Tadmor – Palmyra. A Caravan City between East and West

Tadmor – Palmyra. A Caravan City between East and West

Michał Gawlikowski

Tadmor – Palmyra. A Caravan City between East and West” is a new book by Prof. Michał Gawlikowski, the long-time director of PCMA UW expedition in this city. It has been published by IRSA Foundation for the Promotion of Culture and is available in Open Access.

The book tells the story of the site as known from archaeological but also textual sources, starting with the earliest prehistoric layers, through the Roman times and its heyday, the later centuries of decline, to the revival of the site through archaeological excavations. The author presents the complex history, archaeology, and art of Palmyra, a city that no longer exists.

From the Author’s preface: “Coming at the end of more than forty years of work there, not only would this be a summing up of my career as an archaeologist, but also, unfortunately, the summing up of a period in the site’s history. The ancient civilisation of Palmyra thrived for three centuries before being erased by the conquering legions of the Roman emperor Aurelian in AD 273. Brought to worldwide fame in modern times, the city had recently become a great tourist destination. It has been destroyed again in front of our eyes. May these pages be a personal homage to both the ancient and modern people who made Palmyra flourish, and a token of hope for better days for Syria and for my Syrian friends.”

Michał Gawlikowski, Tadmor – Palmyra. A Caravan City between East and West (=Bibliotheca Artibus et Historae), Krakow: IRSA, 2021