DUCS Talk: Prof. Ted Kaizer, Questions of Identity in Tadmor-Palmyra
On Tuesday 8 December, Durham University Classics Society were delighted to hear Professor Ted Kaizer discuss “Questions of identity at Tadmor-Palmyra”.
Professor Kaizer prefaced his talk with the explanation that Tadmor is the indigenous name of Palmyra and that for the purpose of the talk he would be using the name Palmyra to refer to the city, which is located in the centre of the Syrian desert. After the rule of Hadrian, the city became known as Hadriana Palmyra or Hadriana Tadmor.
In 2015, this site was destroyed by ISIS and thus became a symbol of cultural heritage at risk. Underground tombs were used as accommodation for extremist fighters, paintings were whitewashed, temples were blown up, and museum director, Khaled al-Asaad, was murdered. Professor Kaizer showed us photos of his time in Palmyra, before the destruction of the site, including one of himself at a conference with Khaled al-Asaad. The photos from spring of 1997 showed the picturesque landscape of Palmyra just after the rainy season, at its greenest point of the year. We could see the central colonnade, as well as the wall of Diocletian going around it.
Pliny (HN 5.88) describes Palmyra as a beautiful place, with good soil, water, nature, and sands. However, as Professor Kaizer pointed out, this could be a description of any oasis. Pliny also mentions that Palmyra was situated between the two empires of Rome and Parthia. By this point, it was integrated into the Roman Empire and Professor Kaizer’s PhD supervisor referred to the city as ‘the only publicly bilingual city in the Roman Near East’.
This was demonstrated by some Roman Neronian sestertii in Aramaic and Greek, countermarked with two separate stamps: the Greek letter π and the Aramaic ‘tau’, printed in such a way that both letters can be seen when viewed from any angle.
Professor Kaizer then told us about how he had once argued that bilingualism could be seen on some badly preserved coins produced by Palmyra itself. On one coin, the name of the city of Palmyra can be seen on one side, with two lines preserved on the back, which a French scholar recognised as the letter ‘beth’ in Aramaic. Professor Kaizer argued that the two lines could be ‘resh’ or ‘dalath’ and therefore that it said ‘Tadmor’. However, recently another coin has been discovered in the same bad condition, with the same horizontal line and vertical line on the back. As it is very unlikely that two coins would have preserved two lines in exactly the same position and nothing else, Professor Kaizer now believes it probably did not originally say ‘Tadmor’.
Palmyrene Identity Outside of Palmyra
A tombstone at the Roman fortress in South Shields depicts a woman who is stated to have been from a British tribe, with a few words in Palmyrene Aramaic at bottom: “Regina, freedwoman of Barate”. Barates was a Palmyrene standard-bearer, who died at the age of 68. He seems to have been the only Palmyrene in a non-Palmyrene unit. This is suggested by the fact that Palmorenus has been misspelled on Barates’ own tomb, indicating that there were no other Palmyrenes in the unit who could spell the word after he died.
Traditionally, Palmyrenes identified themselves by listing their ancestry without needing to state that they were from Palmyra. However, by the mid-second century, the number of Palmyrenes designated to a specific tribe was small. They would have stood out from their use of the Palmyrene language, gods, and names. Yarhibol and Malakbel were the two most popular gods among soldiers, as many inscriptions say: ‘worshippers of the god Yarhibol’. Another inscription found recently features the phrase: ‘worshippers of the sun god Malakbel’.
A tomb of a man who had become one of two leading citizens in a Roman colony in Dacia, Publius Aelius Theimes, is dedicated to Palmyrene deities Malagbel et Bebellahamon (CIL III 7954). The inscription misspells one of the deities and one of the religious formulas inscribed claims that he dedicated this temple on their orders because of their love for him. It also mentions that he added a kitchen, in what seems to be an afterthought, emphasising that Theimes himself was the originator of the idea, not the gods.
