The ancient city of Palmyra in Syria was a merchant city that was established in the Bronze Age and gained a lot of wealth from trade. The city’s wealth enabled it to construct monumental buildings such as the Temple of Bel (Baal) and the Great Colonnade, of which the impressive features are still visible in the landscape today. Unfortunately, some of the remnants of buildings were damaged during the Syrian civil war, but luckily most of it still remains standing. Excavations at Palmyra started in 1902, led by Otto Puchstein. Theodor Wiechand, and associate of Puchstein, resumed excavations in 1917 during the First World War. In 1929 Henri Arnold Seyrig, who was the general director of antiquities for the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, started excavating at the site. During the Second World War excavations came to a stop, as the area became part of the conflict. On the first of July in 1941 the Battle of Palmyra took place during an allied invasion. Only after Syria’s independence in 1946, did archaeological excavations start up again slowly. An expedition organised by the Swiss UNESCO excavated the site from 1954 until 1956. Polish excavations, led by Kazimierz Michalowski, started in 1959. This was continued in 1980 by Michal Gawlikowski. The Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities started excavating the site in 1958 in collaboration with the Polish. In 2011 excavations at the site ceased due to the Syrian Civil War.
In 1980, Palmyra was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of the pictures from the Schultz collection show features that were destroyed in the Syrian Civil War, such as the Arch of Septimus Severus, the interior of the Temple of Bel and the Tomb of the Three Brothers. The Schultz pictures of Palmyra have not been dated. The pictures in the collection that were dated were taken in the late sixties to the early seventies, which indicate the Palmyra pictures could possibly have been taken during that time period.
Ruins of the Palmyra. The middle right of the picture shows the Eastern Section of the Great Collonade with the Arch of Triumph/Monumental Arch of Palmyra/Arch of Septimus Severus (destroyed in 2015). The Eastern Section of the Great Collonade stretches in a northwest-southeast direction towards the Temple of Bel. The Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle is visable on a hilltop in the background (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1001, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: interior of the Temple of Bel (destroyed in 2015). View of the southern adyton of the cella (the other adyton is on the opposite side to the North), with a staircase leading up to it (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1002, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: ruins of the Funerary Temple, a third century structure that contains the only tombs within the city walls. The remains are the columns on the southeastern side of the temple, with a pediment on top. Part of the pediment has broken off. The Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle is visable on a hilltop in the background. (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1046, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: Arch of Septimus Severus (destroyed in 2015). This Roman arch was built between 193 and 211 CE to connect the main street and the Temple of Bel. It consists of three gateways: a large one in the centre and two smaller ones on the sides with columns next to them. Through the gateway on the right another structure can be seen (Baths of Diocletian or Temple of Baal-Shamin?) (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1104, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: these are the northwestern columns and ruined wall of the Temple of Bel. This temple was dedicated to the Mesopotamian god Bel in 32 CE. Before the destruction by ISIS in August 2015, the ruins were considered among the best preserved at Palmyra. The main entrance, the exterior walls and the fortified gate are still intact (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1305, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: these are broken funerary sculptures that can be found in the underground family tombs of Palmyra (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1306, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: Fakhr-al-Din al-Ma’ani Castle or Tadmur Castle; a castle on a hill overlooking Palmyra. It is suggested that the Mamluks built it in the 13th century. It is named after the Druze emir Fakhr-al-Din II, who extended the Druze territory to Palmyra during the 16th century (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1361, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: the exterior of the Temple of Baal which has since been destroyed by the Islamic State. Was a UNESCO World Heritage site (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1478, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: the facade of the Temple of Baal (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1650, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: Temple of Bel, while under reconstruction. It was destroyed by ISIS in 2015 (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1712, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: murals in the Tomb of the Three Brothers, depicting said brothers being lifted by winged Victories. Picture was taken before restorations (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1896, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)Palmyra: the Tempel of Bel (1960s-1970s, ID: cSchultzpPalmyra1899, Source: slide, Repository: NPAPH-project, Creator: Arnold C. Schultz)
We have made every attempt to ascertain the authorship of a given picture. Should a copyright not be acknowledged properly, we would be grateful if owners of these images contact the website owner so that correct acknowledgements might therefore be made. Should you object to your personage appearing in a given photograph, please contact us and we will endeavor to clarify this matter further.
