are a source of information about the administration of the palace and the life of the time All that remains of the ziggurat, a pyramidal tower characteristic of Mesopotamian culture Syrian cows and their shelter Mary, Caro, Juliette and Penny take a rest
Mari Mari Mari Mari Mari
         
Juliette chats to some locals The queue for the Seven miles or so to the border with Iraq Qalaat Ar-Rahbeh Deir Ez Zur - lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Euphrates
Mari Mari Mari Qalaat Ar-Rahbeh Deir Ez Zur
         
Deir Ez Zur - suspension bridge over the Euphrates Deir Ez Zur Looking back at the restaurant A channel of the Euphrates... ...and yet more channels
Deir Ez Zur Deir Ez Zur Deir Ez Zur Deir Ez Zur Deir Ez Zur
         
Looking the other way Crossing the desert from Deir Ez Zur to Palmyra - a herd of camels and their Bedouin herdsman Camels Camels Camels and Bedouin herdsman
Deir Ez Zur Camels Camels Camels Camels
         
Palmyra - looking across the desert Palmyra - Qaalat Ibn Maan, a 17th Century Arab castle Qaalat Ibn Maan Palmyra - looking down at the Colonnaded Street towards the Temple of Bel and the desert beyond The Colonnaded Street and the Temple of Bel
Palmyra Palmyra - Qaalat Ibn Maan Palmyra - Qaalat Ibn Maan Palmyra Palmyra
         
The Valley of the Tombs Funerary towers in the Valley of the Tombs The modern city of Palmyra, showing part of the hippodrome which is still used for horse racing The other end of the hippodrome and the ancient city Palmyra
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
Sunset over the desert The entertainment during our evening meal was a little hard on the ears Quaalat Ibn Maan Hussein and Zenobia Hussein and Zenobia
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
Hussein and Zenobia Wendy arranges for us to have a ride! The hills beyond Palmyra The Temple of Bel - it was dedicated in 32AD The Temple of Bel
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
The external peristyle of the temple has survived on the eastern side. The columns are 18m high The pyramid-like decoration on top of the peristyle is typically Mesopotamian Looking out from the cella through the grand portal of the temple which is slightly off-centre Inside the cella looking towards the northern adyton which is highly decorated The southern adyton is slightly smaller
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
The remains of an earlier temple built on the site Some of the ornate decoration from the temple The walls of the compound have been altered over the centuries for defence purposes The remains of pillars have been used to build up the defences Until 1929, the villagers of Tadmos, the old name for Palmyra, lived amongst the ruins
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
Part of the colonnaded peristyle of the compound and the sacrificial entrance The capitals are deeply carved The monumental entrance to the compound The colonnaded peristyle went all round the compound The Funerary Tower of Elahbel dates from 103AD and held 300 sarcophagi
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
The sarcophagi were stacked in side niches on several floors The end of each sarcophagus was decorated with a bust of its occupant Wealthy people bought a space for their burial The monumental arch of the city was built in 200AD during the reign of Septimius Severus A group photo in front of the Monumental Arch
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
A fine camel - and Tom! The beginning of the Colonnaded Street. The ledges on the columns would have housed statues of important people The Colonnaded Street is the Decumanus Maximus of the city - looking towards the Tetrapylon The Colonnaded Street Archway off the Colonnaded Street
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
The Baths of Diocletian The Theatre of Palmyra - it was buried in the sand until the 1950s The scaena frons had five entrances rather than the usual three It has been much restored There were twelve rows of stone seating, the rest were made of wood
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
The Theatre The Tetrapylon viewed from the top of the theatre The Tetrapylon marked crossroads and a change in direction of the road. Only one of the pillars is original An archway onto the Colonnaded Street View of the Colonnaded Street
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
The Colonnaded Street and the Tetrapylon Funerary towers An inscription in Greek and Palmyran An inscription in Greek and Palmyran Wendy on Zenobia
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
Temple of Baal-Shamin Temple of Baal-Shamin Lunch in a Bedouin-style tent It was a feast! Lunch
Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra Palmyra
         
We ate lamb cooked whole Afterwards there was traditional dancing A Bedouin encampment Bedouin tent Desert building
Palmyra Palmyra Bedouin encampment Bedouin tent Desert building
         
Desert vista        
Desert vista        
         
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