Education
Both Greek and Aramaic must have been taught at schools in Palmyra and the school system in Palmyra followed a Greek literary education structure. A tablet kept in the Leiden University Library contains a selection of fables from Babrius which were popular for teaching in the second century CE. A small proportion of famous funerary reliefs also show the deceased with writing materials. One displayed in the Louvre depicts writing tablets, with the last seven letters of Greek alphabet in reverse order inscribed on them. Higher education in the eastern half of the Roman Empire included rhetoric, mythology, philosophy, and started in the gymnasium. No gymnasium has been unearthed at Palmyra, but its existence has been proven by an inscription attributing responsibility for its maintenance. Two reliefs from the Roman period have also been linked to the gymnasium: one depicting Heracles with club and another Hermes, two deities identified with the gymnasium.
Religion
The Palmyrenes also demonstrate knowledge about mythological stories from Mesopotamia. A battle relief on the temple of Bel depicts a naked Heracles figure with a goddess who has snakes for legs, being attacked by a divine horse rider and a god in a chariot. It has been argued that this scene depicts the defeat of Tiamat in Babylonian epic of Enuma Elisha, in which the hero has to overcome the monster in order to create the world. The central figure on relief is Nebu rather than Bel. Heracles is depicted nude — which is unusual in Palmyra — with his lionskin, but never identified in inscriptions. Familiarity with mythology from Greece was prominent in Palmyra, as demonstrated by two underground tombs depicting Dionysus with bunches of grapes and a winged Ganymede. However, worship of Palmyrene gods is not attested outside of Palmyrene contexts.
An inscription (IGLS XVII.1 no.6) celebrates the victory of Odaenatus, the founder of Palmyrene monarchy, over the Persians, indicating that he was worshipped as a divine figure. Odaenatus and his son Herodianus subordinate proudly to the Roman Empire, identify themselves as Roman colonia. Two mosaics in a banquet room depict classical scenes with a central figure wearing what are referred to as “Parthian trousers”. One mosaic depicts Bellerophon on Pegasus slaying a chimaera, the other a hunting scene with two tigers. In both cases, eagles fly over the figures, carrying wreaths. Both mosaics also have inscriptions in Aramaic: “Diodotus has made this with his sons”. They also feature the letters for ‘lord’ which is only ever applied to Odaenatus and Herodianus in Palmyrene culture. The hunting scene depicts Persian tigers, suggesting it is an allegory for the defeat of the Persian kings. Odaenatus features in the 13th Sibylline Oracle, which refers to his defeat of a great beast, suggesting that the chimaera in mosaic is also visualisation of the weakened Persians.
Integrating into Palmyra
The foundation of a tomb from AD 56/7 (IGLS XVII.1 no. 400) demonstrates how outsiders presented integration into Palmyra. It is a trilingual inscription in Greek, Aramaic, and Latin: ‘Gaius Virius Alcimus and Titus Statilius Hermes have constructed this funerary monument.’ The Latin is the shortest section but nevertheless the hypogeum demonstrates knowledge of all three languages. Another funerary inscription for a coloniser from Beirut, the father of Lucilla, the wife of Pertinax, uses Greek and Aramaic, which is unique as funerary inscriptions in Palmyra were usually in Aramaic alone.
Conclusion
Professor Kaizer highlighted to us the complexity of Palmyrene identity, a combination of Palmyrene, Roman, Greek, and Mesopotamian influences, as demonstrated to us by the material remains of the ancient city, many of which which are now sadly lost. This is shown by the way in which bilingualism in Aramaic and Greek is common, as well as how Greek and Roman deities can be seen alongside Palmyrene and Mesopotamian gods. Bilingual inscriptions and dedications to Palmyrene gods were used by individuals to proudly claim their Palmyrene identity outside of Palmyra, while trilingual funerary inscriptions also show how those from outside of Palmyra integrated into the city. Thus, we can gain a full picture of how identity in Palmyra was perceived and expressed.
By Eleanor Cliffe, with suggested amendments by Professor Ted Kaizer
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