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Valley of the Tombs

The Valley of the Tombs in 2008
Location	Palmyra, Syria
Coordinates	34°33′09″N 38°15′26″E / 34.552418°N 38.257141°E / 34.552418; 38.257141

The Valley of the Tombs (Arabic: وادي القبور, romanized: Wādī al-Qubūr) is a necropolis at the west of Palmyra, Syria. It is one of the three necropoleis present around the ancient city. It is one kilometre long (0.62 mi), and easily recognizable by its tower-tombs, among which the former towers of Atenatan, Kitot, Iamblichus and Elahbel where the earliest finds of silk were made and that were destroyed by ISIS in 2015.

Tower-tombs

Tower of Atenatan

As worded by Anna Witecka, "The tower-tomb of Atenatan is the earliest dated tomb in the Palmyrene necropolis. The date of the tower, established by an inscription, is 9 B.C. and the date of the fall of Palmyra in 273 A.D. must be accepted as the terminus ante quem. Built of irregular stones, the tower is quadrangular and narrows toward the top." As described by J. M. C. Toynbee, the tomb "has a facade of limestone blocks and a panelled stone door, composed of two wings that turn on pivots, above which is the slab for a bilingual Greek and Palmyrene (Araméenne) inscription."

Tower of Kitot

The Tower of Kitot dated from 40 AD.

Tower of Iamblichus

The Tomb of Iamblichus dated to AD 81 It is about 58 feet high.

Tower of Elahbel

See also

• Hypogeum of Yarhai

References

1. Beattie & Pepper 2001, p. 291.
2. ^ Wilson; Bowman (2017). Trade, Commerce, and the State in the Roman World. p. 486. ISBN 9780192507969.
3. "In latest round of destruction, ISIL reduces three ancient tower tombs in Palmyra to rubble". National Post. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
4. ANNA WITECKA (1994). "CATALOGUE OF JEWELLERY FOUND IN THE TOWER-TOMB OF ATENATAN AT PALMYRA". Studia Palmyreńskie: 71.
5. Toynbee 1996, p. 224
6. Henning 2013, p. 162.
7. Longfellow, William Pitt Preble (1903). A Cyclopædia of Works of Architecture in Italy, Greece, and the Levant.

Sources

• Henning, Agnes (2013). "The Tower Tombs of Palmyra: Chronology, Architecture and Decoration". Studia Palmyreńskie.
• Toynbee, Jocelyn (1996). Death and burial in the Roman World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-5507-1. OCLC 35049546.
• Beattie, Andrew; Pepper, Timothy (2001). The Rough Guide to Syria. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-718-8.

v t e Palmyra
Historic buildings	Temples Temple of Bel Temple of Baalshamin Temple of Al-Lat Other Great Colonnade at Palmyra Roman Theatre at Palmyra Valley of the Tombs Tower of Elahbel Camp of Diocletian Canalizations of Zenobia Palmyra Castle Monumental Arch of Palmyra Harbaqa Dam Walls of Palmyra
People	Monarchs Odaenathus Zenobia Hairan I Vaballathus Septimius Antiochus Tribes Bene Komare Bene Ma'zin Other Maeonius Hairan II Septimius Worod Zabdas Septimius Zabbai Septimius Haddudan
Society	Art Palmyrene funerary reliefs Lion of Al-lāt Hypogeum of Yarhai Portraits of Odaenathus Language Palmyrene dialect Palmyrene alphabet Palmyrene (Unicode block) Religion Bel Malakbel Aglibol Yarhibol Governance Palmyrene Empire Al Fadl List of Palmyrene monarchs Palmyrene invasion of Egypt Sack of Bostra
Category:Palmyra

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